Life after the Fall

Genesis 5:1-32

December 29, 2013

 

Chapter 5 is another sobering chapter in the opening pages of the Bible.

I nearly just called this chapter “LIFE”

 

How many times growing up did I face a hardship and my mom say,

“Well, that’s just life”

 

We may not be sure of a lot of things, but one thing we are sure of:

• Life is not FAIR

• Life is not EASY

• Life is just Life

 

No book laments this reality more than the book of Ecclesiastes.

In that book the old preacher tells the young man

To take off his rose colored glasses and see that sometimes life just stinks.

 

Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 “Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.”

 

Ecclesiastes 8:14-15 “There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility. So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.”

 

That old man has lived a while hasn’t he?

• He knows that bad things happen to good people.

• He knows that pains can last too long.

• He knows that life can deal a person misery.

 

The preacher knew that life wasn’t fair, and if you are waiting for life to get fair, you’re going to be disappointed.

 

Those realities lead us to the other reality of Ecclesiastes

That while life stinks you might as well find enjoyment in the little things.

 

Ecclesiastes 5:18 “Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward.”

 

Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 “Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.”

In other words, don’t set your hopes for something spectacular.

You’re better off learning to enjoy the little everyday things.

 

• Enjoy a job well done

• Enjoy a good meal

• Enjoy a clean garment

• Enjoy oil upon the head

• Enjoy your spouse

 

Don’t hold out hope for the exceptional life

Learn to appreciate the ordinary one.

Life rarely yields up the fantasy.

 

Today we would say, “Hollywood is not reality”

 

And the hardships are so real that at times the preacher says

It nearly drove him to the point of insanity.

 

SUCH IS LIFE AFTER THE FALL

 

And Genesis chapter 5 is a chapter

That also removes the rose colored glasses and deals with life.

 

At this point in the story we know why life is hard.

That answer is sin.

 

Life wasn’t hard before the fall, but it certainly is now.

Sin came in and wrecked God’s creation and now life is hard.

 

Chapter 5 begins to tell the story of humanity as they live this life.

 

Moses is taking Israel on a journey from Adam to Abraham

And there we see the response of man to this new life of toil.

 

The important thing is that you see that the hardships of this life

Serve a very important purpose.

 

Today’s hardships are meant to push man to seek the Savior,

And that is precisely what Genesis chapter 5 reveals.

 

There are four main things we see here.

#1 THE GIFT OF LIFE

Genesis 5:1-2

 

Moses actually recaps a little here in the first 2 verses.

It is always important that you understand how this whole thing started.

 

Regardless of how hard life is now,

You must know that it was not intended to be this way.

Make sure that when you view negative things

You do not allow those things to tarnish your opinion of God.

Life is hard, but God is good

 

And Moses wants you to understand from the beginning that

Life may be hard, but you wouldn’t even have it were it not for God

 

And so it is beneficial to recap this important reality.

 

Let me remind you of a few important truths here in these first two verses.

1) HIS MAKER

“This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man…”

 

Again we are reminded that God created man.

• Man did not evolve.

• His beginning was instant, static, definite.

• One instant there was nothing and the next, there was man.

 

Furthermore it reiterates God’s desire for a relationship with man.

 

IN A PAGAN WORLD, IT IS JUST THE OPPOSITE.

You have man creating god.

 

• It is man who wants companionship.

• It is man who wants a protector

• It is man who wants a provider

 

And so man creates a god to fill the void in his life.

The very semblance of that picture paints their god as

Far off, aloof, distant, and uninterested.

 

But that perversion is not reality.

Man did not create God, God created man.

God is the catalyst.

God is the originator.

God is the starter.

We didn’t start with man wanting God, we started with God wanting man.

 

AND THAT NEVER CHANGES.

God is always the catalyst for the relationship.

 

John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

 

Ephesians 2:1-7 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

 

The fact that God created man answers the question

As to whether He desires a relationship or not.

And because He created man, that answer is an emphatic yes.

 

James 4:5 “Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?”

 

We see that God is the maker and pursuer of man.

2) HIS MOLD

“He made him in the likeness of God.”

 

We are reminded that man was made in the likeness of God.

 

And again, this doesn’t mean that man looks like God.

No one knows what God looks like.

 

Even during the incarnation, Jesus had to take the form of man,

Which indicates that He was not in that form previously.

 

Philippians 2:7 “but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”

 

What this does indicate is that man was made

With the capacity to know God

And was created with the capacity to have similar attributes.

 

Like God, man can demonstrate love, patience, endurance, mercy, etc.

It is not the visual form, but our spiritual ability that makes us in God’s image.

 

That means that God-like-ness is the goal we are to pursue.

 

Matthew 5:43-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? “If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

 

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

 

1 Peter 1:14-16 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

We are made in the God’s mold and intended to fill that mold as we live.

 

Man’s Maker, Man’s Mold

3) HIS MATE

“He created them male and female”

 

Certainly that is a part of the story that I am thankful for.

God created man for a relationship,

But in some ways God could still see that man was alone.

 

God knew earthly fellowship was important in this life

And so God created a suitable helper for the man.

 

And this is a reminder that God intended for this life

To be filled with pleasure and fulfillment.

 

God did not intend for Adam’s life to be boring, or dull, or trying, or lonely

God specifically acted to bring fullness to the life of man

With the creation of woman.

 

4) HIS MERCY

“and He blessed them”

 

Perhaps mercy isn’t the best term here,

What we have is God graciously choosing to bless man.

 

Certainly creation and a companion should have been enough,

And yet God goes further by actually blessing man.

 

Specifically the blessing could be anything from THE DOMINION He gave man all the way to THE ABILITY FOR MAN TO MULTIPLY.

 

Genesis 1:28 “God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

 

In a very generic way we simply understand that God favors man.

 

God is like a father rooting for our success.

• He is for us.

• He longs to bless us.

• The mercy of that is that this desire did not change after the fall.

 

While it is true that at the fall we inherited a curse,

Mercy is seen in that we did not lose the blessing.

 

His Maker, His Mold, His Mate, His Mercy

5) HIS MERIT

“and named them Man in the day when they were created.”

The merit is seen in the fact that God named man.

 

Whereas the man named the animals (and even the woman),

God named the man.

 

Names are significant in Scripture (even the names of God)

• They revealed ones character

• They were often prophetic of one’s life (Jabez, Jesus)

• But even more than that, they showed value.

 

God’s naming the man indicates that the man had value to God.

 

I learned this lesson as a kid growing up.

When your dad is a horse trader, you learn not to get too attached to horses.

We didn’t name them unless we got to keep them.

 

Man holds merit as God’s treasured creation.

We aren’t valuable because of what we can do,

We are valuable because the Creator values us.

 

And so in the first two verses we see God’s gift of life.

It started glorious.

It began perfectly.

God intended for man to have a wonderful life.

 

However, in came the fall and you know what happened next.

 

The Gift of Life

#2 THE CURSE OF DEATH

Genesis 5:3-20

 

Now certainly we see Adam’s descendants listed.

And it is significant that a direct line can be traced from Adam all the way to Christ.

 

But really the truth that I want you to see

Is the reoccurring reality of these 18 verses.

 

Verse 1 started by saying, “This is the book of the generations of Adam”

Another way to say that is – THIS IS WHAT BECAME OF ADAM

 

If you want to know what became of Adam and his descendants.

It is stated 8 times in this chapter.

 

(5) “So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.”

 

(8) “So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.”

 

(11) “So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died.”

 

(14) “So all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.”

 

(17) “So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.”

 

(20) “So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.”

 

(27) “So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.”

 

(31) “So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.”

 

Get the picture?

“and he died”

 

Genesis 3:19 “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.”

 

Nothing reiterates that the curse is in full effect

Like the death of everyone on planet earth.

 

Romans 6:23 nailed it:

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

 

Man tried his best.

Methuselah even lasted 969 years,

But all man could do was delay death, they couldn’t defeat it.

 

They all died.

 

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”

 

Ecclesiastes 2:16 “For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die!”

 

Ecclesiastes 9:2-3 “It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.”

 

James even taught us that this life is merely a vapor.

James 4:13-16 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.”

This life is a vapor and there is absolutely no certainty

As to how long it will be.

 

You are not guaranteed 75 years, you are not guaranteed 50 years,

In our day you aren’t even guaranteed to make it out of the womb.

 

Life is fleeting.

 

Now the Bible does say that by honoring your father and mother

You are promised a long life, but not eternal life.

 

Death is a reality.

 

Someday people will gather at your funeral (unless you were a punk)

And people will walk by your casket and say, “he sure looks good”

 

But rest assured death is coming.

 

The Gift of Life, The Curse of Death

#3 THE HOPE OF VICTORY

Genesis 5:21-24

 

While death does continue to occur,

We are graciously given here a glimpse of hope.

 

Maybe there is a way to overcome death.

Maybe there is a way to conquer the grave.

After all, Enoch did.

 

Everyone before Enoch died

Everyone after Enoch died

Enoch stands out as the oddity of the chapter.

But we certainly want to know HOW he achieved it.

 

(24) “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”

 

Do not underestimate the significance here.

 

God did give more humans to Adam for earthly fellowship,

But NONE of those humans WERE MEANT TO BE A SUBSTITUTE

For Adam’s relationship with God.

 

Man could enjoy man, but man still needs God.

Enoch proves that.

 

In a relationship with God is found

The secret to life and victory over death.

 

“Enoch walked with God” (i.e. “was dedicated to God”) for 300 years.

 

And because of Enoch’s faithfulness to God,

God spared him the agony of death.

 

Hebrews 11:5 “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.”

 

So we find that Enoch was pleasing to God.

 

The key in the word from Hebrews 11:5 is that

Enoch “obtained the witness…he was pleasing”

 

Enoch had an epic achievement.

• He didn’t create the longer lasting light bulb…

• He didn’t run a sub 4 minute mile…

• He didn’t even travel to the moon…

 

But Enoch did achieve a righteous reputation before God.

 

After 300 years of living, there was no longer a debate

As to whether or not Enoch loved God.

Everyone could see it.

 

Now was he sinless? No.

But he was faithful.

 

Jude 14-15 “It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

 

Enoch was a man who stood against the culture

And preached a message of holiness to the people.

Enoch was faithful

 

And God saw in Enoch the opportunity to reveal

That death can be escaped through a true relationship with Him.

 

THIS ACT GAVE HOPE.

If man could be pleasing to God, he could skip death.

 

Enoch showed that there is value in forsaking sin.

Enoch showed that there is value in pursuing a relationship with God.

Enoch’s life was one of the greatest sermons ever preached.

 

Now that does not mean that we can live good enough to skip death.

What it does reveal is that righteousness

Is the means of overcoming death.

 

And we get our righteousness from Christ.

John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

 

Through Jesus we obtain the status of Enoch.

 

But the point here is that God so values the righteous life,

That if a man obtains it, death can be defeated.

 

That was the first ray of hope this world saw since Adam left the garden.

 

Everything had continued on a downward spiral.

• Be born

• Fight the ground

• Die

 

But all of a sudden we see that death can be overcome.

 

The Gift of Life, The Curse of Sin, The Hope of Victory

#4 THE SEARCH FOR REST

Genesis 5:25-32

 

The life of Enoch opened the door

The life of Enoch gave hope that death may not be man’s only fate

 

About the time that people were accepting that there was nothing they could do about death, Enoch’s departure put a desire for something better.

 

However, Enoch wasn’t the norm.

Enoch was an example God used to instill a desire for righteousness.

 

We still know that on our own

The perfect righteousness of God is not attainable.

 

We heard Jesus respond to the Rich Young Ruler about how none is good but God alone, and we saw him walk away sad.

 

The disciples asked:

Matthew 19:25-26 “When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

 

So Enoch’s life was a very important illustration,

But we still know that achieving that is easier said than done.

 

So what is man to do?

He knows the goal – that is righteousness.

Now the question is how to get there.

 

And the answer is: MAN NEEDS HELP

 

And in these verses you see how desperate man is for it.

 

In fact after the lives of Methuselah, and Lamech,

Reality is setting in that they cannot achieve the righteous standard.

 

So they go looking for someone who is innocent

And hope that he can maintain that innocence and deliver them.

 

(28-29) “Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son. Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed.”

 

You can almost see Lamech holding his new born son,

Seeing him in perfect innocence, unstained by the moral failures of humanity.

And the hope is that this baby remains pure and serves as a deliverer.

 

It is hope for help.

“This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands”

 

It is Lamech saying, “Surely if I can raise Noah to be holy (like Enoch), then he can guide us to reverse the curse.”

 

And can’t you imagine the depth of Lamech’s desire?

I’ve had 36 years of the curse.

Some of you have had a few more years than that.

 

But Lamech had already fought the curse for 182 years.

Methuselah had already fought it around 365 years.

 

They were sick of the curse.

They wanted help.

They wanted deliverance.

 

Now fast forward to Moses and his congregation.

430 years of bondage

Now in the wilderness

 

AND WHAT WERE THEY SEEKING?

 

Deuteronomy 12:10 “When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security,”

 

The children of Israel were just like Lamech.

They had fought the curse far too long and they also wanted rest.

 

And in Genesis 5 Moses is revealing to the children of Israel

The real possibility of rest.

 

Sure life is hard

• Take off your rose colored glasses

• Bad things happen to good people

• Bad things happen to God’s people

 

There is much suffering to endure

But rest in the middle of it is possible.

 

• Enoch achieved it.

• Lamech hoped for it.

 

Now Moses was offering it to the children of Israel.

The same rest Lamech wanted was the rest Moses was offering the children of Israel.

 

Their path to achieving it was through obedience to God

(i.e walking with Him)

 

If the children of Israel would simply follow God’s commandments,

They too would have rest, living in a land flowing with milk & honey.

 

Now, the tragedy is that we know the story.

Israel never entered that rest.

 

They grumbled and complained and failed to trust and failed to obey,

And even failed to enter the land.

• God caused them to wander for 40 years in the wilderness without rest.

 

• Even when the next generation did enter, they failed to fully obey and drive out all the inhabitants of the land.

And those remaining inhabitants became thorns in the side of Israel, and led them away from the Lord and caused Israel to fail to achieve God’s rest.

 

• In fact Israel would eventually be removed from her promised land because of her disobedience.

 

Yes they would come back, but rest was still not achieved.

• We have stories of Sanballat oppressing Israel as they seek to rebuild.

• We know about the war with Greece

• We know about the occupation of Rome

And we realize that the rest Lamech had desired

Managed to allude Israel throughout her entire history.

 

UNTIL…

God became flesh and dwelt among us.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

 

There it was!

The rest we had been seeking!

The One to grant us rest in the midst of this toilsome life!

 

Life is hard, but Jesus is offering rest.

 

And all we can say to that is to remind you that rest is still available.

• Have you been battling the curse?

• Are the brutal realities of life smashing you in the face?

 

Well, such is life.

But rest is available.

 

Hebrews 4:9 “So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.”

 

I’ve heard it thousands of times:

Someone visits a hospital…

Someone visits someone in need…

 

And before they leave you commonly hear the phrase:

“Well, get some rest”

 

That’s good advice, but aren’t just talking about sleep.

We are talking about help.

 

We are talking about Jesus entering your situation

And helping you through it or even out of it.

 

This is the new reality of humanity.

 

Life is hard

Death is real

Rest is possible

And Jesus can give it.

 

Here Comes Sin – part 3

Genesis 4:1-26 (16-26)

December 22, 2013

 

Many of you have seen the story unfold this week about the star of Duck Dynasty – Phil Robertson being fired by A&E

For his comments that homosexuality is a sin.

 

And Phil Robertson’s firing is just another example of our society

Doing the best it can to call evil good and good evil.

 

Even following this story on Fox News Thursday night I watched

As Sean Hannity asked a woman on his panel

If she thought pre-marital sex was a sin.

 

The woman quickly said, “No, I don’t believe it is.”

 

And none of that is shocking to us, we know those views are out there, however at times through stories like this

We are forced to acknowledge it again.

 

We live in a world that genuinely believes things like premarital sex, adultery, polygamy, homosexuality, and things like these are ok.

In fact the only thing that is not ok, is to say that those things are sinful.

 

And when faced with that reality many of us sit back in frustration and say, “What has happened?”

 

Well, let me introduce you to the third point of Genesis chapter 4,

And that is that, SIN SPREADS.

 

We have been studying through the book of Genesis,

And we have seen God’s perfect creation and man’s fall.

 

Presently we are looking at Genesis chapter 4.

It is a chapter we entitled, “Here Comes Sin”

 

It is a chapter that forces us to take off our rose colored glasses

And face the facts about sin in this world and sin in our lives.

 

Thus far we have seen two points, and I want to highlight them quickly

To pull this whole chapter back into context.

#1 THE SCHEME OF SIN

Genesis 4:1-9

 

The chapter started with Adam and Eve

Beginning their lives outside of the garden.

 

Eve gave birth to Cain and then Abel.

Cain worked the fields, Abel tended the flocks.

Both of these boys brought a sacrifice to God,

While God accepted Abel, He had no regard for Cain or his offering.

The reason is because Abel offered his in faith, while Cain did not.

 

• They could not have known that blood was required…

• They could not have known that God desired the first fruits…

• There was no Law yet to this effect.

 

But obviously Adam and Eve had taught the boys about the Lord

And that all things come from Him, and that we are to live our lives in obedience to Him

And to thank Him for His help.

No doubt, Abel did this.

 

Cain, on the other hand, obviously didn’t do that.

Instead, his offering was more of a manipulative and legalistic offering

Meant to motivate God to help more.

 

• God saw through Cain’s scheme and did not accept his purpose.

• This caused Cain to become angry and his countenance fell.

 

That moment brought about a great truth from God on the subject of sin.

 

Genesis 4:6-7 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

 

In those two verses God exposed the scheme of sin.

Sin is a hunter. Sin is a stalker.

 

Gone are the days in the garden, where all one has to do

Is avoid the tree and they will remain righteous.

 

It no longer matters if you are seeking sin,

Because sin is now seeking you.

 

Furthermore Cain needed to resist temptation and determine to do well.

 

Unfortunately Cain did not.

When he was in the field with Abel, Cain rose up and killed him.

 

Sin schemed against Cain and mastered him.

And we said, sin will do the same to you.

 

Last week we saw the second reality about sin.

#2 THE SIMILARITY OF SIN

Genesis 4:9-16

 

And the point here was simple.

Sin is not original, Sin is not innovative.

It has been doing the same thing to people since the beginning.

• What sin did Adam, it also did to Cain.

• What sin did to Cain, it would also do to the children of Israel.

• What sin did to Israel, it will also do to you.

 

In Adam’s sin

• We saw God confront him.

• We saw Adam receive a curse.

• We saw Adam receive the consequence of death.

 

In Cain we saw the same.

• God confronted him

• God cursed him

• Cain understood the consequence of death

 

John 10:10a “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…”

 

And to think that sin will do anything different in your life is just to be naïve.

Sin is a hunter and hunter’s kill.

 

• Sin is not looking to add fulfillment to your life…

• Sin is not looking to add pleasure to your life…

• Sin is not looking to bring prosperity to your life…

• SIN IS LOOKING TO END YOUR LIFE

 

And that is what it has done for every single person

Since it entered this world.

 

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”

 

And yet that is not all.

This morning we find a third reality about sin.

 

#3 THE SPREAD OF SIN

Genesis 4:16-26

 

There is no denying that sin is bad, and there is no denying that

It always brings about the same consequences.

 

But here we learn what is perhaps the worst reality about sin,

And that is that it spreads.

 

Sin is more than a tragic accident, sin is an epidemic.

Sin is a plague.

 

It moves from one to the next.

It spreads among friends, it spreads down generational lines,

It infects and then moves on to infect another.

 

Our world has learned a thing or two about infectious diseases.

Hygiene is stressed to prevent spreading germs

In Africa True Love Waits is taught to prevent spreading HIV

And in some cases even quarantines are enforced to stop diseases

 

We have learned that things can spread from one human to another,

But none of those things spreads as rapidly or as dangerously as sin.

 

Moses taught us:

Exodus 20:5-6 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

 

Moses was not, as some suggest, outlining a reality

Where children are punished for their father’s sins.

 

The reality is however that children often follow in their father’s footsteps.

 

And this is reinforced here in Genesis 4 as we see the lineage of Cain.

 

Cain was an ungrateful worshiper, turned murderer, turned apostate.

But it didn’t stop with Cain.

It spread from him throughout his entire lineage.

 

This morning I want us to look a little closer at this passage

And not only see that sin spreads, but HOW sin spreads.

 

• If we talked about how AIDS spreads we would talk about monogamy and abstinence

• If we talked about how Typhoid spreads we would talk about hygiene and clean water

 

Well, how does sin spread?

 

There are four ways.

All seen in how it spread through Cain’s family.

 

IT SPREADS BY:

1) PURSUING SELF (16-17)

 

We actually looked at verse 16 briefly last week, but it is important to look at it again

And understand exactly what is happening.

 

“Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.”

 

This verse details the apostasy of Cain.

An apostate is one who at some point in life

Claims to be a follower of the Lord, but then defects from Him.

 

That was Cain.

One day claiming to be a worshiper of God, the next day totally defecting from Him.

Cain was running away from the Lord.

WHY?

 

• Cain had no use for God’s instruction

• Cain had no use for God’s watchful eye

• Cain had no use for God’s requirements

 

He wanted a place of supposed freedom where God could not

SEE him or FIND him or INSTRUCT him or REBUKE him.

 

Of course there is no place like that:

Psalms 139:7-12 “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.”

 

It is impossible to get beyond God’s watchful eye.

 

2 Chronicles 16:9a “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His…”

 

God sees what is going on, but that didn’t stop Cain.

• He is rebelling against God’s authority.

• He is rejecting God’s sovereign rule.

• Cain took off from God to try to live life as he desired.

 

There is no other word for this but selfishness.

(Cain certainly isn’t seeking God)

 

This is Cain looking for SELF-GRATIFICATION

 

He wasn’t interested in what pleased the Lord,

He was only interested in what pleased Cain.

 

And sin rests on this reality.

Take a person who only cares about what they want and not what God wants and you have a breeding ground for sin to rapidly spread.

 

We also see Cain looking for SELF-PRESERVATION

 

(17a) “Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city,”

 

Now that is not to say that building a city is necessarily wrong.

There is nothing sinful in building walls.

 

But with Cain we have more than that.

We have a man who is seeking to preserve his sinful life.

He has fled from God and now tried to fortify himself against God.

 

It is not only a desire to reject God’s will,

But also to protect oneself from God’s judgment.

 

It is Cain looking not only to gratify his sinful nature,

But also to protect his sinful interests.

 

And that still isn’t all.

We also see Cain looking for SELF-GRATIFICATION

 

(17b) “and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son.”

 

Psalms 49:10-12 “For he sees that even wise men die; The stupid and the senseless alike perish And leave their wealth to others. Their inner thought is that their houses are forever And their dwelling places to all generations; They have called their lands after their own names. But man in his pomp will not endure; He is like the beasts that perish.”

 

• The Bible calls Cain’s action pompous and arrogant.

• The Bible identified Cain as one who thought his “houses are forever and

[his] dwelling places to all generations;”

 

It is safe to say that according to Scripture Cain was full of himself.

 

Self-Gratification, Self-Preservation, Self-Glorification

That is how sin spreads.

It spreads by pursuing self.

 

If you want to stop the spread of sin in your life,

Then the first thing you have to do is deny self.

 

Throughout or study of the Holy Spirit we said it again and again.

There is nothing good in your flesh.

The flesh must be denied, starved, and put to death.

 

We were told to “walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.”

 

Sin spreads by convincing people to pursue selfishness.

• “It’s time you get what you deserve…”

• “At some point you need to think about your needs”

• “Don’t you deserve to have…”

 

Entertaining thoughts like that

Will soon have you vulnerable to sin and its destructive ways.

 

If you want AIDS – sleep around

If you want cancer – smoke cigarettes

And if you want to sin – just start pursuing self

Sin Spreads by Pursuing Self

2) PERVERTING TRUTH (18-19)

 

Up until now, there has never even been a hint for humanity

That God ever intended marriage to be anything

But the union of one man and one woman.

 

But all of a sudden such realities were simply disregarded.

No doubt following a selfish inclination,

Lamech decided he needed “two wives”

 

So now, not only do we have lying, murder, and apostasy,

We also have the entrance of sexual perversion.

 

Apparently Lamech thought God’s order

Was old-fashioned, or boring, or just frankly didn’t care.

 

And sin spreads that way.

It spreads when God’s truth is perverted.

 

When you start allowing yourself to overlook or pervert the commands of God, you are sitting yourself up for sin to work in your life.

 

God’s commands are given for our protection.

As we said with Eve, God is not trying to keep the good life from you.

 

God created the good life.

God is trying to preserve the good life for you.

 

Every “Thou Shalt Not” in the Bible has God’s concern for you at its core.

 

But when you push those commands aside, sin is ready to flourish.

 

And this seems to really be the case in regard to sexual sin.

I don’t know of another sin in Scripture

That God has more thoroughly explained than sexual sin.

 

TURN TO: LEVITICUS 18

 

Throughout the Old and New Testaments we are continually warned

About the dangers of sexual immorality.

 

Phil Robertson even quoted one verse that got him in a lot of trouble.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”

 

And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

We don’t have time to address every verse that rebukes sexual immorality.

And yet, sin spreads in our world

When people willingly overlook or pervert those truths.

 

I’ve heard people say:

• “Yes, but Jesus never said anything about homosexuality”

• “I’ve read Romans 1, but I think we can agree that Paul had issues”

• “Sex is just a normal bodily function, like breathing, it can’t be wrong”

 

Well, when you pervert truth like that, sin is sure to spread.

 

Sin spreads by Pursuing Self, Perverting Truth

3) PREOCCUPYING SINNERS (20-22)

 

Now here again, I am not going to say

That all of these actions were sinful in and of themselves.

 

• Having livestock is not a sin.

• Playing instruments is not a sin.

• Forging iron is not a sin.

 

But that is not the issue.

The issue is that Cain’s descendants

Were preoccupied with ways to make this life more enjoyable

And there is absolutely no mention of their desire to seek the Lord.

 

It is one thing to live in the world,

It is quite another to be preoccupied with it.

 

Philippians 3:17-21 “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

 

Setting your mind on earthly things is sinful behavior.

We are called to set our minds on the things of God.

 

And the reason is because becoming preoccupied with the things of this world will cause you to fail to see the things of God.

 

TURN TO: LUKE 14:15-33

Do you see the dangers of this world?

 

We could throw in there the Rich Young Ruler who loved his wealth.

 

We could throw in there the weedy soil of whom it says, “this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

Preoccupation with the world is a breeding ground for sin.

 

John said:

1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

 

Paul said:

1 Timothy 6:9-10 “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

 

When you are preoccupied with the things and comforts of this world,

Those things do not lead you to God.

 

Those things lead you away from the faith,

The result of that is that you are pierced with many griefs.

 

It’s not that livestock or music or bronze is bad.

It’s not. Those things are created by God for use in life.

 

But when those things become the focus at the exclusion of God

(as they were here) then we have a problem.

 

Sin spreads by Pursuing Self, Perverting Truth, and Preoccupying Sinners

4) PRESUMING JUSTIFICATION (23-24)

 

We talked about it last week, that God confronts all sin.

In fact God has created humanity with a built in convicter.

That is called the conscience.

 

The conscience was created by God as a sort of warning system

That you are in spiritual danger.

 

When we move beyond our normal boundary

The conscience rises up and produces guilt.

 

Guilt is to the soul what pain is to the body.

Pain tells you something is physically wrong, whereas guilt tells you something is spiritually wrong.

 

Guilt is not a bad thing.

(Now certainly there is such a thing as false guilt, whereby Satan accuses God’s children of being guilty when they are in fact forgiven)

 

But by in large guilt is a good thing.

However, to enjoy sin, a sinner must do something about this guilt.

A sinner must do something about their conscience.

And Scripture says that what men do is that they actually sear their conscience until it becomes calloused and hardened and ineffective.

 

Ephesians 4:17-19 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.”

 

How do sinners sear their conscience?

You do something that your conscience says is wrong, and simply ignore it or justify it until your conscience no longer bothers you.

 

And that is precisely what Lamech did here.

(23-24) “Lamech said to his wives,”Adah and Zillah, Listen to my voice, You wives of Lamech, Give heed to my speech, For I have killed a man for wounding me; And a boy for striking me; If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

 

We have again the shedding of blood and this time the justification of it.

 

It was God who said that Cain would be avenged,

but God didn’t say this about Lamech.

Lamech was justifying himself.

 

Lamech would have been the first to cry, “Judge not!”

 

He was convincing himself that his sin was ok,

That there was nothing wrong with it.

 

Now I doubt even Lamech initially believed that, but eventually he would.

 

And this is the most dangerous aspect of how sin spreads.

 

In Scripture the Bible has a very unique analogy to describe sin.

That analogy is with an illness, and that illness is leprosy.

 

Many times we see lepers with bandages or missing fingers or toes, etc.

But leprosy didn’t do that.

 

What leprosy does is numb the body to the natural pains around it.

A leper can step on a nail, but not know it.

A leper can put a hand in the fire, and not realize it.

 

The effects of the wounds cause the body to literally self-mutilate itself all because the sense of pain is numbed.

 

That is precisely what sin does to the soul.

By searing the conscience, the soul loses recognition of guilt and thus thrusts itself into destructive decisions without even realizing it.

That is what Lamech is doing.

That is what sinners do today.

 

No verse is more quoted today than “Judge not, lest ye be judged”

 

That is a great verse, but it is dealing with self-righteouness,

Not tolerance of sin.

 

In fact in that very section Jesus goes on to say that

Once you remove the beam from your eye,

You will then see clearly to remove the spec from your brother’s eye.

 

Jesus wasn’t saying to leave the spec,

Just make sure that you deal with your own sin as well.

 

Another popular story is the woman caught in adultery.

People love to say, “Let him who has no sin cast the first stone”

 

I actually had a friend from high school post this verse to me on facebook after I commented on a video he showed championing those who defended homosexuality. I posted Romans 1:32 that speaks of those who give hearty approval to sin. He responded with John 8 and the story of the woman caught in adultery.

 

So I pointed out to him that even at the end of that story Jesus looked at the woman and said, “Go and sin no more”

 

So I asked my friend, “Would I be wrong in telling a homosexual to ‘go and sin no more’?” Would it make me unlike Jesus for telling a sinner to leave his sin?

 

To my friends credit he relented and acknowledged it would not.

 

But that is where the world is.

They want to sin and then justify it.

 

But when that happens, sin is ripe to spread.

• When people Pursue Self…

• When people Pervert Truth…

• When people Preoccupy themselves with sin…

• When people Presume Justification…

 

Then an atmosphere is created where sin can easily spread.

And when sin spreads it brings with it

All the consequences that Adam and Cain already experienced.

 

We are looking to stop the spread of sin in our lives, not encourage it.

And that brings us to the final point of the chapter.

 

The Scheme of Sin – The Similarity of Sin – The Spread of Sin

#4 THE SOLUTION FOR SIN

Genesis 4:25-26

 

Here again we have the tremendous grace of God.

Cain killed Abel and Adam and Eve must have grieved daily, not only for the murder, but also for the apostasy of Cain.

 

And that makes this day a happy one

In which God replaced their grief with joy.

(25) “Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.”

 

And Seth would be no insignificant figure.

If you read Luke 3 you’ll find that Seth provided the line through which Noah, Abraham, David and Jesus Christ would come.

 

This was a gracious act on the part of God for sure.

 

We once again have a righteous line

To stand in contrast with the wicked line of Cain.

 

And for just a moment put yourselves in the shoes of Seth,

And it won’t be hard to do.

 

I grieved this week – I was angered this week

Not because Phil Robertson was fired, but because once again

I could feel the sin of the world being crammed down my throat.

 

I felt like Lot living in Sodom and Gomorrah.

2 Peter 2:8 “(for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),”

 

And it wasn’t just an anger, but a helplessness.

WHAT ARE WE TO DO?

 

Our culture is embracing sin at rapid rate,

And it feels like we are helpless to do anything about it.

But that is not true.

 

Seth and his line knew precisely what to do about it.

(26) “To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD.”

 

Seth had it right.

The righteous must pray.

 

• Seth knew that he needed God’s help.

• He needed God’s intervention.

• There was nothing he could do to stop the spread, but God could.

 

And we know this don’t we?

2 Chronicles 7:14 “and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

 

And we have to remember this.

• Look, I told A&E I wouldn’t watch again until the apologized.

• I certainly appreciate others speaking out for the truth.

 

But even in all of that you and I must realize

That boycotts will not save our country.

 

We must realize that political action will not save our country.

 

Only God can save America.

• Speak the truth – sure

• Abstain from evil – absolutely

• Encourage those in power – of course

 

BUT ABOVE ALL PRAY THAT GOD WOULD INTERVENE

 

I’m reminded of the Psalm of David:

 

We’ll close here: TURN TO: PSALMS 11

 

The righteous don’t flee, they pray.

Calling on God is the only hope.

 

So there we have Genesis 4 and a tremendous sermon by Moses

To Israel about the dangers of sin and the solution for it.

 

• Sin is scheming – it wants to kill you

• Sin is similar – it only does one thing

• Sin is spreading – through the selfish desires of men

 

But there is a solution – CALL ON THE LORD!

 

Romans 10:13 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

 

God is a help and a shield in time of battle.

God can fix the problem.

 

Abstain from sin and cry out to God for help.

 

Here Comes Sin – part 1

Genesis 4:1-26

December 8, 2013

 

Well, you know where we are in our study of Genesis.

 

God made a wonderful and perfect creation,

And now that seems like a distant memory.

 

• God’s paradise has now become tainted.

• God’s wonderful garden has been ruined.

 

Man had everything he could possibly need,

But through temptation he chose to transgress the command of God.

And sin entered the world.

 

The immediate consequence of sin was shame.

• No sooner did Adam eat the fruit than did he go to looking for a covering.

 

The continual consequence of sin was the curse.

• Enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman.

• Pain in bearing children

• Toil as you work the ground

 

And the ultimate consequence of sin was death.

• Adam and Even driven from the garden

• Guarded from the tree of life

• Adam was destined to die

 

God would not permit man to live forever in a sinful state.

Adam came from the ground and to the ground he must return.

Death was coming.

 

All of this because of sin.

 

And you would think that at this point

Mankind would realize they had opened Pandora’s box

And would do everything they could to never open it again.

 

You would think that man would have learned their lesson

And would now leave sin alone completely.

 

And yet that is not at all what happens.

In fact, we get just the opposite.

 

Looking at Genesis chapter 4 Moses now shows us what sin can do.

 

I call this chapter “HERE COMES SIN” because we see how quickly it can spread, how far it can spread, and how devastating it can be.

 

When man let sin into the world, he introduced a foe that would not stop.

• In chapter 3 we learned that sin separates.

• In chapter 4 we learn that it also slaughters and spreads.

 

But in order to make sure that everyone understood exactly

What sin’s agenda is, Moses gives us a very telling chapter.

 

You can break this chapter into 4 main points,

And each of those you can break down further.

 

This morning we will look at the first 8 verses.

 

But the main objective here is so that you will see

Beyond a shadow of a doubt

That sin is nothing to be messed with.

 

Let’s look at the first point this morning.

#1 THE SCHEME OF SIN

Genesis 4:1-8

 

• What is it that sin wants to do?

• What plans does sin have for your life?

• If you follow sin’s tempting, where will it take you?

 

The first 8 verses of Genesis 4 paint that picture very clearly.

 

Having been driven from the garden, Adam and Eve now set out to scratch their life from the dirt of the earth.

 

But having been clothed in God’s mercy,

Adam knew Eve was given to bring life on the earth and so they had two sons.

 

The first eight verses deals with what sin desired to do in their lives.

 

Let’s take these first 8 verses and look at four things.

1) THE SONS (1-2)

 

Before we get too far into the story of Cain and Abel,

It is important once again that you recognize the goodness of our God.

 

It was in the very last chapter that Eve willfully broke the command of God

And ate fruit from the forbidden tree.

 

And we all remember the curse pronounced to her.

Genesis 3:16 “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.”

 

God made a promise to Eve,

And that promise was that child bearing would be hard.

It would be painful. – That was her curse. – That was her punishment.

God told her it would be hard.

 

And yet, as Eve begins to put that curse to the test for the very first time, who do we see right there to help her?

 

“Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.”

 

God pronounced the curse, and yet there was God

Right there to help her handle it.

 

Psalms 103:6-14 “The LORD performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.”

 

And no doubt God’s compassion

Helped Eve’s decision to have a second child.

 

(20) “Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.”

 

Now first, let’s just do a little damage control.

 

I’ve heard people over the years say, “Adam and Even had two boys, where did all the people come from?”

 

Let me remind you yet again that Genesis is not a history book,

Although it is historically accurate.

 

Moses is not trying to answer all your curiosities here.

Moses is trying to teach you a theological point.

 

We do know this:

Acts 17:26 “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,”

 

We know that God made all humanity through Adam,

But we don’t know how He did it.

 

What we do know is that truth is not essential to your salvation.

If it was, God would have told you.

 

What is essential to your salvation is understanding the role of sin in your life, and that is what Moses is revealing here.

 

And I want you to know that even by verse 2 sin is already at work.

Really? How?

 

Moses gives a very important piece of information.

“And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.”

 

Now listen, we are not saying that somehow Abel chose a pleasing profession,

Whereas Cain chose a bad one.

No, God is no less pleased with farmers than He is with shepherds.

 

The point is however that Cain chose a profession

That caused him to battle the curse of sin day in and day out.

 

Genesis 3:18-19 “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.”

 

Every day of Cain’s life was a struggle right into the effects of the curse.

 

Abel, on the other hand chose Adam’s previous profession.

Abel chose to be a keeper of animals.

Now certainly Abel fought the curse too, but Cain fought the ground.

 

Cain fought the curse every day of his life.

He would not be the last to turn his frustration for this against God.

 

But we have the sons.

2) THE SACRIFICES (3-5)

 

“So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.”

 

Many have wondered at this event.

 

• There was no Law yet.

• There were no commands yet.

• How did they know to sacrifice?

• How did they know what God wanted?

 

Some have traced their answer back from chapter 3 and said,

“Well, God clothed Adam and Even in skins so obviously they knew that God wanted blood.”

 

“And obviously that was Cain’s problem, he didn’t bring blood”

But look, that is a reach.

Certainly if bringing a blood sacrifice were of such importance

God would have made that known, and Moses would have recorded it.

 

There is no reason to assume that these men knew to bring blood.

 

Others have taken a page from the Law and said, “Well God wanted the first fruits of the harvest which Abel brought, but Cain did not, and that is why God was not pleased with Cain’s offering”

 

But again, there is no reason they should have known to bring the first.

There was no Law.

There were no commands.

 

The only Law that existed was the Law written on the human heart.

 

Here is what they would have known:

Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

 

Romans 2:14-15 “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,”

 

They had no written Law.

They had the testimony of Creation

And they had the conscience inside of them.

 

The only Law they had was written on their heart.

 

God had not commanded them to sacrifice.

• The only possible reason for doing it would have been gratitude.

• The only possible reason for bringing anything to God would have been

just to tell God thank you for His help in obtaining it.

 

There was no sin for not bringing it.

The only reason to bring it would have been to say, “Thank you”

 

It is like the giving we are commanded to do.

2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

 

I’ve heard it my whole life like you have, but if you’ll read, you’ll notice that titheing is not commanded in the New Testament.

 

That was Jewish Law dealing with provision for the priest and the poor.

It was as much an income tax as anything.

Gentiles are not under that.

• The New Testament does not command some 10% given under compulsion.

• The New Testament commands cheerful giving as your heart so moves you.

 

God doesn’t need your money,

And He doesn’t even want it if you don’t want to give it.

 

What God wants is the offering of a person

Who truly longs to give to Him based on gratitude.

 

Now that is where Cain and Abel were as well.

• There was no command.

• They didn’t have to do this.

 

So God was not looking at WHAT they brought, but WHY they brought it.

 

And that is why Moses says, “And the Lord had regard for Abel AND for his offering; but for Cain AND for his offering, He had no regard.”

 

God didn’t just reject the offering He rejected the one who brought it.

God was looking deeper.

 

• One man here was eager to approach God

• One man was grateful for what God had done

• One couldn’t wait to give back to God from his success

• He was so eager that he took the first

That was a grateful heart

That was a heart that loved God

 

But the other was different.

It is obvious that his sacrifice was not for reasons of gratitude.

• Cain was either doing it out of some sense of duty

• Or in order to manipulate God into giving him more.

 

People do both today.

Some give grudgingly because they think they have too.

Some give hoping to prompt God to bless even more.

 

And either way, God was not pleased with Cain.

 

“So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.”

 

And you can see the bitterness of Cain.

He had toiled with the ground day in and day out and now, he’s trying to get God on his side by bringing some of that produce back to him.

 

And when God won’t accept his offering, Cain gets angry.

It is built up frustration – anger – bitterness

And these were the sacrifices.

 

• For one, the struggles of this life drove him to God, and God’s obvious help led then to thanksgiving and praise.

 

• For the other, the struggles of this life made him angry at God, and the curse led him to try and manipulate God to make things easier for him.

 

You can already see that these two boys are on very different paths.

 

The Sons, The Sacrifices

3) THE SERMON (6-7)

 

“Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

 

No doubt this would have been good information

For everyone that Moses was preaching to.

 

Here we find the scheme of sin.

Here we find what sin wants from you and for you.

 

God recognized that Cain’s bitterness was about to boil over,

And so God had some very important advice for Him.

 

And this is very good information for you and I.

 

FIRST OF ALL, THERE IS NO REASON TO BE DISHEARTENED WITH GOD

 

Cain’s countenance had fallen

And God wants him to know that this was unnecessary.

 

“If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?”

 

We live in a day where people just want God

To love and accept them in spite of their sin.

 

• I want to do what I want to do and I want God to accept me this way.

• Some even seek to blame it on Him saying, “You made me this way”

 

And there is a whole theological movement seeking to cater to this desire.

 

“Who will love me for me? Not for what I have done, or what I will become?”

 

It is this desire to stay in sin and be accepted anyway.

 

God told Cain that is not how it works.

God would be more than happy to approve his offering,

But first Cain had to “do well”

 

• God wasn’t going to applaud him for not trying.

• God wasn’t going to regard him for bringing junk.

• Such an offering was actually an offense to God.

 

And God wanted Cain to know that there is a way to find fulfillment and contentment, but it comes through doing what is right.

 

And that is what leads to the second part of this sermon.

WHICH IS THAT A PERSON MUST CHOOSE TO “DO WELL”.

 

Doing well does not come automatic, it must be chosen.

If you just go with the flow, you will automatically find sin,

Not righteousness.

 

WHY?

Because sin is pursuing you.

 

SIN IS NOT IDLE

SIN IS NOT INDIFFERENT

Sin is seeking you – Sin is searching you out

Sin is looking for someone to master

 

“sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

 

Sin is a hunter.

1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

 

God wants Cain to know that he must “master” sin.

He must choose to avoid it.

He must resist the temptation.

 

Now please notice that we are already in a completely different world

Now that sin has entered.

All Adam and Eve had to do was avoid the tree.

Don’t eat from it, don’t touch it.

 

If they just woke up in the morning and did nothing,

They would automatically be righteous.

 

But now that sin has entered, it is different.

You can’t just do nothing anymore.

You can’t just be passive.

 

You can’t because sin isn’t.

Sin is hunting you.

Sin is stalking you.

You have to take measures to overcome it.

 

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 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.”

 

If Adam and Eve were to sin they had to go looking for it.

But that is not the case anymore.

 

Now sin is coming looking for you.

And that is what God wants Cain to know.

 

And that is what you need to know.

 

Its hunting season right now and we know how it works.

• A mighty hunter sets up a deer feeder.

• Then he sets up a camera to see when the deer are there.

• Then he hides in a blind at the appointed time.

• Then he takes a weapon and kills the unsuspecting animal.

 

If a deer wants to survive he had better learn he is being hunted

And he had better learn to take precaution.

 

You also are being hunted.

• Do you see the feeders out there? (temptation)

• Do you see the camera? (Satan watching your response)

 

What you don’t see is the blind, where the enemy is hiding,

Just waiting to pounce.

 

And it will enslave you.

Romans 6:16 “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?”

 

John 8:34 “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”

 

Sin is coming, sin is hunting, you have got to master it.

 

Put yourself in Cain’s shoes.

See his dilemma like so many of your own.

 

You are frustrated with the effects of the curse on your life, but instead of letting that drive you to God in gratitude for His help, you are growing bitter.

 

Watch out!

 

James said it like this:

James 1:12-15 “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 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.”

 

Sin will kill you.

You must master it!

 

I WOULD BE FAILING YOU IF I DIDN’T TELL YOU HOW

 

TURN TO: EPHESIANS 6:10-17

(Now this only applies if you are a believer)

 

But if you are, pay attention to what Paul says.

(EXPOUND ON EPHESIANS 6)

 

The Sons, The Sacrifices, The Sermon

4) THE SLAUGHTER (8)

 

“Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.”

 

Obviously Cain did not master sin.

Can fell prey to its work.

 

Now, the murder is bad enough, but let me help you see

Why it’s even worse than you originally thought.

 

• God didn’t accept Cain’s sacrifice and his countenance fell.

• God then corrected Cain with a very important sermon about the path Cain was on.

 

And what happened?

“Cain told Abel his brother.”

• He told Abel about the sacrifice…

• He told Abel about his frustration…

• He told Abel about God’s warning…

 

And what do you suppose happened next?

“And it came about when they were in the field…”

 

Where were they?

“in the field”

 

But Abel wasn’t a farmer, he was a keeper of the flock.

Cain was the farmer.

 

What was happening?

Abel was helping Cain

Cain bore his soul to Abel about his frustration and situation

And Abel rose up to bear his brother’s burden.

 

• He was there simply to help Cain not be so frustrated.

• He was there to lighten the burden of the curse.

• He was there to help Cain win his battle.

 

But it didn’t matter.

Cain was being hunted.

 

• He overlooked Abel’s pattern of sacrifice and blessing

• He ignored God’s warning about sin

• He disregarded Abel’s generosity to try and help

 

And “Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.”

 

Here is that enmity that was promised.

Cain killed Abel out of enmity toward God.

 

The only reason Cain killed him was because Abel was pleasing.

Abel was the good seed, Cain was the serpent’s seed.

 

And that enmity has carried on to this day.

 

SIN SLAUGHTERS

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

 

There is the scheme of sin.

• It is hunting you

• It is stalking you

• And if you don’t master it, it will seize you

 

And we’ll look at it next time, but just as we saw with Adam and Eve, the decision to sin did not prove to be a good one.

 

Cain also received a curse.

 

Genesis 4:11-12 “Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. “When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.”

 

And can we again make the point?

Sin is never a good idea.

 

It will wreck your life.

What looks to be such a good decision can turn south so fast.

 

 

You and I must resist it.

We must put on the full armor of God and prepare for the attack.

 

“sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

 

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.