The Fall of Man – part 2

Genesis 3:1-24 (14-24)

December 2, 2013

 

Last time we met we began to look at one of

The most horrible days in the history of mankind.

(Where it not for the cross, it would be the worst)

 

We began to look at that day when sin entered the world.

 

Having studied Genesis 1 we know that God made a perfect creation.

• It was absolutely void of all flaws.

• It was perfect, it was complete, it was finished and God rested.

 

But obviously the Israelites knew the wilderness where they wandered

Was a far cry from the utopia Moses described.

 

The obvious question is “WHAT HAPPENED?”

 

That is a question Moses began answering in chapter 2.

 

Genesis 2:4 “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.”

 

Moses actually began to show:

WHAT BECAME OF GOD’S CREATION

 

And after making sure that we all understood in chapter 2

That God had done everything necessary to ensure the success of man…

 

Moses then transitioned into chapter 3 to reveal exactly what happened.

And the answer was sin.

 

God had given one command to Adam.

The command not to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, known as “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil”

 

That was the one command.

And God had made it clear.

 

And to further aid Adam, God had more than compensated

By giving Adam a garden he could freely eat from, including the tree of life.

 

It should have been an easy command to obey.

But the crafty serpent arrived and he began to go to work on Eve.

 

And last week we saw the first two points of this chapter,

But I want to quickly recap them to bring us all up to speed.

 

#1 THE CALL OF SIN

Genesis 3:1-7

This was the temptation of Eve.

But was a common temptation that we still face today.

 

Satan’s main goal in temptation is to make you dissatisfied with God.

And that is what he is seeking to do with Eve.

 

Satan accused God of being stingy – won’t let you eat from any tree

Satan accused God of being selfish – won’t let you know what He knows

 

And as a result Satan convinced Eve

That there was more out there than what God was letting on.

 

And when Even became dissatisfied with God’s garden,

She reached out for more, took the fruit and ate it.

She then gave some to Adam and he ate it.

 

And instantly their lives would never be the same again.

 

(7) “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”

 

• All of a sudden SHAME entered the world.

• All of a sudden SKEPTICISM entered the world.

 

Gone were the days of “naked and unashamed”

 

The relationship between Adam and Even was instantly scarred.

They no longer walked in perfect harmony, they no longer fully trusted the other.

 

They answered the call of sin.

 

And as we said, that call is the same today.

• Sin is what you do when you are dissatisfied with God.

• If Satan can make you dissatisfied he can offer you the fulfillment.

 

We then know the importance of being grateful and content.

This helps us not answer the call of sin.

 

We also saw:

#2 THE CULPRIT OF SIN

Genesis 3:8-13

 

Adam and Even were now caught in a whirlwind.

They were afraid, they were ashamed.

 

And they heard God walking in the garden and hid from Him.

• And remember, it wasn’t that God didn’t know what had happened.

• God was merely forcing Adam and Eve to acknowledge what they had done.

 

We said it is like when a child deliberately disobeys you and hurts themselves as a result. You may ask, “What happened?” “How’d that work out for you?”

 

That is what God is doing.

He is asking Adam to be honest about the wrong decision he just made.

 

He is asking Adam to fess up to the reality that he blew it.

 

And we reminded ourselves that we are the culprit of sin.

We can’t blame our sin on anyone else but ourselves.

 

We have to take responsibility for our sin.

 

Of course neither Adam nor Eve wanted to do that.

They each tried to blame someone else.

 

• Adam blamed Eve (and God for giving her to him)

• Eve blamed the Serpent

 

But neither wanted to take responsibility.

But we must.

Our sin is our fault

 

The Call of Sin, The Culprit of Sin

#3 THE CURSE OF SIN

Genesis 3:14-19

 

And we only introduced this one last week

Remembering how the issue of the sin curse was important to Moses.

 

He wrote quite extensively to the children of Israel about the curse of sin,

And about choosing obedience

So as not to bring further hardship upon their lives.

 

This whole section would be used heavily by Moses

To reiterate to the children of Israel that sin is always a bad idea.

 

It never brings anything good.

It always brings a curse.

STAY AWAY FROM SIN.

 

And the specifics of that can be easily seen here.

If you want to know what sin brought with it, look at these verses.

 

Here God pronounces three specific curses.

 

Eve blamed the serpent, and God starts with him.

 

1) From the serpent we learn ENMITY

 

(14-15) “The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

 

Now there are several things we recognize here.

• We see that from this point on Satan became the low of the low.

We are not confused about his rank.

 

And because of his use of the serpent,

The serpent was restricted to his belly and to eat dirt his whole life.

 

• We also see the Messianic prophecy and even recognize the

coming virgin birth of the Messiah.

 

As God promised “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed”

 

You and I know that women don’t have seed.

This was an obvious reference to the virgin birth.

And that Christ will one day crush Satan under his feet.

 

But the clearest issue of the curse here is that of “enmity”

 

And this isn’t just enmity with Satan,

But enmity with his “seed”

 

Before the fall this world was going to live in perfect peace and harmony,

But now we have introduced a trouble maker.

 

The seed of Satan is also going to be on this earth.

And we can expect a great deal of “enmity”

 

In fact that enmity shows up in the very next chapter

When Cain succumbs to sin and chooses to kill Abel.

The wicked killed the righteous.

 

“enmity” was born.

 

All the fighting, all the striving, all the disagreement

It all started in the garden when sin entered the world.

 

And now you have the children of the world and the children of God.

And there will forever be enmity between the two.

 

It has often times puzzled the Christian why he is so hated in the world.

• A Christian is one who loves his enemies…

• A Christian is one who cares for the poor…

• A Christian is one who turns the other cheek…

• A Christian is one who submits to the government…

• A Christian is one who doesn’t steal, or kill, or commit adultery…

 

And you have to wonder, if that is what a Christian is, why does the world hate them so much?

 

It seems to me that governments would want to fill their borders with Christians.

The reason for the enmity can be traced back to the garden.

 

There is enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of Christ.

And there will be until Christ returns.

 

If you hate the fighting, if you hate the arguing, if you hate the killing, then make sure you blame it on the right place.

 

It is the fault of sin.

 

But the serpent wasn’t the only one to get a curse

2) From the woman we learn PAIN

 

(16) To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”

 

There is one of my favorite words – “Pain”

Why do things have to hurt so much?

 

The answer is sin.

It is an evil that sprang upon us when sin entered the world.

 

Certainly physical pain.

And Scripture never pulls any punches when it wants to illustrate the climax of physical pain it always reverts back to one illustration, which is “childbirth”

 

While bearing children may be the biggest pain,

It certainly isn’t the only one.

 

Pain in general came in as a result of the fall.

 

But emotional pain also came in.

 

“In pain you will bring forth children”

 

That isn’t just the pain of birth,

But even the heartache of raising children.

 

Even didn’t know about it yet,

But by the end of chapter 4 she’ll have a good handle on it.

 

Children can be the source of great joy,

And they can be the source of great sorrow.

 

Emotional pain is also part of the curse.

 

That pain is also seen now in the relationship between husband and wife.

 

“Yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

 

There is the introduction of feminism and chauvinism into the world.

• You have a woman who from that day forward quit being a helpmate and

started being a usurper.

 

“he will rule over you.”

• You have a man who from that day forward quit being a loving provider

and started being a dominating boss.

 

When they were created Eve was the perfect help-mate

And Adam was the perfect loving leader.

 

But after the fall everything went haywire.

 

Pain entered the world

Physical pain and emotional pain

 

You can thank sin for both of those.

Enmity, Pain

3) From the man we learn TOIL

 

(17-19) “Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

 

Why does everything always have to be so hard?

The answer is sin.

 

Life was easy before the fall.

God had appointed all the trees of the garden

To produce fruit for Adam whenever he wanted it.

 

Adam didn’t even have to plant them.

All Adam had to do was pick the fruit and eat it.

But after that day the ground quit producing fruit

And started producing thorns.

 

• How many of you have goatheads in your yard?

• How many of you planted them?

 

Why is it that we have to plant grace and spray weeds?

Sin

It cursed the ground.

 

Adam would still eat fruit from the tree, but only “the plants of the field.”

 

• Only after Adam would break the soil…

• Only after Adam would sow the seed…

• Only after Adam would pray for rain…

• Only after Adam would protect from weeds and varmints…

• Only after Adam would harvest the crop…

 

Adam’s job as keeper of the garden just got a whole lot tougher

 

If he wanted to eat bread, it would be “by the sweat of [his] face”

 

And the real depressing thought is that Adam would not win this fight.

 

The reward of all of Adam’s struggles would be that

Eventually the ground would win and Adam would return

To the dust from which he was taken.

 

How is that for futility?

You toil all your life and then return to the ground you fought.

 

It is the curse.

Enmity, Pain, Toil

 

All because sin entered the world.

 

Solomon had a pretty good bead on it:

Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 “For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity.”

 

And I don’t guess there is anything that Moses could have said which would better have explained the 430 year period of slavery to Israel.

 

Certainly more than 1 Israelite went through the period of slavery

And wondered why it had to be so hard.

 

Sin cursed this world and ruined it.

 

 

• Can we reiterated again that sin is a bad idea?

• Can we say again that you can’t do anything worse than sin?

 

This world was perfect before sin entered.

Peace, Comfort, and Rest

Were replaced with:

Enmity, Pain, and Toil

 

Stay away from sin

 

The Call of Sin, The Culprit of Sin, The Curse of Sin

#4 THE CLOTHING OF SIN

Genesis 3:20-21

 

Now we notice in verse 20 that Moses takes special account

To reveal that Adam named Eve.

 

“Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.”

 

“Eve” means “living”

 

And this is important because it reveals that Adam and Eve

Weren’t just succumbing to now lay down and die.

 

They realized they had made a mistake,

But they also realized that they were to live life.

 

It would be harder now, but they weren’t called to quit.

They were still called to live and make life.

 

There is a certain element of hope in the fact that coming out of the curse, Adam was still looking for life.

 

And I don’t think it’s hard to see where Adam’s hope came from.

 

(21) “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”

 

Before the fall clothing wasn’t necessary.

The man and his wife were innocent, they had nothing to hide.

 

After the fall, man needed a new character.

In Scripture garments always represent character,

And Adam and Eve are about to get new ones.

 

God provides for them new garments.

 

“garments of skin”

These garments indicate that an animal had to die

In order to provide Adam and Even with clothing.

 

This is a sacrifice.

This is an atoning offering.

 

Hebrews 9:22 “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

 

We saw God’s holiness in the curse He pronounced on Adam and Eve for their sin, here we see His mercy.

 

Adam and Eve sinned, but God didn’t kill them.

God forgave them.

God atoned for them.

God shed the blood of an animal to satisfy His wrath on them.

 

The animal, which days earlier had been Adam’s friend

Now became Adam’s atonement.

 

This animal was the first of millions that would be sacrificed in Israel’s history.

 

It was God’s merciful offer of forgiveness.

 

And now you see why Adam could have hope.

• He had sinned

• He had brought a curse

• But God was willing to forgive and cover Adam’s sin and shame.

 

This animal died so that Adam could live.

Adam could no longer boldly access God like he had done before,

Now he would come only through the blood.

 

But that blood is why Adam could live and move forward.

 

Of course you know that this animal, was the first picture of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ found in Scripture.

 

This animal shed blood for as in it did not commit,

Just as Christ thousands of years later

Would actually atone for Adam’s sin by shedding His own blood.

 

The Call of Sin, The Culprit of Sin, The Curse of Sin, The Clothing of Sin

#5 THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN

Genesis 3:22-24

 

At this point you could make a lot of arguments for the consequence of sin.

• The curse was certainly a consequence.

 

 

But as bad as enmity, pain, and toil are,

They are not the most severe consequence of sin.

 

The truest and greatest consequence of sin is death.

 

The blood of the animal had purchased forgiveness for Adam,

But the greatest consequence could not be removed.

Man had to die.

 

And that is why man could not stay in the garden.

“Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”

 

• Man was now fallen

• Man was now sinful

• God was not about to allow man to live forever in that sinful state

 

So God “drove the man out”

 

And God “stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”

 

Man would not be allowed to live forever in sin.

 

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death…”

 

Adam had to die.

Adam had to return to the dust from which he was taken.

 

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”

 

Man was stuck in sin and headed for death.

 

And now, the only hope for mankind would be found in One

Who not only could atone for sin, but could also conquer death.

 

From this day in the garden man began to need a Savior.

 

I think it’s obvious at this point in the story those Moses are preaching to must have sort of sunk back in silence.

It all made sense now.

 

• So that is why we spent all that time in slavery…

• So that is why life is so hard…

• So that is why everyone lives this life and yet dies…

 

It also pushed them to begin to look forward to the Savior

Who would come and save them from sin and reverse the curse.

Well, Moses preached this message and caused the Israelites

To look forward to the Messiah.

 

We preach this message and gratefully look back to Him.

• We are no longer waiting for the One who can crush Satan’s head…

• We are no longer waiting for the atoning sacrifice…

• We are no longer waiting for the One who can conquer death…

 

We know who He is.

 

That is Jesus Christ.

He was the 2nd Adam.

 

And His sacrifice can work in your life

In much the same way that Adam’s did.

 

It is called IMPUTATION

 

• If one man’s sin can be imputed to you.

• Then so can one man’s righteousness.

 

• If one man’s sin can wreck this world.

• Then one man’s righteousness can save it.

 

Romans 5:18-19 “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”

 

1 Corinthians 15:20-22 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

 

1 Corinthians 15:45 “So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

 

And that is what we celebrate here this morning.

 

Adam came in and through his sin wrecked this entire creation.

He brought enmity, pain, toil, and death.

 

Christ came and through His righteousness redeemed us.

He brought peace, joy, rest, and life.

 

 

And that is what we remember this morning.

 

After seeing the curse that sin brought to this world,

It can only cause us to be all the more grateful

To the One who came to redeem us.

 

Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us — for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”

 

• So while we learn to hate sin

• And while we learn to avoid it at all cost

 

We do know where to go when we do it.

We run to Jesus.

 

 

This morning we are celebrating the Lord’s Supper.

• We see the bread, which represents His body

• We see the juice, which represents His blood

 

Christ came in human form and then died.

He shed His blood to clothe us in His righteousness.

 

And this morning we remember that sacrifice and thank Him for it.

 

As always before we partake, we allow for a moment of preparation.

1 Corinthians 11:28 “But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”

 

• So we’ll have a time of self-examination

• We’ll have a time of private gratitude

• And then we’ll partake of the table of the Lord

 

 

The Fall of Man – part 1

Genesis 3:1-24 (1-13)

November 24, 2013

 

As you know we have been studying the book of Genesis.

 

We have seen the awesome God of creation.

• A God so amazing that at His command all things came into being.

• A God so gracious that He chose to make man in His image and give him dominion over that creation.

 

And up to this point in the book of Genesis, it has been a fairy tale.

• 6 days and we have a perfect creation.

• So perfect in fact that God rested because it was finished and it was good

• Not only that but we have man living with his wife in a paradise garden

 

Everything is in perfect harmony

When Adam checks the weather every day says high of 72 low of 72

It is absolute perfection.

 

But you remember that Moses has written this book to the children of Israel whom he is presently leading out of the land of Egypt.

They are wondering in the wilderness and searching for a land of promise.

 

And all that Moses explained in the first two chapters

Must have seen a little hard to believe.

 

• Man with full dominion

• Man living at peace with all animals

• Man and his wife “naked and unashamed”

 

WHAT HAPPENED?

 

Well that is what Moses has set out to reveal.

 

I told you last week, but the key is found in Genesis 2:4

Genesis 2:4 “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.”

 

After revealing creation in chapter 1.

Moses is now setting out to reveal: WHAT BECAME OF GOD’S CREATION

 

And he first set out to remind us that nothing here is God’s fault.

 

Adam started in the most advantageous position

That any man could have ever hoped to be in.

• His circumstances were perfect

• His economy was perfect

• His genetics were perfect

• His needs were met

• His spouse was wonderful

Adam has no reason whatsoever to ever break the one command of God.

And that leads us into chapter 3.

 

Have you ever had one of those “life changing moments” where you knew instantly life is now different?

(10 years ago when they handed me Zek)

 

And we have moments like that.

Some good – some bad

 

Well Adam and Eve are about to have a life changing moment

 

And the reason is because for the first time in all of God’s creation,

Sin is about to enter the equation.

 

And might I say from the outset that sin will change your life,

And it never changes your life for the better.

 

Moses is setting out to reveal what happened,

But again, it is more than just history.

 

There is a lesson to be learned here.

Sin is never the correct choice, it always ruins life.

 

And as Moses reveals the fate of Adam and Eve,

He is undoubtedly preaching a message to the children of Israel and to us

That sin should never be messed with.

 

There are 5 points to be seen in this chapter. (look at the first 2)

#1 THE CALL OF SIN

Genesis 3:1-7

 

This is the pinnacle passage for the truth about temptation.

 

People commonly blame their sin on someone or something else.

 

One of the plagues of our day has been the various “shootings”

We have had to endure.

Whether it be the Colorado movie theatre, Newtown, or any others.

 

And when it happens people go on a rampage to place blame.

• One group blames guns

• Another group blames mental illness

• Another group blames bullying

 

People are always looking for an excuse.

But listen, Eve had no such excuse.

You can’t blame the culture, you can’t blame the circumstances.

 

Adam and Eve are in the perfect environment and yet sin still finds them.

It reinforces what I told you last week,

That sin does not originate in the culture. Sin originates in the heart.

 

Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”

 

Temptation found Eve, even in the garden.

 

While we may not be able to identify with the circumstances Eve was in,

We can identify with the call Eve heard.

It was the call of sin.

 

And might I say that this call hasn’t changed much in 8,000 years.

• In Matthew 4 we see the temptation of Jesus, it is the same thing.

• Even today, the call of sin is remarkably similar to the same call Eve faced in.

 

There is a reason for this.

 

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

 

God has promised that the temptation we face is common temptation.

Satan is not allowed to try new arguments or tactics.

 

That means that we can learn about temptation,

Even from studying the temptation Eve faced in the garden.

 

The temptations she faced are the same that you and I face.

 

And to her they came in the form of two accusations against God.

1) GOD IS STINGY

 

(1) “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

 

Pay close attention now the accusation of the devil here.

The best lies are 90% truth.

 

There WERE trees in the garden.

And the only command of God DID restrict eating from a tree.

 

But the key word of deception here is the word “any”

 

Satan asked if God had made ALL the trees off limits.

 

Genesis 2:9 “Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

All of the trees were for food, except one.

Genesis 2:16-17 “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

 

Satan was twisting things around.

He painted God as stingy.

 

According to Satan, God was the tempter.

Because God had put all of these wonderful trees in the garden and then said, “Don’t touch!”

 

That’s like putting a boy in a room full of model cars.

(I always thought model cars were the dumbest idea when I was a kid)

 

But that is what Satan tries to pass off to Eve.

Here God has created this wonderful world full of fun and enjoyment

And then made it all off limits.

 

What kind of cruel trick is that?

Why won’t God just let you enjoy life?

 

And that argument hasn’t changed much has it?

Satan still uses the same argument with things like

Sex, possessions, experiences, etc.

 

Here God has all this stuff that is so fun and then He won’t let you enjoy any of it.

 

And so Satan constantly paints God as stingy and His commands as some sort of restraint against true happiness.

 

If God would just get His commands out of the way, we could be happy.

• (That is the cry of abortionists and same-sex marriage advocates)

• (That is the cry of the pornography industry)

• (That is the cry of the alcohol industry)

 

Now it is worth noting that Eve saw through this deception.

Like Jesus, many years later, Eve simply examined God’s word

And saw that Satan was lying. God had not said that.

 

And in verses 2 and 3 Eve uses God’s word to refute Satan’s logic.

 

(2-3) “The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”

 

Satan’s accusation was a half-truth.

God wasn’t withholding all the joys of life,

They were freely given for enjoyment.

Psalms 34:9-10 “O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.”

 

Psalms 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

 

Acts 17:25 “nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;”

 

James 1:13-17 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

 

Let’s be honest, you may have issue with God and choose to accuse Him of things, but calling Him stingy will never work.

 

God is anything but stingy.

God is generous

God is giving

 

In fact when Jesus asked us to be like God

One of the areas Jesus said we should imitate is generosity.

 

Luke 6:35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”

 

Accusing God of being stingy just doesn’t fly.

• Have we so quickly forgotten that it was God who made all this to begin with?

• Have we forgotten that it was God who planted the garden?

• Have we forgotten that it was God who put Adam in the garden?

• Have we forgotten that God refused to stop until Adam had everything he needed, including a suitable help-mate?

 

God is not stingy and Eve knew it.

 

Rather, God is a protector.

Adam and Eve could freely eat from any tree in the garden

(including the tree of life) except for that tree which would do them harm.

 

God wasn’t withholding good, God was protecting them from evil.

 

And God still operates that way today.

His Laws are not meant to cause you harm, but to protect you from harm.

Psalms 71:3 “Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.”

 

Adam had a beautiful wife in a beautiful garden and God was trying to preserve it.

2) GOD IS SELFISH

 

(4-5) “The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

 

Eve had told the serpent that if they ate from the tree “you will die”

 

And Satan immediately jumps on that command.

“Eve, you’re taking it all too literally – you won’t die. In fact that was just an idle threat from God to try to keep you in the dark.”

 

God is just trying to keep you away from what He only wants for Himself.

• God just doesn’t want you to be like Him.

• God doesn’t want you to know what He knows.

• God is just selfish and wants to always stay above you.

 

Have we forgotten that God specifically made man in His image?

Have we overlooked the fact that being like God is precisely the goal?

 

Ephesians 5:1 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;”

 

Have we forgotten that God is tirelessly working to make us like His Son?

Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”

 

Being like God is exactly what God wants.

 

But here Satan says, “No, God is selfish, He doesn’t want you to be like Him and know what He knows.”

Now is that true?

(Here is the tricky part)

To a degree that is true.

 

There were things that God did not want Adam and Eve to know.

• He didn’t want them to know what it felt like to dig the grave of their son.

• He didn’t want them to know what it felt like to hear the doctor say “Cancer”

 

God didn’t want them to have any knowledge of evil,

And Satan called Him selfish for it.

 

That was the call of sin.

 

Incidentally it was the same with Jesus in the garden.

 

Satan continually accusing God of being a bad provider.

Matthew 4:3 “And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

Satan accusing God of being an inadequate protector.

Matthew 4:6 “and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'”

 

Notice the “if you are the Son of God” part?

 

That was Satan’s way of saying, “Why would God subject You of all people to such harsh conditions?”

 

GOD IS NOT BEING FAIR.

 

And that is the very heart of temptation.

 

Satan convinces you that God’s plan is not in your best interest,

And God’s commands are only for His good at your expense.

 

John MacArthur once said, “Sin is what you do when you’re not satisfied with God.”

 

Temptation is the means by which Satan tries to make you dissatisfied.

 

It’s like advertising.

The whole point to advertising is to make you dissatisfied with what you have.

 

If I can convince you that you are missing out,

I can sell you the answer to your happiness.

 

That is what Satan is doing.

That is temptation.

That is the call of sin.

 

The real tragedy here is that Adam and Even both answered the call.

(6) “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”

 

And please notice why they ate from the tree.

• It wasn’t a desire to be Godly

• It wasn’t a desire to serve one another

 

It was entirely sensual

• “SAW that the tree was good”

• “it was a delight to the EYES”

• “the tree was DESIRABLE to make one wise”

 

That is all sensual stuff

That is at the very heart of temptation

They were craving to satisfy the flesh

And when you do that, you are open for deception

Adam and Eve ate the fruit.

 

But let’s be real clear here.

The issue wasn’t that the fruit had some sort of magical power.

 

The issue was that they broke the command of God.

They chose to do something God had specifically forbidden.

 

That was the issue.

 

(7) “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”

 

All of a sudden Adam and Eve knew

What they now wished they had never known.

 

“they knew that they were naked”

 

All of a sudden shame entered their thinking.

• Gone were the days of “naked and unashamed”

• Gone were the days of perfect intimacy

 

Their world had changed and it was not a good change.

 

How sin does that.

It tempts us with false promises of bliss, and as soon as we try it,

Somehow we wish we could go back and undo it.

 

Proverbs 20:17 “Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.”

 

Adam and Even answered the call of sin.

Let me show you the next thing.

 

The Call of Sin

#2 THE CULPRIT OF SIN

Genesis 3:8-13

 

Anyone in here ever hear the phrase – “It’s not my fault”?

 

Well here is where it started.

 

(8) “They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”

 

Please notice that it wasn’t God who hid from man.

It was man who hid from God.

 

It was not God who chose to break the relationship,

It was man who made that decision.

In fact it is God who since that day has tried to repair the relationship.

 

Man started hiding from God.

(9-11) “Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

 

No, I don’t think God was just finding out about it.

• God knew what happened the second Adam did it.

• God knew it would happen when He created Adam.

 

This is God confronting Adam for his transgression

And making a very important point.

 

Why was Adam all of a sudden cloaked in shame?

(God is forcing Adam to admit the issue) – HOW’D THAT WORK OUT FOR YOU?

 

It was because he sinned.

God didn’t do it to him, sin did it to him.

 

And this is also foundational.

 

We live in a world of countless tragedy.

Every day we see things that just don’t make sense.

 

But repeatedly after one of those tragedies

Someone will wonder why God let this happen.

 

God didn’t do it

Sin did it

 

In fact God was adamant that Adam and Eve not sin.

Sin is the culprit – Sin is the problem

 

But man refuses to take responsibility for that.

 

Since the very beginning, the question has been the same:

Who can we find to blame?

 

Adam blamed Eve

(12) “The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”

Oh that was nice. – The woman did it.

Well, actually God it’s Your fault since you gave her to me.

 

Eve blamed the Serpent

(13) “Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

 

Eve wants to make sure she doesn’t go down alone.

They all blame someone else

 

The reality is that all of them were guilty

 

Romans 7:17 “So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

 

• The serpent was guilty of enmity towards God

• Eve was guilty of coveting what was clearly forbidden

• Adam was guilty of transgression wilfully overlooking the command of God

 

All sinned and yet all tried to blame it one someone else.

 

So we reiterate the point made last week.

Your sin is your fault.

 

Eve ate the fruit because she wanted it.

Adam ate the fruit because he wanted it.

And the same is true for sin in your life.

 

The Call of Sin The Culprit of Sin

#3 THE CURSE OF SIN

Genesis 3:14-19

(WE CAN ONLY BEGIN THIS ONE)

 

To those who heard of a good and glorious creation,

But now wondered how it could be so bad –

HERE COMES THE ANSWER.

 

Sin brought a curse.

 

And this message was definitely meant to shape the theology

And decision making of the children of Israel.

 

Moses would talk much about the curse to the children of Israel.

 

• In Deuteronomy 27 Moses outlined 12 sins that bring a curse upon men.

 

Idolatry, dishonoring parents, stealing land, misleading the blind,

harming an alien, orphan, or widow, incest, bestiality, secretly striking your neighbor, taking bribes against the innocent, disobeying the Law.

 

• In Deuteronomy 28 Moses spends 53 verses outlining exactly what it means to be cursed.

 

Just a portion of that text:

Deuteronomy 28:15-20 “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. “Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. “The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.”

 

• And in Deuteronomy 30 Moses told them to choose blessing instead of the curse.

 

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

 

Moses was trying to make the point that sin brings a curse.

The first sin brought them, and every sin since does as well.

 

And next week, we’ll get into the particulars of the curse announced here.

 

But I want to make sure and leave you with the main point.

• Man lived in utter paradise.

• He had everything he could ever want.

• But he chose sin.

• And sin ruined everything.

 

I don’t know of any other passage that does a better job

Of trying to convince you not to sin.

 

In our society sin is almost celebrated.

But nothing is worse than sin

And nothing could be worse than being a sinner.

 

Sin the root cause of every horrible thing that occurs in this world today.

• Sin is the root cause behind every natural disaster that kills thousands…

• Sin is the root cause behind every drought…

• Sin is the root cause behind every school shooting…

• Sin is the root cause behind every drunk driver…

• Sin is the root cause behind every terrorist act…

• Sin is the root cause behind every tumor, every disease…

• Sin is the root cause behind every death…

 

All of those things only exist because sin entered the world.

 

Nothing is worse than sin.

And nothing is worse in your life than when you choose sin.

 

 

You can’t do anything worse than sin.

It had enough power to wreck God’s perfect creation

And yet today people dabble with it and toy with it like it’s no big deal.

 

If you can read Genesis 1-3 and still find it no big deal to sin

Then you obviously didn’t pay attention to what you read.

 

 

 

Moses is begging with the children of Israel to leave sin alone.

 

Even in the Law there were two goats for the Day of Atonement.

(1 to die, and 1 to be sent away)

Sin had to be atoned for, and then send it away.

IT IS HORRIBLE

 

 

 

And that is the message to us.

• This week, you will most certainly face temptation.

• Satan will accuse God of being stingy and stealing all the fun.

• Satan will accuse God of being selfish and keeping good from you.

• And then he will offer what appears to be fulfilling.

 

DON’T DO IT

Sin is what you do when you are not satisfied with God.

AND IF YOU DO IT, YOU WON’T LIKE WHAT YOU GET.

 

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”

 

SIN IS A BIG DEAL!

• Just ask Adam and Eve

• And if they don’t convince you, just ask Jesus.

 

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

Jesus knew the penalty of sin.

Trust Him with yours and then do your best to leave it behind.

 

We’ll finish this chapter up next week.

 

The Glorious Beginning of Man

Genesis 2:4-25

November 17, 2013

 

Well we’ve began a study of the book of Genesis.

And we spent the last two weeks looking at “The God of Creation”

 

After seeing that “God created the heavens and the earth”

There is no reason to ever worship or fear any other god.

Israel’s God is God.

 

And that is a fitting opening to Scripture.

 

But as I told you this is more than just a historical lesson.

Moses has a theological point to make.

 

We called this – THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES

 

And it is actually the gospel message that begins here.

 

The key to this section of Scripture can be found stated in verse 4

“This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created,”

 

Again, some of have read this and taken issue saying,

“Well God just created everything in chapter 1, why are we talking about creation again?”

This isn’t a second creation.

This is a whole new point Moses is making.

 

Chapters 2-11 actually begin a new section in the book of Genesis.

It would be titled “What Became of God’s Creation?”

 

Obviously we ended last week seeing that everything was good.

 

Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

 

In fact, everything was so good

That God saw that nothing else needed to be done and He rested.

It was finished.

No tweaking was needed.

 

But Moses is preaching to a congregation

Who just survived 400 years of slavery in Egypt.

And now they were wondering in the wilderness.

 

The story Moses told in chapter 1 must have seemed a little far-fetched

The children of Israel could open their eyes and look around

And see that creation was anything but good.

• How many times did they grumble due to lack of water?

• How many times did they grumble due to lack of food?

• Now they deal with the sun and its burning heat…

• Now they deal with snakes biting them from the sand…

 

The obvious question after reading chapter 1 is, “What happened?”

 

Hebrews 2:8 “YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.”

 

Obviously something happened between Genesis 1 and Exodus 12

 

Moses sets to reveal that truth exactly.

Here we begin the account of what became of God’s perfect creation.

 

Now I certainly don’t want to kill the suspense,

But you and I already know what happened.

We call it “The Fall”

 

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”

 

Romans 8:20a “For the creation was subjected to futility…”

 

We know the story that is recorded in chapter 3

We’ll look at it closer next week

 

• But we know about the serpent and how he deceived Eve, and how Adam

chose to transgress the command of God.

 

• We know how when sin entered, their eyes were opened, and spiritual death

was a reality.

 

• We know how the consequences of that sin was the curse upon the earth.

 

But before we get to that story

It is very important that Moses make a point.

 

The point that Moses makes in chapter 2 is this:

WHEN MAN FELL INTO SIN,

IT WAS NOT GOD’S FAULT, IT WAS MAN’S.

 

By the time we end chapter 3 Adam and Eve will be covered in skins, sunken in shame, walking out of the garden of Eden.

When we get to chapter 4 we have murder, adultery, and despair.

When we get to chapter 5 we get death

When we get to chapter 6 we get sin so out of control that God makes a decision to flood the entire earth

 

Things are going south in a hurry.

But it is important for you to know who bears the blame for this.

The fall of man and the entrance of sin was no one’s fault but man.

 

James 1:14 “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”

 

Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”

 

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”

 

It is the wicked heart of man that lusts and is enticed and that fell into sin.

 

The fall of man was NOT:

• Due to difficult circumstances

• Due to extreme expectations

• Due to genetic deficiency

• Due to ignorance of danger

• Due to lack of help

 

Now when man did fall he tried several excuses

And attempted to pass the blame, but it was totally unwarranted.

 

I’ve always like what Paul said in Romans 7

As he explained the issue of bad decisions in his own life.

 

Romans 7:20 “But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

 

When Paul looked at the failures in his life

He could only blame one person, himself.

 

Today people love to blame their sin on everyone else.

• Poor circumstances led to irrational behavior…

• Unreasonable expectations just couldn’t be met…

• My parents raised me wrong, or contributed genetically to may flaws…

• No one told me otherwise

 

And Moses knew the same was true in his day.

The children of Israel would be all too eager

To blame their sin on someone else.

 

SO MOSES’ OPENING POINT IS THAT A MAN’S SIN

IS NO ONE’S FAULT BUT HIS OWN.

 

And in order to prove that point

Moses sets out to show you the tremendously advantageous position that Adam found himself in here.

 

It all starts here in chapter 2 looking at man’s glorious beginning.

 

There are three things I want you to see in this chapter

As we see all God did to give man every advantage he could have asked for.

 

#1 THE EARTH GETS A KEEPER

Genesis 2:4-15

 

As I told you at the outset, “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.”

 

Moses is here telling you what became of God’s creation.

And you will notice that Moses takes us back to day 3 of creation.

 

Genesis 1:9-13 “Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.”

 

So obviously here in verses 5 & 6 we are somewhere in the middle of day 3.

 

“Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.”

 

God had created the plants and the trees,

But even in this God could see a lack of completion.

All He had done was good, but even He knew that it was not yet finished.

 

• We have ground with no plants

• We have land with no rain

• And worst of all we have the potential for crops, but no one to cultivate them.

 

And this reality is what pushes us toward the creation of man.

 

And just in that very truth a reality begins to sit in.

Man wasn’t made for creation, creation was made for man.

 

Creation without man was pointless and useless.

It was here for man.

What good are plants and fruit trees with no one to eat them?

 

So we fast forward to day 6

(7) “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

So God made man.

• We already learned that he was made in God’s image.

• Here we find that he became “a living being (soul)”

 

Of all of God’s creatures,

Only man had the capacity to fellowship with God.

Only man could commune with Him.

 

It is worth pointing out that man lost that right at the fall.

Man died spiritually, and now that fellowship is only restored through Christ

And the spiritual life supplied by the Holy Spirit

 

But God created man to rule His creation.

 

And what we notice next is that God gave man a glorious place to dwell.

 

(8-9) “The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

 

Man wasn’t put in some dump

Where he would be forced to scratch out a living

And tempted at every turn to go after something better.

 

Man was placed in paradise.

He had every imaginable comfort.

 

Yes Adam was the keeper of garden, but one could hardly call it labor.

That garden was wonderful.

It grew fruit like my yard grows weeds.

 

It was natural, it was prosperous, it was wonderful.

 

You’ll even notice that God not only provided for day to day sustenance, but also never ending life.

 

For God placed there “the tree of life also in the midst of the garden,”

 

If you want a picture of the blessing of this land look at verses 10-14

(10-14) “Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.”

Each of these rivers were rivers that the children of Israel

Would have known full well about.

 

• They were major rivers

• They were vitally important to the ecosystem of their world

• Life flowed from these rivers

 

And yet you will notice that every one of these rivers

Had its headwaters in the garden of Eden.

 

THIS WAS AN EASY PLACE TO LIVE

 

The Earth gets a Keeper

#2 THE GARDEN GETS SOME ORDER

Genesis 2:16-17

 

Here we find two very interesting verses.

Adam was in a truly wonderful place.

 

Everything Adam saw was his for the taking, save one thing.

 

(16-17) “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

 

From the very outset of creation God has given man a choice to make.

 

Look, I enjoy studying the sovereignty of God as much as the next guy.

I love the truths of foreknowledge and election and predestination.

 

But anyone who takes those truths so far as to deny that man has a choice to make is simply not reading their Bible.

 

God gave man a choice before the 6th day of creation was over.

 

Woman hasn’t even been created yet, and already man has a choice.

 

Now, let’s be fair about this.

God gave him a choice

But also was very clear on what he should choose.

 

Adam can’t claim ignorance

Here in a few days when he eats from that tree.

 

God told him as clearly and specifically as it could be done.

“from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

 

God didn’t take the tree away,

But he did specifically tell him what to do with it.

 

Adam was in a very advantageous spot,

But Adam still had a moral responsibility.

 

Adam still had to choose to love God

And to display that love through obedience.

 

Now this is a tremendous lesson for Israel right from the start.

 

Their entire life would be about making the right choice.

 

In fact in the last book Moses wrote to them he said:

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

 

This truth in Genesis is a very real and valid reminder for us all.

 

God has given us all clear commands that we are to obey.

He doesn’t do that to harm us, He does it to protect us.

And if we choose to disobey the consequences are always severe.

 

Can’t you see Israel walking away from the Promised Land, having refused to obey the Lord, remembering again this sermon about Adam making the wrong choice?

 

We are reminded of that often revealed truth that

Obedience brings blessing and disobedience brings a curse.

 

Adam had the blessed life, all he had to do was choose to obey God and his life would always be that way.

 

God is giving Adam the choice.

He gives you that choice as well.

 

You have to choose whether or not you are going to obey God or not.

You have to choose whether or not you are going to trust God’s commands.

 

That decision has been here since the beginning.

 

The Earth gets a Keeper, The Garden gets some Order

#3 MAN GETS A HELPER

Genesis 2:18-25

 

 

We could make the case that man was in paradise

And had absolutely everything he ever needed.

But that just wasn’t true.

 

Man had a wonderful garden, but man was alone.

 

(18) “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

 

See man has everything he needs, but he has no helper.

He still might claim that the battle against sin

Was too difficult to fight by yourself.

 

God is removing every possible excuse.

And God creates a helper.

 

(19) “Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.”

 

We call this “helper tryouts”

 

And again we see man as the pinnacle in God’s creation.

• Man has dominion

• Man is at the top

• He is even given naming rights to all the animals

 

And Adam spoke with authority.

“whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name”

 

It was a done deal.

Adam is in charge.

 

(20) “The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.”

 

So man names them all

They are all in subjection to him

Adam is ruling creation

But none of them are a suitable helper

 

And incidentally, don’t take the word “helper” here as a derogatory term.

 

I know the women’s liberation movement of our day would take extreme offense to calling the woman a “helper” to man.

 

But Scripture does not use that term in a derogative sense.

Scripture actually uses that term to describe God.

 

Psalms 33:20 “Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.”

 

Psalms 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”

 

Psalms 70:5 “But I am afflicted and needy; Hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.”

 

Psalms 115:9 “O Israel, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield.”

 

If you will remember, Jesus was our helper, and when He had to leave, what did He say?

 

John 14:16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;”

 

So don’t look at the search for a helper as minor or minimal thing.

This was a big deal.

This was a necessary thing.

 

And since no animal was a suitable helper to Adam…

(21-23) “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”

 

So out of a rib from Adam’s side came his help mate.

The woman Eve was created.

 

• She was not his servant

• She was not his hired hand

• She was “bone of [his] bones, and flesh of [his] flesh”

 

And with this woman,

Adam would form the deepest possible human relationship there was.

 

For her he would forsake every other earthly relationship.

She would be one flesh with him.

 

And this is precisely the point Moses makes.

 

You may notice that Moses takes the opportunity

To use verse 24 as a little mini sermon.

 

(24) “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”

 

Obviously as it pertains to the story of creation

That verse is a little out of place since Adam had no father or mother to leave, and they had no children yet that this would have referred to.

 

This was Moses directly applying this reality to the lives of Israel.

 

Moses was pointing out that from the beginning

God made them male and female and that God intended

For that relationship to be the pinnacle human relationship.

 

• A man would “leave his father and his mother”, but he was never to leave his wife.

• He was to “become one flesh” with her.

 

• She is his helper

• She is his suitable mate

• She is the one whom God intended for Adam to walk side by side through this life with.

 

She would be the one who should help him in his toil

She would be the one who should help him in his decisions

 

With Eve, Adam now had everything he could possible need or want.

 

And if you want to see the perfection of the relationship

We look at verse 25.

 

(25) “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

They had total intimacy

They had total trust

They had total comfort with one another

 

There was no fear of abuse

There was no fear of exploitation

 

• It was not until sin entered the world that Adam would become a

chauvinist and have to be commanded to love his wife.

 

• It was not until sin entered the world that Even would become a

feminist and have to be commanded to submit to her husband.

 

Sin messed up the relationship, but in the beginning it was perfect.

And that is the point to chapter 2.

 

• Adam has been given everything he could possibly need or want.

• There was nothing more that God needed to do.

• All that was left was for Adam to trust and obey.

 

 

And when the fall happens in chapter 3,

There is no possible way to blame it on God

For not giving Adam every possible chance to succeed.

 

What more could he have wanted?

• Every need met…

• Every desire satisfied…

• Perfect comfort…

 

God had set Adam up to succeed.

 

It reminds me of that tragic story of the vineyard in Isaiah 5.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 5:1-7

 

And verse 4 there is the same question

We would ask of God here in Genesis chapter 2.

 

“What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?”

 

Could God have done any more for the garden

To have made it a place where Adam could succeed?

Absolutely not, God did it all.

 

SO WHEN YOU SEE THE FALL IN CHAPTER 3,

KNOW THAT SIN IS NOT AN ISSUE OF GOD’S FAILURE,

OR OF POOR CIRCUMSTANCES.

 

Man sins because he is sinful.

Man chooses evil because his heart is corrupt.

 

Every single sin you’ve ever committed was your fault.

Not your circumstances…

Not your parents…

 

It was simply your fault.

 

However it was God who even though you were a wilful sinner, chose to redeem you.

 

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

 

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

That is the work of God.

Remember, He redeems what is broken and waste and futile.

 

God is in the business of saving sinners, not pushing them into it.

 

He gave Adam every chance to succeed.

And let me say He has done the same for you.

 

• No, you are not in the garden of Eden

• No, you may not live in paradise

 

However, God specifically created you and placed you where He did so that you would see Him, and come to know Him.

 

Remember a couple of weeks ago when we heard what Paul said about the Creator God in Athens?

 

Acts 17:26-27 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”

 

That is God at work.

He created you and purposely placed you when and where He did.

 

Just as He put Adam in the garden,

So He put you in this day and in this place.

It is not accidental.

 

God is also giving you every opportunity to choose Him.

But He won’t force the decision.

 

You have to choose.

• That was the message to Adam

• That was Moses’ message to the children of Israel

• And that is the message to each of us today

 

 

 

We have to choose whether or not

We will trust and obey this God who has given us life.

 

The God of Creation – part 2

Genesis 1:1 – 2:3

November 10, 2013

 

Last week we began our study of this wonderful book of Genesis.

As we said then, Genesis 1 is the absolute fitting chapter

To begin the whole of the Bible.

 

It begins with God as the Creator or all things.

And this reality sets God apart as the sole authority over all things.

 

We said last week that the fact that He created all things:

 

Reveals His TRANSCENDENCE.

Who is like Him?

He is higher and loftier than any other thing.

He sits enthroned above creation.

 

• He commands the morning

• He guides the lightning bolt

• He holds the rain

• He restrains the sea

 

There is no God like our God

 

His role as Creator reveals His GRACE

 

In Psalm 8 David looked at the vastness of creation and asked,

“What is man that you are mindful of him?”

 

Why would a God so big and so awesome care about me?

 

He put man as head over all things

Thus revealing His love and grace toward man.

 

His role as Creator reveals His GLORY

 

Again in Psalm 19 David marveled at the faithful testimony of creation.

Every morning the sun declares God’s glory.

 

• And we asked, who has ever trembled at the thunder?

• Who has ever marveled at the ocean?

• Who has ever been captivated by the snow?

 

Our God is glorious.

 

And we said that His role as Creator is also a testimony to His JUDGMENT

 

For just as God created this world with a word, Peter reminded us that

“by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire”

Creation reminds us of His role and power,

Both to create, to rule, and to judge.

Creation is significant.

 

And thus far we have began studying Genesis

To see this great God of creation.

 

We covered the first two points of this opening section last week.

#1 THE POINT OF CREATION

Genesis 1:1

 

And we aren’t talking about the point in a chronological sense as in the “point it began”, but the point in an explanatory sense.

 

What is the point of creation?

 

And the point is simply seen, that

Our God created the heavens and the earth.

 

There is a God.

He is our God.

And there is no reason to rebel against Him or give His glory to another.

 

Jeremiah reminded us:

Jeremiah 10:11 “Thus you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”

 

David said:

Psalms 96:5 “For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.”

 

• Why would you ever bow the knee to a god who did not create the world?

• Why would you ever worship a god with no such power?

 

The point of the creation story is that Israel and you and me

Would determine that only one God is worthy of our worship,

And that we would give it to Him.

 

#2 THE POWER OF CREATION

Genesis 1:3

 

I told you then that before you see the specifics of creation

It is important that you see the power behind it.

 

And that power is none other than the spoken word of God.

 

We saw the same phrase repeated 10 times in this first chapter.

“Then God said…”

 

 

• When God wanted light He didn’t start a fire – He told it to come

• When God wanted seas, He didn’t dig a tank – He told them to form

• When God wanted life, He didn’t attempt cloning – He told it to happen

 

Nothing reveals the authoritative power of God’s word like creation.

 

Isaiah 55:11 “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

 

This is the tremendous power of God’s creation.

He spoke and the world began.

 

That is the Point of Creation and the Power of Creation

 

This morning we move forward in our study.

#3 THE PLAN OF CREATION

Genesis 1:2-31

 

Here we find the basic account of all of God’s creation

And the order by which it occurred.

And it is really a remarkable thing to behold.

 

(2) “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”

 

We have to look at that verse for a moment

Because it has been the cause of much uncertainty over the years.

 

I had a lady in my office a few months ago asking about this very verse.

“Verse 1 says God created it, verse 2 says it was “formless and void”, what happened?”

 

This verse has been quite a topic of speculation.

 

• Some say that if God created the heavens and the earth in verse 1 something terrible must have happened to make it like it is in verse 2.

 

• Some even translate verse 2 “the earth became formless and void”

 

And then they go to work with their hypothesis

Trying to figure out what could have happened

That took the creation of verse 1 and ruined it by verse 2.

 

And we get theories like:

• The fall of Satan actually occurred in between verse 1 and 2 and Satan wrecked God’s creation. And God recreated it in verse 2.

 

That is problematic since Moses’ point is not that Satan wrecked creation,

But that sin did, and Moses gets to that by chapter 3.

 

But the real problem with all of those theories is that

They are speculation at best.

Scripture never says that is what occurred

And it is a mistake to speak where Scripture is silent.

 

There is a very good reason why verse 2 reveals that “The earth was formless and void”

 

That is where God started.

That is also why Moses reveals that

“the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”

 

God started it as a blank slate, but He was moving.

He wasn’t leaving it like that.

He was creating something perfect.

 

God certainly had the power

To create a completely finished product instantly.

 

It is certainly within God’s ability

To simply skip from Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:4

 

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created…”

 

However God CHOSE to create the world over the course of 6 days.

WHY?

 

Because in this progression of creation

We find the necessity of God’s continual hand.

 

At no point in the process could God pull out and we take it from there.

He is revealing creations need for His continual presence.

 

And that is why verse 2 starts so dark.

 

“The earth was formless and void”

 

“formless” translates TOHU

It means “meaningless” or “confusion”

 

Isaiah 40:17 “All the nations are as nothing before Him, They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.”

 

Isaiah 59:4 “No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies; They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.”

“void” translates BOHU

It means “emptiness”

 

Isaiah 34:11 “But pelican and hedgehog will possess it, And owl and raven will dwell in it; And He will stretch over it the line of desolation And the plumb line of emptiness.”

 

And hopefully you pick up on the literary work of Moses.

The earth was TOHU and BOHU

 

It started in a completely unusable, formless, confused, orderless reality.

 

GOD CHOSE TO BEGIN IT THERE.

• He didn’t start with perfection and maintain it.

• He started with chaos and renovated it.

 

And there is a reason God did it this way.

It reveals God’s role as One who redeems.

 

He always takes what is flawed and makes it new.

• He brings light from darkness

• He brings order from chaos

• He brings blessing from struggle

• He brings what is good from what is not

 

That is the point here.

His plan for creation was to take what had no value

And work it until it was perfect.

 

Is that not what He is doing in your life?

Taking you from depravity to glory?

 

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

 

We actually better understand God’s ability

To make all things new in our life

Because that is precisely what He does as the creator God.

 

He makes us a new creation.

 

That is actually what Jesus told Nicodemus one night in Israel.

 

John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

 

• Man doesn’t need to be renovated

• Man doesn’t need to be reconditioned

• Man doesn’t need to be reformed

 

Man must be RECREATED

Only God can do this.

He is the Creator.

 

So it is here.

The PLAN is for God to display His ability to transform.

 

So in God’s plan of creation

He started with an unformed, wasted, empty, confused world.

And then He went to work.

 

And what you see is that over the course of the next 6 days

God renovated and redeemed this empty barren nothingness.

 

And I don’t find it necessary to try to spend great detail on each day.

Even Moses seems to fly through them, rather choosing to make sure that

You and I see the progression of what God was doing.

 

VERSES 3-5 – Day 1

 

There God creates light.

Interesting by the way that God created light on day 1,

But the sun doesn’t get created until day 4.

 

Don’t ever be confused as to who the real light of the world is.

 

And incidentally God always starts here.

He shines light in the darkness.

 

Light reveals

Light exposes

Light enlightens

 

God does this first and thus undeniably reveals

That there is work to be done.

 

Even when Jesus came, He first revealed the problem, then He fixed it.

That is what God was doing even back as far as creation.

 

VERSES 6-8 – Day 2

 

Here we have God actually taking the formless void

And beginning to shape it into form.

 

I honestly have to tell you that this a marvelous day of creation

And really a mind blowing one.

 

God separates two formless waters and puts the sky in between

 

We instantly have earth, then we have sky,

And we have the entire outer space.

The hymn writer had it correct:

“O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee; How great Thou art!”

 

That is what you are supposed to see.

 

VERSES 9-13 – Day 3

 

Again consider the awesome power of God.

In one instant He restrained the power of the sea.

He told it to stop and go no further.

 

Job 38:8-11 “Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’?”

 

Amazing what God can do, and the awesome power He has.

 

Isaiah 40:12 “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?”

 

God then told trees and plants to arise and bear fruit, and it did.

 

If you don’t find the miracle in this, go give your hand to farming.

There is nothing easy about bringing forth a crop and yet God did it with such ease.

 

VERSES 14-19 – Day 4

 

Here God hung the sun and the moon and placed the stars in place.

 

Consider the order of the universe.

• The precise faithfulness by which the solar system operates.

• Consider that stars since that very day have been a steady guide for navigation, completely unwavering.

 

It is the order of God’s creation that blows the mind here.

• We never get too close to the sun and cook.

• We never got too far away and freeze.

• We never spin too fast or too slow.

• We never fall off of this globe.

 

It is really staggering to think about

What God did on the fourth day of creation.

 

VERSES 20-23 – Day 5

 

Ever try to stock a tank?

Ever try to keep a fish alive in an aquarium?

And yet notice what God did in a single day.

He stocked the ocean and

Commanded fish to fill the oceans, lakes, and rivers.

 

God then filled the sky with birds, all because He could.

 

VERSES 24-31 – Day 6

 

A pretty important day to you and me.

God made animals and humanity.

 

God didn’t make monkeys and mysteriously

Half of them turned into humans and the other half stayed monkeys.

God created things then exactly as we know them today.

 

And then an amazing feat:

(26-27) “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

 

First we see the trinity, way back at Creation.

“Let Us make man in Our image”

 

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all present at the Creation.

 

But we also see God’s undeniable affection towards humanity,

As God does something for humanity

That He did for no other aspect of creation.

 

“God created man in His own image”

 

Now don’t misunderstand this.

That does not mean God looks like a human.

 

Yes Scripture does speak of God’s hands or His feet or His eyes.

But Scripture also speaks of His pinions and wings.

 

Psalms 91:4 “He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.”

 

The image of God here refers to the reality that caused David to marvel, that God would share His authority

 

Psalms 8:6 “You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,”

 

Of all that God created, He chose to give man His image of authority.

He chose to put man as head of the earth.

If you want to know why all things aren’t presently subjected to man, and why he doesn’t presently rule, keep reading the book of Genesis and we’ll see why.

 

Sin is coming and Satan would usurp man’s position from him.

Now Satan is the god of this world.

But it doesn’t change the fact that God gave it to him.

 

And incidentally, that God will one day give it back.

Hebrews 2:8-9 “YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”

 

Jesus came in the form of man to take man’s penalty

And redeem man from the fall of sin.

 

But the beauty of all of this is that God stands as

The specific author of all creation and through creation

Reveals a tremendous fondness for humanity.

 

And might I say that one of the reasons Israel struggled so much in her history is that SHE FORGOT JUST WHO HER GOD WAS.

 

Isaiah 40:27-31 “Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”

 

Israel reached points of despair, because they routinely likened their God

To that of the false gods of the earth.

 

In fact that same chapter reveals why Israel was so distraught about God.

Isaiah 40:18-26 “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him? As for the idol, a craftsman casts it, A goldsmith plates it with gold, And a silversmith fashions chains of silver. He who is too impoverished for such an offering Selects a tree that does not rot; He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman To prepare an idol that will not totter. Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble. “To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.”

 

Israel had forgotten the glorious splendor of her God.

She had reduced Him to be equal with His creation by likening Him to idols.

 

Well when you make your god small, you lose faith in him.

That is what Israel did.

 

God had to remind them as to who He was as Creator

So that they would understand not only His care for them,

But also His ability to help them.

 

• God said, why are you in despair?

• Don’t you remember who I am?

I am “The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth”

 

That is true for you as well.

Set back and marvel at exactly who your God is.

 

• When you cry out to Him, you are not calling out to some weak

god formed by the thought of man.

 

• You are crying out to the all powerful God whose very power and

thought formed you.

 

He is God and He favors you!

 

At no time should Israel be intimidated by the false gods of the world.

Sea gods Sun gods Land gods

 

You may remember from the Kings

1 Kings 20:23 “Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the mountains, therefore they were stronger than we; but rather let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.”

 

That was the view of much of the world.

Various gods were territorial at best.

And Israel had no reason to fear any of those gods.

 

Jehovah was not a sea god or a land god or a sun god

He created the Sea, He created the Sun, He created the Land

 

Nor could He be formed into an image of fish or bird or animal.

He created all of those things.

 

Moses wanted Israel to know that despite what they had been told in Egypt, only One God created it all.

 

Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

We also see that all God created was “good”

 

That is a far cry from the work of the pagan gods

They had become associated with.

 

Those demonic deities never did anything good.

(How much good do false gods do today?)

 

But THE God was good and He does good.

There is no reason to run to other gods.

 

When you look at Creation and all God did,

You must see that Your God is God that He is a good God,

And He has a divine plan for you.

 

The Plan of Creation was to show you that reality.

 

The Point, The Power, The Plan

#4 THE PERFECTION OF CREATION

Genesis 2:1-3

 

I hope you also see the tremendous wonder of these verses.

“God completed His work”

“He rested from all His work”

 

We know God never sleeps nor slumbers, but He did rest here.

 

But rest doesn’t indicate that God was tired,

But rather that God was finished.

 

From the very start of the creation process there always something that still needed to occur.

 

• It was a mess

• It was too dark

• There was no form

• We need land

• The land needs plants

• We need animals

• God wants humans

 

Each day revealed God perfecting His creation

Until He finally made it perfect.

 

And when it was perfect, He was done.

It was finished.

He rested.

 

No more building, no more renovating, no more tweaking.

It was done.

And that is the God of creation.

• He didn’t stop half-way

• He didn’t leave it in the balance

• What He started He finished

• What was formless and empty He perfected fully

 

And might I remind you this morning that this is always what God does.

Even in your life. (you are also His creation)

 

• We were in pieces and shambles, our life was a mess.

• And then light entered the equation.

• And piece by piece, day by day, God began to work His redemptive work on

you and me.

 

He is making us a new creation.

Working, molding, shaping

 

And He does not stop until He is completely finished.

Romans 8:30 “and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

 

Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

 

And incidentally this is also true of His work in redemption.

 

• Christ came

• He faced a world filled with sin and set out to be the atoning sacrifice.

• He set out to be the One who redeemed this world from sin.

• He toiled and labored and preached and worked

• He took our sin upon Himself and hung upon a cross

 

And then the work was done…

John 19:30 “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

 

And following that…He rested

 

Hebrews 10:11-14 “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

 

There was nothing more to do…

• There is nothing more that needs to be done…

• No more tweaking…

• No more modifying…

• It is finished and it is good

 

AND WE KNOW THAT BECAUSE THAT IS WHO GOD IS.

From Creation to the Cross, to the Consummation of the ages,

God has always been the God who bring perfection out of ruin

And does it so perfectly that nothing else needs to be done.

 

When you look at the creation story of Genesis 1,

It is not a story about creation.

It is a story about the God of creation.

 

• His Transcendence

• His Power

• His Grace

• His Redemption

• His Perfection

 

This is the God of Creation

This is the God of Israel

This is the God of the Bible

 

And from the opening pages we settle in the fact of who He is

And realize that if God is for us, who can be against us.

 

This morning I simply invite you to settle the issue as to who is your god.

The false gods of this world or the true God, maker of heaven and heart.

 

Joshua said it like this:

Joshua 24:15 “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

 

Elijah said it like this:

1 Kings 18:21 “Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.”

 

Jesus said it like this:

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

 

And it really doesn’t get any clearer than that.

The Lord is God

 

Choose Him

Serve Him

Worship Him

Obey Him

 

He was the only God at the beginning

And He will be the only God at the end.