First Blood….Sermon 05/2014
I remember back in the early eighties there was a movie starring Sylvester Salome call First Blood.
It was story about a Vietnam War hero by the name of John Rambo.
He was in a Special Forces unit and given the Medal of Honor.
The movie begins, Rambo is searching for one of his friends who was also in that special unit but soon found out he was the only one left….his friend died with cancer.
An arrogant Sheriff of that small town where he searched for his friend thought he was a drifter and ran him out of town but, he returned and that’s when trouble began.
The Sheriff and his deputies began to abuse Rambo by beating him…they brought the First Blood as Rambo called it…so he defended himself by killing his enemy because it was a truce among those US Army Special Forces …the enemy must strike and bring the first blood and then attack…
It was the first blood that started it all
***That’s our subject..we are going to talk about blood….not a very popular subject***
Something to think about: War is about blood so, to make peace there must be bloodshed.
***Life is in the blood. Death is in the blood… But Eternal life is in the blood of Christ ****
What was the first blood that was shed in God’s creation and why?......let’s find out.
We will start in:
Genesis 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die………
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If we were disobedient…God said we would die…Well, guess what happen? We were disobedient so, God started a time clock ticking in this flesh that we live in and we all will face death one day.
Our disobedience also started a war with God. That was the first strike against Him.
So, God defended His word because He said “Thy shall surly die”…..so we at His mercy because we are defenseless against Him.
****What did Adam and Eve do when they rebelled against God?...lets go to the Bible in…
Genesis 3:7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons
Here is what I believe is the first manmade religion…they tried to cover their own sins by making aprons.
This is still going on today….people will join the church….get involved in some activity …maybe even become a deacon or some other leader in the church…..But they still don’t know Christ…they have never repented of their sins and surrendered all.
*****They cover themselves with their own works…they sew themselves an apron …so to speak….and not covered with the blood of Jesus.
I will also go as far as to say there are many carnal pastors in our churches across America today….teaching only the goodness of humanity and try to make the world a better place….
But there is one thing wrong with that teaching….the Bible says there is none good….not one!
Its takes more than sewing a few fig leaves together to hide our sins from God and to mend that relationship with Him…it takes the blood of Jesus....these folks may fool the church but they can’t fool God!....these are the hardest people to witness to because they believe they are good enough
********Listen to what the Bible says **************
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
*When it comes to covering our sins….it takes the blood of Jesus to cover the so called good people and the bad peoples sin…its all the same to God…a mass murder can get the same forgiveness as a non-confessing church goer….it takes the same amount of blood.
It takes the blood of Jesus….what can wash my sins away…nothing but the blood of Jesus.
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**Adam and Eve knew they needed more than just some Fig leaves?
Listen to what the Bible says….Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
ILL:
A pastor went out visiting his church members one Saturday afternoon. At one house he knew they were home, but nobody came to the door even though the preacher knocked several times.
Finally, the pastor took out his church business card and wrote out "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door: The verse says, "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me."
The next day at church the pastor’s card turned up in the offering plate.
Below the pastor’s message was written from Genesis 3:10: "I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself."
**
But, Adam and Eve knew their sin was transparent before the Lord….they were afraid because they had broken that fellowship…they had disobeyed and covered themselves with their own works.
The non-confessing church goer is the same way….they know deep down ….but they never confess.
You know, God must have enjoyed His fellowship with Adam and Eve in the beginning….but sin had distorted Gods intention for mankind.
**************
God was really merciful to Adam and Eve and that mercy came right on down the line.
How was He merciful to the first man and woman?....
He provided a way for them to live…He saved them.
Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
There it is in verse 21…… that’s the First shed Blood of God’s creation…..
He made coats of skin and clothed them….So there had to be blood shed for Adam and Eve for their sin….that was Gods First Blood of His creation….the first sacrifice for the sins of mankind.
God placed judgment on man and woman but, there was blood shed to cover their sin.
*
Now, lets look at the judgment of the woman; the woman God said He would greatly multiply thy sorrow…… and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.
There is a sorrow of pain in a woman when she has a baby…..there is joy for the addition in the family… that baby brings joy …but it came through pain and sorrow of the woman.
.
**
Now the judgment of the man; 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
***
Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife…..
That’s the reason we men have to be really careful when our wifes ask us to do something….
Because one man hearkened to the voice of his wife and it caused judgment on millions.
****
But, you go to big cities and see men holding up signs…
“Will work for food”
That’s what all men do….that was Gods judgment on us….we work all our life to feed ourselves and family…we work…we sweat …walk through thorns and bier patches to get enough money to make it through this life and then we die and return to dust….
King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes ...its vanity….meaningless…it’s all meaningless.
*****
But that’s not all…the worst part is...the moment sin entered man and woman both died spiritually.
Dying physically means soul and spirit to be separated from the flesh.
*****But to die spiritually is to be separated from God…That’s what Jesus meant when He said in;
John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:…mankind was born in the flesh….but dead spiritually…also that’s what is meant by being born again….when we accept Jesus as our Saviour…He sends the Holy Spirit to make us alive spiritually…also He is our Comforter, deposit and identifies us with God.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
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……Let me give you something else to think about…..
I believe there is a big mistake being made in some preaching today…..
I believe there is more preached about a Saviour that saves you from Hell rather than a Saviour that saves you from your sins.
You might say….well aint that the same?....no its not….Let me explain…..
*There are many who are deceived by this because there are many folks who have a desire to escape Hell, but have no desire to be delivered from their sins.
Many think they can come to an altar and go through some ritual and not worry about the consequences of Hell.
Many today think they can love God and still live in their sin.
Folks, it cannot be done without consequences….sin always has consequences.
You have to make a choice….. It must be God… or live in your sin…. You can’t have both.
Here is the thing....You can’t love both. You have to die to your sin in order to come alive spiritually in God .
Jesus said Himself…you can’t serve 2 masters.
**Now of course we sin everyday lots of time unknowly…but Jesus said He is faithful and just to forgive us…..but there must be a change…Paul said 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Like I said a few minutes ago….many all across the country preach mankind is basically good…..
No one can look upon the cross and call their self-good…there has never been but one who you could call their self good in the flesh….and that was Jesus….God Himself.
***
Sin has a price …Jesus didn’t shed His blood because of Hell….Jesus shed His blood because of sin!
****Jesus was the blood that paid the price of sin in full.
1 Peter 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
It’s by His blood that we have forgiveness of sins…its by His grace that He has prepared a place for us with Him in Heaven….we have been bought by a price.
Not by the First Blood…….. but the blood that paid it all.
Love in Christ Jesus, Ronnie Miller www.themillersbiblestudy.com
