INTRODUCTION:
God created the world
In our modern world we don’t have room for God
Send man to the moon
Cure diseases and illnesses
Perpetrating the myth
Religion was invented by scientifically naive people
Not understanding the world and the natural laws that govern it
Created God to explain these laws
We have undone what God has done
God is demoted as a distant entity with little or no relevance
One major theme in Genesis is that of sin
Boils down to one thing
The origination of sin exposes one truth,
Sin begins with one small lie
That we don’t need God
Do not implicitly trust him (his word)
Do things our own way
Gen 3:1-24
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve and the boys, Cain and Abel, were taking a walk one evening and Cain remarked to his dad, “Gee, Dad, look at that beautiful garden. I wish we had a wonderful place like that to live.” And Adam, turned to Cain and said, “Well son, we did ... ... until your mother ate us out of house and home.”
1. Challenging God’s Word
“Did God really say ...” (v. 1)
We have created a God of convenience, based on one simple lie, or twisting of truth
We have questioned God’s word and authority ... so that we no longer have any respect for it
Because of selfish desire and reckless abandon for God’s truth
Human beings have undone what God has done
Conditions before the fall
Obedience Disobedience
No Guilt Guilt
Pure Impure
Everything Right Everything Wrong
RELATIONSHIP Out of RELATIONSHIP
Did God really say that Jesus is the only way to heaven and a relationship with God the Father? ...
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 14:6, “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”
Our world is out of whack and is in serious need of a Saviour. Their only hope is that the people of God, the church of today will recognize, that Saviour is Jesus Christ. Other religions and people of faith may proclaim to know the truth. However if we don’t recognize Jesus as the answer then we are in error.
2. The Right to Choose
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” (vv. 4-5)
You are free to choose for yourself what you can and can’t do ... no one else has the right to challenge you. What is right for you ... may not be right for me ... but don’t tell me what is right for me.
Sound familiar ... this is the lie of our times ... choose you own destiny ... rid yourself of God’s tyranny.
Independence from God vs. true freedom
Irving Kristol (US author) writes, “Being frustrated is disagreeable, but the real disasters of life begin when you get what you want.”
It is sad today, that human depravity has reached new heights. No longer is Adam and Eve’s indiscretion seen as being regrettable.
The cultural and social shifts through the latter half of the last century have seen the notion of independence from God rise to levels that suggest that Adam and Eve’s actions should in fact be commended.
ILLUSTRATION: Truman Show (1998)
Truman (Jim Carrey) is unwittingly the star of a TV show that was his life
Truman has lived his entire life since an infant in front of 1000s of cameras for the show, though he himself is unaware of this fact
All of his relationships are with actors hired to be his family and friends
As the show proceeds, Truman begins to suspect that something artificial is going on
He finally succeeds in tricking the cameras and making his way across the man made ocean, surviving a contrived storm, and reaches the edge of the set and bumps into the horizon
The show’s director, Christoph finally communicates with Truman, to persuade him to remain in the world he has created for him
Seahaven [Truman’s Town], is the world created for Truman and is seen by Christoph as the world the way it should be
Christoph’s benevolent intentions for Truman are clear, but Truman opts to accept all uncertainty of life outside the bubble in order to gain his autonomy [independence].
This view of God suggests a manipulative, capricious God who has no care or consideration for human beings
It therefore should be commendable that people would get from underneath his harsh imposition and run for freedom
John H. Walton, “If the script of Genesis 3 were written today, Eve especially and Adam secondarily would be heroes ... They boldly [chose] wisdom and knowledge over a controlled security.”
Is this freedom? Is this what we see in this story?
Human freedom does not come from getting what you want. It comes from living God’s way
C.S. Lewis observes that a parent’s love for a child, acts in order to eliminate the child’s need for a parent. God’s love, in contrast, is not optimized in his becoming superfluous, but in our becoming dependant on him in a continually maturing way (The Four Loves, p. 76)
Larry and fences
3. Keeping Secrets from God
[Genesis 3:6-9]
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 with her, and he ate it. 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.
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?
Problem: shame and guilt overcame them
They heard God coming and they thought they could evade him and evade the consequences
This of course is futile
When we read of Adam and Eve’s attempt to cover up their disobedience it should not escape us that the real problem is that in hiding, they hoped their actions could remain a secret
Secrecy is dangerous in a Christian’s life. The problem is that we may deceive ourselves, and we may even deceive others, but do we seriously believe that we will even successfully deceive God?
READ: Acts 5:1-11
The issue of course was money and the sale of property; the proceeds of which would go the apostle’s. The root of the problem is that they portrayed themselves to be more generous than they really were. It was not even the percentage or the amount that they gave, it was their attitude.
Human pride wants us all to seem that we are more impressive than we really are.
The truth for Adam and Eve and for Ananias and Sapphire is that everything is of God, is from God and is for God.
Everything was created for HIS glory
We were created for HIS glory
When Adam and Eve sinned ... it was not for God’s glory ... it was for their own glory
When Ananias and Sapphire were dishonest with their gift ... they generosity was not for God’s glory ... rather there holding back was for their own glory.
When we sin today ... it is not for God’s glory it is for own glory and we must recognize our indiscretion and make amends
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” [Acts 3:19]
Repent: turn around face the other way
Ask for forgiveness
Receive God’s forgiveness
Don’t look back
Live that God would be glorified through our life
