Malfunction in Paradise
Text: Genesis Chap. 3:1-10
Well heck, lets just get straight to the point: I am getting tired of babysitting grown men! Grown men ought to know how to take care of themselves, and I don’t mean, know how to get the girls, dope and booze they think they need…
I am so tired of watching good men go to hell… I’m don’t necessarily mean the real hell but, what some of these men put themselves through has to be close to the real thing.
So many men I have come in contact with, often at first, seem to be doing fine… But time always tells the truth... What is that truth? If you hang around someone long enough you will start to find out just what they are made of or what they truly stand for.
Some proclaim Christ, and say they love Him; others whom I still respect, say all that stuff about God is a crop of bull and they go through life doing just what they want… But listen, I see so-called Christians proclaiming Christ but yet they fall into the same lifestyle as the non-believers do.
What is the problem? What is the answer? Why do so many people seemingly come to Christ only to fall back into the pit of a sinful lifestyle?
There is many different ways that I could go right now with this message, but I want for the most part to focus on #1) “Why does it happen” and #2) “What can be done”?
THE MALFUNCITIONING HUMAN BEING:
I read a story the other day about the maker of all human beings recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to the serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart… They said it was due to a malfunction in the original prototype units; code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all following units… This defect has been technically termed, “Sub sequential Internal Malfunction,” or more commonly known as SIN.
Some of the symptoms from this prototype are, “loss of direction, foul vocal emissions, amnesia of righteousness, lack of peace and joy, selfish or violent behavior, depression or confusion in the mental compartment, fearfulness, idolatry, and rebellion…” Often this unit fails to get started and often, if it does get started, fails to reach its authorized destination in the given prearranged time… Often this units tries to run off of something that it was not designed to run off of… It was designed to run “off of God” but almost always tries to run on “self.”
The Manufacturer, who is neither liable, nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this SIN defect… The Repair Technician, Jesus, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs… The number to call for repair in all arrears is: P R A Y ER!
Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure. Next, download, ATTONEMENT, from the repair technician, Jesus, into the heart component. No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with, Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Then after all this has been done, the unit will again be supplied with an operating manual… The manual gives instruction in righteousness and really tells the unit how to handle itself in life no matter what… Right on the front cover it says, “HOLY BIBLE.”
As and added upgrade, the Manufacturer has made available to all repaired units a facility enabling direct monitoring and assistance from a live-in resident, All repaired units need only make Him welcome and He will take up permanent residence on the premises.
Well heck, lets just get straight to the point: I am getting tired of babysitting grown men! Grown men ought to know how to take care of themselves, and I don’t mean, know how to get the girls, dope and booze they think they need…
I am so tired of watching good men go to hell… I’m don’t necessarily mean the real hell but, what some of these men put themselves through has to be close to the real thing.
So many men I have come in contact with, often at first, seem to be doing fine… But time always tells the truth... What is that truth? If you hang around someone long enough you will start to find out just what they are made of or what they truly stand for.
Some proclaim Christ, and say they love Him; others whom I still respect, say all that stuff about God is a crop of bull and they go through life doing just what they want… But listen, I see so-called Christians proclaiming Christ but yet they fall into the same lifestyle as the non-believers do.
What is the problem? What is the answer? Why do so many people seemingly come to Christ only to fall back into the pit of a sinful lifestyle?
There is many different ways that I could go right now with this message, but I want for the most part to focus on #1) “Why does it happen” and #2) “What can be done”?
THE MALFUNCITIONING HUMAN BEING:
I read a story the other day about the maker of all human beings recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to the serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart… They said it was due to a malfunction in the original prototype units; code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all following units… This defect has been technically termed, “Sub sequential Internal Malfunction,” or more commonly known as SIN.
Some of the symptoms from this prototype are, “loss of direction, foul vocal emissions, amnesia of righteousness, lack of peace and joy, selfish or violent behavior, depression or confusion in the mental compartment, fearfulness, idolatry, and rebellion…” Often this unit fails to get started and often, if it does get started, fails to reach its authorized destination in the given prearranged time… Often this units tries to run off of something that it was not designed to run off of… It was designed to run “off of God” but almost always tries to run on “self.”
The Manufacturer, who is neither liable, nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this SIN defect… The Repair Technician, Jesus, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs… The number to call for repair in all arrears is: P R A Y ER!
Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure. Next, download, ATTONEMENT, from the repair technician, Jesus, into the heart component. No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with, Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Then after all this has been done, the unit will again be supplied with an operating manual… The manual gives instruction in righteousness and really tells the unit how to handle itself in life no matter what… Right on the front cover it says, “HOLY BIBLE.”
As and added upgrade, the Manufacturer has made available to all repaired units a facility enabling direct monitoring and assistance from a live-in resident, All repaired units need only make Him welcome and He will take up permanent residence on the premises.
MAIN IDEA:
The fall of mankind into sin produces conditions of alienation from the Creator God, from fellow human beings, and from the created world.
THE TEMPTATION TO SIN: WHY DOES IT HAPPEN. (Gen. 3:1-5.) 1) Now the serpents was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’”? 2) The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden 3) but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4) “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5) “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be open, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3 begins with the temptation experienced by the woman and the man not to trust God… By some unreadable providence, the voice of temptation comes to the human person from outside himself, yet from within the created order… It is in God’s Garden that evil is to be found… Within a Garden in which God Himself was prepared to take the risk of human freedom, we now read of something evil.
Now, seemingly at the start of a life in paradise comes a time when human beings are faced with the question of their responsible choice… Part of the freedom of the Garden is the freedom not to trust God… Once that choice is taken, as the story of chapter three will make clear, it is a choice against every other freedom, which is ours in fellowship with God.
The freedom not to trust God becomes the doorway to the loss of freedom itself… And the human being is faced with that choice by the tempting voice of the serpent.
SUPPORTINS IDEA: Temptation occurs when Eve questions the word and the character of God. The same truth speaks for each person alive today, everywhere.
The fall of mankind into sin produces conditions of alienation from the Creator God, from fellow human beings, and from the created world.
THE TEMPTATION TO SIN: WHY DOES IT HAPPEN. (Gen. 3:1-5.) 1) Now the serpents was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’”? 2) The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden 3) but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4) “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5) “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be open, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3 begins with the temptation experienced by the woman and the man not to trust God… By some unreadable providence, the voice of temptation comes to the human person from outside himself, yet from within the created order… It is in God’s Garden that evil is to be found… Within a Garden in which God Himself was prepared to take the risk of human freedom, we now read of something evil.
Now, seemingly at the start of a life in paradise comes a time when human beings are faced with the question of their responsible choice… Part of the freedom of the Garden is the freedom not to trust God… Once that choice is taken, as the story of chapter three will make clear, it is a choice against every other freedom, which is ours in fellowship with God.
The freedom not to trust God becomes the doorway to the loss of freedom itself… And the human being is faced with that choice by the tempting voice of the serpent.
SUPPORTINS IDEA: Temptation occurs when Eve questions the word and the character of God. The same truth speaks for each person alive today, everywhere.
This is the same thing we do when we choose to sin! We question and doubt God!
Before we go any farther, I want to say to all who are listening to the sound of my voice, we are at war… We are in a spiritual war 24/7, 365 days a year…but listen to this also, the serpent is a defeated foe… Jesus Christ defeated him at Calvary’s cross… Right now he is out on bail doing his best to pull down any and everyone who will give even the slightest glance… If you give the devil an inch, he will be your ruler.
Why does Satan tempt us??? Temptation is Satan’s invitation to give in to his kind of life… Satan tempted Eve and succeeded in getting her to sin…ever since then he’s been busy getting people to sin… He even tempted Jesus, but Jesus did not sin!
How could have Eve resisted temptation? By following the same guidelines we can follow.
First, we must realize that being tempted is not a sin… We have not sinned until we give in to the temptation…
Then to resist the temptation, we must…
1) Pray for strength to resist,
2) Run, sometimes literally, and
3) Say no when confronted with what we know is wrong… James 1:12, tells of blessings and rewards for those who don’t give in when tempted.
Before we go any farther, I want to say to all who are listening to the sound of my voice, we are at war… We are in a spiritual war 24/7, 365 days a year…but listen to this also, the serpent is a defeated foe… Jesus Christ defeated him at Calvary’s cross… Right now he is out on bail doing his best to pull down any and everyone who will give even the slightest glance… If you give the devil an inch, he will be your ruler.
Why does Satan tempt us??? Temptation is Satan’s invitation to give in to his kind of life… Satan tempted Eve and succeeded in getting her to sin…ever since then he’s been busy getting people to sin… He even tempted Jesus, but Jesus did not sin!
How could have Eve resisted temptation? By following the same guidelines we can follow.
First, we must realize that being tempted is not a sin… We have not sinned until we give in to the temptation…
Then to resist the temptation, we must…
1) Pray for strength to resist,
2) Run, sometimes literally, and
3) Say no when confronted with what we know is wrong… James 1:12, tells of blessings and rewards for those who don’t give in when tempted.
In these verses, Satan, tempted Eve by getting her to doubt God’s goodness… He implied that God was strict, and selfish for not wanting Eve to share His knowledge of good and evil…
**Satan made Eve forget all about what God had already given her and, instead, focus on the one thing she could not have… We fall into trouble, also, when we dwell on the few things we don’t have… Listen, consider all you do have and thank God… Then your doubts won’t lead you into sin.
**The Serpent caused Eve to question the Word of God… (How well do you know the Word) He planted doubt in her mind when he asked, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden.’” Now What God had said to the man was, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good an evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die.”
Notice how the Evil one, through the serpent, focused on the negative, the prohibition, rather than on the generosity of God… The serpent did not dare suggest that perhaps if God had withheld this tree from humanity, it was not needed by humans…God’s prohibition was really His line of protection. (Some things are not needed!!! Drugs, booze, sexual relations outside of wedlock, lying, stealing, envy, pride, covet, etc.)
Notice also, that the Evil One addressed the woman and not the man…It was the man whom God had originally given His disclosure about the food that they were to eat…Apparently Adam had passed on to Eve what God had declared to him before she was created…
(My direct word to you, is to be obedient to the Word of God by learning the Word and then by living it and by doing it, in your every move in life. )
Eve would come to understand that God’s word is not just generally true; it’s absolutely and precisely true…God says what He means—and He means what He says…This understanding of the absolute authority of God’s Word is necessary for mankind to acknowledge, so he, (man) might respond to life’s temptations in a God-honoring manner.
Satan’s response to Eve’s somewhat less-than accurate understanding of God’s Word was to deny that God’s Word was true: “You will not surely die.” This contradicted God’s revealed word to Adam…The very first doctrine in Scripture that Satan denied is that sin results in death, (or to put it another way, Satan declared that God would not punish sin…) If he could have God’s created human being, thinking this, then sinning would not seem to serious…Sin is a matter of life and death… Death in a family, a relationship……….etc…
Now before we go any farther with this message, I want to talk about some of the Devil’s techniques.
A) Often his approach is Subtle and unexpected.
The Scripture say, “The serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD god had made” Gen: 3:1a…
Other translations say that the serpent was more subtle than the other creatures God had created…
I think it is clear that Eve had no idea what was about to happen to her…why should she? She’s quite literally in paradise…Up to this point, there has never been a “Malfunction in paradise,” but here it comes…It’s not as if she got up that day and thought to herself,
“I’d better have my quiet time today because a talking serpent is going to tempt me to sin… If I give in, I’ll bring heartache, misery, sadness, despair, loneliness, trouble, murder, mayhem, hatred, and every form of evil to billions of people for thousands of years to come.”
No, it wasn’t like that at all…She wasn’t expecting to encounter a talking serpent or to be tempted to commit the first sin…
She wasn’t looking for the serpent, but the serpent was definitely looking for her…And guess what??? He’s definitely looking for you right now!
This story from the pages of God’s Word is a warning for each of us that SATAN is looking 24/7… The devil does not give up stalking you, especially if you are a Christian…
God’s Word tells us, “Be sober, (Clear headed) be vigilant; (Watchful) because your adversary (Opponent or enemy) the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1st Peter 5:8)
We need to know and remember and be aware that the devil has many different ways in which he stalks his prey… Often he is like a wild animal that’s looks for the weak sheep to slaughter…In one way or the other he is always seeking to strike paralyzing fear into his victim, often with a loud roar but also he can come into your life when things seem to be going so well…He often uses a subtle approach…
Define subtle: So slight as to be difficult to notice… Crafty, shrewd, slight, delicate, faint, cunning, sly, understated, clever etc, in other words the serpent was slick.
In my mind eye, I can see Eve walking along the banks of the river that ran through the garden of Eden…It’s a sunny day and she surely is enjoying the beauty of all that surrounds her…I can see the breeze blowing through her long beautiful hair…I can almost feel the soft grass as it pushes up through her squeaky clean toes…If I look off in the distance, there are gracious flowers blooming all around and singing birds are flying all around calling out to each other about the beauty in this God made paradise.
Then she spots the serpent… She doesn’t run away in fear like my wife does when she sees a spider… Why should she run??? There is as of now, “no fear”, in paradise.
Have you ever seen a snake lying on the ground or maybe, just so smoothly gliding across the ground on his way to his next destination??? Often they look beautiful, with the many colors all-blending together in a captivating sort of way… It makes you almost want to reach out and touch it… So it was with Eve…when this serpent speaks, his voice is penetrating and appealing… His voice is cunning, sly, clever, delicate and slick. (SIN)**
I want to say this right now… Eve truly didn’t realize what was happening to her and she messed up and made a bad choice…that caused the…
THE FALL INTO SIN: 3:6.
Verse 6) When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was there with her, and he ate it.
How did Adam and Eve get like this??? It was a series of little steps in the wrong direction…But those small steps added up to one huge catastrophe that still haunts the world today…
Notice how the Evil one, through the serpent, focused on the negative, the prohibition, rather than on the generosity of God… The serpent did not dare suggest that perhaps if God had withheld this tree from humanity, it was not needed by humans…God’s prohibition was really His line of protection. (Some things are not needed!!! Drugs, booze, sexual relations outside of wedlock, lying, stealing, envy, pride, covet, etc.)
Notice also, that the Evil One addressed the woman and not the man…It was the man whom God had originally given His disclosure about the food that they were to eat…Apparently Adam had passed on to Eve what God had declared to him before she was created…
(My direct word to you, is to be obedient to the Word of God by learning the Word and then by living it and by doing it, in your every move in life. )
Eve would come to understand that God’s word is not just generally true; it’s absolutely and precisely true…God says what He means—and He means what He says…This understanding of the absolute authority of God’s Word is necessary for mankind to acknowledge, so he, (man) might respond to life’s temptations in a God-honoring manner.
Satan’s response to Eve’s somewhat less-than accurate understanding of God’s Word was to deny that God’s Word was true: “You will not surely die.” This contradicted God’s revealed word to Adam…The very first doctrine in Scripture that Satan denied is that sin results in death, (or to put it another way, Satan declared that God would not punish sin…) If he could have God’s created human being, thinking this, then sinning would not seem to serious…Sin is a matter of life and death… Death in a family, a relationship……….etc…
Now before we go any farther with this message, I want to talk about some of the Devil’s techniques.
A) Often his approach is Subtle and unexpected.
The Scripture say, “The serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD god had made” Gen: 3:1a…
Other translations say that the serpent was more subtle than the other creatures God had created…
I think it is clear that Eve had no idea what was about to happen to her…why should she? She’s quite literally in paradise…Up to this point, there has never been a “Malfunction in paradise,” but here it comes…It’s not as if she got up that day and thought to herself,
“I’d better have my quiet time today because a talking serpent is going to tempt me to sin… If I give in, I’ll bring heartache, misery, sadness, despair, loneliness, trouble, murder, mayhem, hatred, and every form of evil to billions of people for thousands of years to come.”
No, it wasn’t like that at all…She wasn’t expecting to encounter a talking serpent or to be tempted to commit the first sin…
She wasn’t looking for the serpent, but the serpent was definitely looking for her…And guess what??? He’s definitely looking for you right now!
This story from the pages of God’s Word is a warning for each of us that SATAN is looking 24/7… The devil does not give up stalking you, especially if you are a Christian…
God’s Word tells us, “Be sober, (Clear headed) be vigilant; (Watchful) because your adversary (Opponent or enemy) the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1st Peter 5:8)
We need to know and remember and be aware that the devil has many different ways in which he stalks his prey… Often he is like a wild animal that’s looks for the weak sheep to slaughter…In one way or the other he is always seeking to strike paralyzing fear into his victim, often with a loud roar but also he can come into your life when things seem to be going so well…He often uses a subtle approach…
Define subtle: So slight as to be difficult to notice… Crafty, shrewd, slight, delicate, faint, cunning, sly, understated, clever etc, in other words the serpent was slick.
In my mind eye, I can see Eve walking along the banks of the river that ran through the garden of Eden…It’s a sunny day and she surely is enjoying the beauty of all that surrounds her…I can see the breeze blowing through her long beautiful hair…I can almost feel the soft grass as it pushes up through her squeaky clean toes…If I look off in the distance, there are gracious flowers blooming all around and singing birds are flying all around calling out to each other about the beauty in this God made paradise.
Then she spots the serpent… She doesn’t run away in fear like my wife does when she sees a spider… Why should she run??? There is as of now, “no fear”, in paradise.
Have you ever seen a snake lying on the ground or maybe, just so smoothly gliding across the ground on his way to his next destination??? Often they look beautiful, with the many colors all-blending together in a captivating sort of way… It makes you almost want to reach out and touch it… So it was with Eve…when this serpent speaks, his voice is penetrating and appealing… His voice is cunning, sly, clever, delicate and slick. (SIN)**
I want to say this right now… Eve truly didn’t realize what was happening to her and she messed up and made a bad choice…that caused the…
THE FALL INTO SIN: 3:6.
Verse 6) When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was there with her, and he ate it.
How did Adam and Eve get like this??? It was a series of little steps in the wrong direction…But those small steps added up to one huge catastrophe that still haunts the world today…
Satan promised liberation through rebellion…What they got was slavery, sin, shame, fear and death…Let us learn one overarching truth from this lesson: Every temptation is a lie wrapped in a promise of freedom…
Satan is the father of lies…He lies consistently…He lies because it is his nature to lie…He is the first and greatest deceiver…All Satan’s apples have worms…
Failure to appreciate God’s goodness leads to distrust of His goodness…Distrust leads to dissatisfaction and finally to dis-obedience…
Satan is the father of lies…He lies consistently…He lies because it is his nature to lie…He is the first and greatest deceiver…All Satan’s apples have worms…
Failure to appreciate God’s goodness leads to distrust of His goodness…Distrust leads to dissatisfaction and finally to dis-obedience…
God’s prohibition (Ban) as well as His provisions are for our own good…but mankind wants to be independent, to go his own way, to be subject to no one…
God has always asked people to believe and trust His Word…God has always asked people to believe that He is sovereign and good…His desire is that we trust Him so we will live abundantly (John 10:10; 17:3)…God has always asked people to believe that true satisfaction comes by obeying Him and respecting His prohibitions—He wants us to live by faith, not by sight…
I have heard people say, “if temptation gave us a warning call we would be much better prepared to handle it…”
But right now we need to know that temptation often does, give us a warning call…When we read verse 6, it could not have been a warning for Eve because she never has seen verse 6 or any other verse, but it is a warning for us…
Notice the threefold temptation experienced by Eve.
1) It calls to us from the “Practical level” which is from the lust of the flesh…A warning here is when we hunger for or desire something that is not inline with the Word of God…”The fruit was good to eat.” …Listen…When you are confronted with something that you know you should not do, don’t… Each time you eat of the fruit of sin, the consequences will be worse…
2) Another warning here is from the “Emotional level.” “It looked beautiful to Her.” This comes from the lust of the eyes…Often we see something and it makes us want it…
It could be a good looking, man or woman, etc…
Bottom line, we really know what is good for us and what is not…It’s all about making the right choices…Adam and Eve made a bad choice in the Garden of Eden, that not only shaped the rest of their lives but it also produced hardship for all of mankind, forever…
When you and I make bad decisions and that decision ends up hurting us, it also hurts the ones we love and the ones that love us… Our negative decisions many times hurt our family and friends before we realize it is hurting or literally killing us…
Bad choices are responsible for the deaths of many innocent people each day…If we, as people, created in the image of God, want to do the things in this life that are right, then we need to get real, and start thinking about what we are thinking about which, if we have any sense left at all, will lead into making the right choices… ***
3) The next warning comes from, “The Spiritual Level.” The serpent convinced the woman to eat because the, fruit would make her wise, that’s the pride of life…
Satan used a sincere motive to tempt Eve—“You will be like God…” It was not wrong for Eve to want to be like God…To become more like God is humanities highest goal…It’s what we are supposed to do…But Satan misled Eve** concerning the right way to accomplish this goal…
He told her that she could become more like God by disregarding God’s authority, by taking God’s place and deciding for herself what was best for her life…In effect, he told here to become her own god…
God has always asked people to believe and trust His Word…God has always asked people to believe that He is sovereign and good…His desire is that we trust Him so we will live abundantly (John 10:10; 17:3)…God has always asked people to believe that true satisfaction comes by obeying Him and respecting His prohibitions—He wants us to live by faith, not by sight…
I have heard people say, “if temptation gave us a warning call we would be much better prepared to handle it…”
But right now we need to know that temptation often does, give us a warning call…When we read verse 6, it could not have been a warning for Eve because she never has seen verse 6 or any other verse, but it is a warning for us…
Notice the threefold temptation experienced by Eve.
1) It calls to us from the “Practical level” which is from the lust of the flesh…A warning here is when we hunger for or desire something that is not inline with the Word of God…”The fruit was good to eat.” …Listen…When you are confronted with something that you know you should not do, don’t… Each time you eat of the fruit of sin, the consequences will be worse…
2) Another warning here is from the “Emotional level.” “It looked beautiful to Her.” This comes from the lust of the eyes…Often we see something and it makes us want it…
It could be a good looking, man or woman, etc…
Bottom line, we really know what is good for us and what is not…It’s all about making the right choices…Adam and Eve made a bad choice in the Garden of Eden, that not only shaped the rest of their lives but it also produced hardship for all of mankind, forever…
When you and I make bad decisions and that decision ends up hurting us, it also hurts the ones we love and the ones that love us… Our negative decisions many times hurt our family and friends before we realize it is hurting or literally killing us…
Bad choices are responsible for the deaths of many innocent people each day…If we, as people, created in the image of God, want to do the things in this life that are right, then we need to get real, and start thinking about what we are thinking about which, if we have any sense left at all, will lead into making the right choices… ***
3) The next warning comes from, “The Spiritual Level.” The serpent convinced the woman to eat because the, fruit would make her wise, that’s the pride of life…
Satan used a sincere motive to tempt Eve—“You will be like God…” It was not wrong for Eve to want to be like God…To become more like God is humanities highest goal…It’s what we are supposed to do…But Satan misled Eve** concerning the right way to accomplish this goal…
He told her that she could become more like God by disregarding God’s authority, by taking God’s place and deciding for herself what was best for her life…In effect, he told here to become her own god…
****To become like God is not the same as trying to become God…Rather, it is to reflect His characteristics and to recognize His authority over our life…We may not realize it but we do the same thing Eve did…When we sin, we over look God’s authority in our lives and make excuses that make whatever it is we are doing, or want to do, seem ok…
We become our own god, exalting self rather than being lead by God…Self-exaltation leads to rebellion against God…As soon as we begin to leave God out of our plans, we are placing ourselves above Him…This is the pride of life, self-exaltation which leads us to…
RESULTS OF THE FALL INTO SIN: 3:7-13
When Adam and Eve sinned; it affected not only their relationship with God but also their relationship with each other and with the rest of creation.
As we look at the results of sin in the Biblical account, let’s compare mentally, how their sin affected them and how our sin affects us today.
Verse 7) 7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves…
As a result of their sin, Adam and Eve felt shame about their physical bodies…before the fall, Genesis 2:25 declared, “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame…”
But now, after their dis-obedience, (sin) they were no longer virtuous…They had a new awareness of themselves and of each other;;; they now knew that their bodies could be viewed and used with evil lusting…They sensed a need for concealment: They sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves… sin has caused the emotion of shame…The same thing happens to us when we sin, we experience the emotion of shame!! (Stronghold #1)>>> use for future lessons>>>
They tried to change these conditions by their own effort…but these fig leaves from the fig tree were neither long lasting nor effective…There is only one effective way to deal with our sin!!!!!!
I don’t believe any of us have ever tried to sew fig leaves together to cover our sins, but I know we have all tried to handle our sinful actions on our own…Trying to handle them on our own is just like trying to cover them with fig leaves, it will not work…There is only one thing that will cover our sins and it is the, unblemished blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ our Lord…“What can wash away our sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
Verses 8-10… 8) Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9) But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you”? 10) He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid.”
But not only was there shame; there was also guilt…<<<(Stronghold #2>>>)…. Their relationship with God was broken…They fled from God’s presence out of fear…>>>Stronghold #3>>> (They hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden...) Isn’t this amazing—hiding from the God who had the power to make them???
We become our own god, exalting self rather than being lead by God…Self-exaltation leads to rebellion against God…As soon as we begin to leave God out of our plans, we are placing ourselves above Him…This is the pride of life, self-exaltation which leads us to…
RESULTS OF THE FALL INTO SIN: 3:7-13
When Adam and Eve sinned; it affected not only their relationship with God but also their relationship with each other and with the rest of creation.
As we look at the results of sin in the Biblical account, let’s compare mentally, how their sin affected them and how our sin affects us today.
Verse 7) 7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves…
As a result of their sin, Adam and Eve felt shame about their physical bodies…before the fall, Genesis 2:25 declared, “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame…”
But now, after their dis-obedience, (sin) they were no longer virtuous…They had a new awareness of themselves and of each other;;; they now knew that their bodies could be viewed and used with evil lusting…They sensed a need for concealment: They sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves… sin has caused the emotion of shame…The same thing happens to us when we sin, we experience the emotion of shame!! (Stronghold #1)>>> use for future lessons>>>
They tried to change these conditions by their own effort…but these fig leaves from the fig tree were neither long lasting nor effective…There is only one effective way to deal with our sin!!!!!!
I don’t believe any of us have ever tried to sew fig leaves together to cover our sins, but I know we have all tried to handle our sinful actions on our own…Trying to handle them on our own is just like trying to cover them with fig leaves, it will not work…There is only one thing that will cover our sins and it is the, unblemished blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ our Lord…“What can wash away our sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
Verses 8-10… 8) Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9) But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you”? 10) He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid.”
But not only was there shame; there was also guilt…<<<(Stronghold #2>>>)…. Their relationship with God was broken…They fled from God’s presence out of fear…>>>Stronghold #3>>> (They hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden...) Isn’t this amazing—hiding from the God who had the power to make them???
But God came looking for them…And He has sent somebody looking for you also, and His name is Jesus…
The question, “Where are you?” Was a rhetorical question asked for their benefit…God, in His mercy, was giving them a chance to acknowledge their wrong…
THE BLAME GAME 3: 11-13.
11) And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12) The man said, “The woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13) Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
There are many first in the book of Genesis and this one that we will always remember…It the first time the husband ever blamed something on his wife…We all have a tendency to blame some one else for our own mistakes, it just human nature…Some of us are just better at it than others…
Both Adam and Eve blamed others for their sin…Rather than confessing personal responsibility, they tried to put the blame on someone else…as sinners we find it so hard to say, “I did it and it was wrong….” We blame our environment, genetics, upbringing or lack thereof, and so on…Our original parents were no different…First Adam blamed the woman and indirectly, God Himself…Second, the woman blamed the serpent, and as we all know the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on…
When God asked Adam about his sin…Adam blamed his wife…Then she blamed the serpent…How easy it is to excuse our sins by blaming someone else or circumstances…But
God knows the truth, and He holds each of us responsible for what we do…Admit your wrong attitudes and actions and apologize to God…don’t try to get away with sin by blaming someone else…
Adam and Eve failed to heed God’s warning recorded in 2:16-17…They didn’t understand the reasons for His command, so they chose to act in another way that looked better to them…All of God’s commands are for our own good, but we may not always understand the reasons behind them…People who trust God will obey because God ask them to, whether or not they understand why God commands it…
Malfunction in paradise, that’s the title to this message…Why did this happen…SIN…Why do we have unnecessary hardships in our life??? SIN is the answer…
Adam and Eve chose their course of action (Disobedience), and then God chose His…As a holy God, He could respond only in a way consistent with His perfect moral nature…He could not allow sin to go unchecked…He had to punish it…If the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin seem extreme, remember that their sin set in motion the world’s tendency toward disobeying God…That is why we sin today…Every human being ever born, with the exception of Jesus has inherited the sinful nature of Adam and Eve…The punishment of these two people reflects how seriously God views sin…
The rest of the book of Genesis recounts painful stories of lives ruined as a result of the fall…Disobedience is sin…and it breaks our fellowship with God…but fortunately, when we disobey…God is willing to forgive us and to restore our relationship to Him…He has chose to do this through the Chief Technician, Jesus…Give Him a call on the hot line… The number is--- P R A Y E R.
The question, “Where are you?” Was a rhetorical question asked for their benefit…God, in His mercy, was giving them a chance to acknowledge their wrong…
THE BLAME GAME 3: 11-13.
11) And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12) The man said, “The woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13) Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
There are many first in the book of Genesis and this one that we will always remember…It the first time the husband ever blamed something on his wife…We all have a tendency to blame some one else for our own mistakes, it just human nature…Some of us are just better at it than others…
Both Adam and Eve blamed others for their sin…Rather than confessing personal responsibility, they tried to put the blame on someone else…as sinners we find it so hard to say, “I did it and it was wrong….” We blame our environment, genetics, upbringing or lack thereof, and so on…Our original parents were no different…First Adam blamed the woman and indirectly, God Himself…Second, the woman blamed the serpent, and as we all know the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on…
When God asked Adam about his sin…Adam blamed his wife…Then she blamed the serpent…How easy it is to excuse our sins by blaming someone else or circumstances…But
God knows the truth, and He holds each of us responsible for what we do…Admit your wrong attitudes and actions and apologize to God…don’t try to get away with sin by blaming someone else…
Adam and Eve failed to heed God’s warning recorded in 2:16-17…They didn’t understand the reasons for His command, so they chose to act in another way that looked better to them…All of God’s commands are for our own good, but we may not always understand the reasons behind them…People who trust God will obey because God ask them to, whether or not they understand why God commands it…
Malfunction in paradise, that’s the title to this message…Why did this happen…SIN…Why do we have unnecessary hardships in our life??? SIN is the answer…
Adam and Eve chose their course of action (Disobedience), and then God chose His…As a holy God, He could respond only in a way consistent with His perfect moral nature…He could not allow sin to go unchecked…He had to punish it…If the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin seem extreme, remember that their sin set in motion the world’s tendency toward disobeying God…That is why we sin today…Every human being ever born, with the exception of Jesus has inherited the sinful nature of Adam and Eve…The punishment of these two people reflects how seriously God views sin…
The rest of the book of Genesis recounts painful stories of lives ruined as a result of the fall…Disobedience is sin…and it breaks our fellowship with God…but fortunately, when we disobey…God is willing to forgive us and to restore our relationship to Him…He has chose to do this through the Chief Technician, Jesus…Give Him a call on the hot line… The number is--- P R A Y E R.
posted by Fisherman For Christ at 8/16/2007 11:58:00 AM
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