“Getting A Clue: Why Is My Life Such a Mess?”
Gen. 3:1-24; 2 Cor. 5:11-21
One of our daughters-in-law has an exotic bird named Charley. For fun our son taught Charley to say, “I make a mess.” Charley may not always say it at appropriate times, but at least there are times when he admits to the reality that he does, indeed, make a mess. Have you ever made a mess? Why? Did you have to clean it up? Often little children make a mess in a room and when mom or dad query, “Oh my! Who made this mess?” the child answers ”I don’t know?” I wonder how often we try to hide from the fact that we’ve made a mess. What about the mess the world’s in? How did it get from the gorgeous Garden of Eden to where it is today? Who made this mess? Do we dare admit it? Do we have to clean it up? Is there any hope?
Let’s first examine OUR PROBLEM. God had placed Adam and Eve in total paradise – a wonderful, beautiful world in which to live and with a wonderful, beautiful relationship with Himself. There was total beauty, peace, and harmony. But it didn’t last. Then the Bible gets right to the point. The serpent, the representative of evil, challenged Eve to disobey God by eating fruit from the one tree God had said was off limits. Verses 5-6: Satan said, “”For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 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.” They sinned. And as much as we’d like to blame them for the mess we’re in, we cannot. We’re a part of the mess. The basic problem is that WE, too, DESIRE TO BE LIKE GOD. In part, that’s good - the Bible urges us to be God-like, to be godly in our character. But we want to be like God by being in charge like God. That was part of Satan’s ploy: "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (5) God gives us assignments - we fail; God gives us boundaries - we cross them; God gives us rules - we break them. We do not like to be told what to do and what not to do. Have you ever seen a sign that said, “Wet Paint - Do Not touch?” What did you do? Admit it - you touched it. You want to see what happens! We do not like to be told, “Do not...!” We want what we want when we want it. And we especially want what we cannot or do not have! WE WANT TO DRAW THE BOUNDARIES AND MAKE THE RULES; WE WANT TO BE GOD.
How often have you succumbed to this desire? What is your forbidden fruit? What is one thing you do not or cannot have that you crave so desperately? Someone else’s spouse, job, house, position, popularity or recognition? What is the one boundary you’re tempted to cross? Carrying out a dishonest but profitable business scheme? Getting an “A” by cheating on a test? Having just one more drink? Lying on your resume so you can get the job? The reality is we do sin; we are sinners. WE ALL SIN. We sin because we’re sinners.
Adam and Eve may have been the first, but we all sin. Genesis 3 could just as well have used our names. Isaiah drove home the point (64:6): “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Paul said it even more bluntly (Rom. 3:23): “...all have sinned and come short of the glory of God...” As Helmut Thielicke reminds us, “…anybody who raises the question of how evil came into the world is turning the question away from himself. He wants to find the original cause of evil. But an evil that is caused is no longer an evil; it is only a fate, an inevitable process…”(i) Forgiveness and grace can mean nothing to us unless we understand we are sinners who desire to be like God.
The Bible, appropriately, moves directly from our problem – that we are sinners – to OUR PAIN. When we sin we do, indeed, see with new eyes. Verses 6-7: “She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked…” Because we see with new eyes, WE EXPERIENCE GUILT AND SHAME. We find it hard to live with ourselves. No one needs to tell us to feel guilty - no one told Adam and Eve they had sinned; they knew it. Verse 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?"
The issue is that in our day we are actually encouraged to disregard guilt. Vast numbers of people now believe that sin is acceptable, that morality is relative to individual preference, that guilt and moral accountability are outdated. So, self-indulgence is now the norm.(ii) Les Carter has written, "To consider how far our culture has moved in this regard, consider the changes that have occurred in television in the past thirty years. Three decades ago a wide array of family programs featured themes suitable for young children to enjoy with their parents with no fear of embarrassment or violation of human decency. But within the time span of one generation, the airways have become flooded with prime time programs that feature sex without benefit of marriage, provocative clothing, drug addiction, homosexuality, free use of foul language, live in relationships, teenage suicide, seductive music videos, and a general disregard for authority."(iii) Among it's devastating fallouts is a public education without a value base that is quite willing to dispense condoms and talk about safe sex, but is not willing to talk about the moral issues in sexual expression, and the deadliness of sexual promiscuity; and is unwilling to talk about fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness.
Dr. Carl Menninger, in his book Whatever Became of Sin?, observed that "In all the laments and reproaches made by our seers and prophets, one misses any mention of sin. A word which used to be a veritable watchword of prophets. It was a word once in everyone's mind, but now rarely if ever heard. Does that mean that sin no longer is involved in all our troubles -- sin with an "I" in the middle? (sIn)? Is no one any longer guilty of anything?” (iv) Dr. Menninger accurately argues that a life that ignores the correcting influence of guilt is a life destined for misery. So, guilt is a necessary emotion that has a useful function.
Perhaps that’s why God made sure that SIN CARRIES THE SEEDS OF ITS OWN PUNISHMENT. Sin brings its own consciousness; guilt is an inborn accuser. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone say, for example, after committing adultery – “It was so good at the time, but later…” We stand naked and ashamed. It’s like a fish that swallows the bait - no one needs to tell it something is wrong; it knows! Remember what Cain said to the Lord when the consequences of his sin was announced? “My punishment is more than I can bear.” He knew his guilt and could not live with himself; he couldn’t cover it up. And what about Judas – he went out and hung himself; he couldn’t cover it up. Temple University did some research using brain-imaging technology. They found that when we lie, there’s a lot more going on in the brain than when we tell the truth. Dr. Scott Farrow, one of the researchers, says: “Lying is a complex behavior. There’s more activity. There are more interactions during a lie than during truth telling.” Our minds spin, our hearts pound, and we begin to crumble under the weight. The Psalmist knew this truth long ago: in Psalm 32:3 – “When I kept silent my bones wasted away through y groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.” He knew his guilt; he couldn’t cover it up.
We feel pain because sin carries the seeds of its own punishment, but also because RELATIONSHIPS ARE BROKEN. There is, verse 8, separation FROM GOD: “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.” Instead of welcoming God’s presence, we fear Him. Some of you may remember a time, as a teenager, when you knew you were getting home after curfew. Did you run into the house anxious to see mom or dad – or try to sneak in? We try to hide. Maybe you’ve stopped attending church, or reading your Bible, or praying; you’ve stopped meeting with your friends. It’s like a child who puts her hands over her eyes and says, “You can’t see me!” But we all know that the child is still seen. We cannot hide our sin from God. So we are destined to live with the pain of our sin.
Then, verse 12 points out separation FROM OTHERS: “The man said, "The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." We blame others and stick up for ourselves because we don’t want God to punish us. It’s like the older sister who blames her little brother for the broken vase because she’d rather he be punished than her!
A third separation occurs in verse 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 is separation FROM THE WORLD around us; we no longer live in harmony with nature and other creatures. Ever wonder why the weather turns stormy and destructive or why some animals cannot be our pets? Now you know - it’s part of the pain of sin.
And we are separated FROM OURSELVES (verse 10): “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” We experience and feel shame. “…so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” And notice that we make our pain worse because WE TRY TO COVER UP OUR SIN AND GUILT. We try to deny it, cover it up, conceal it, down-play it. We convince ourselves that if others can’t see it, it can’t hurt us. So we blame others, our circumstances, or our birth – “That’s just the way I am!” Anne Graham Lotz asked the appropriate question: “What fig leaves have you sewn together as a cover-up for your sin and shame before God?” (v) Do you try to: do more good works? Be more religious? Attend church more regularly? Do more volunteer work? Try to be a more moral person? Be more giving?
But fortunately the Bible doesn’t stop there. It also lifts up OUR PROVISION. Verse 9 – “But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" GOD INITIATES A PROCESS FOR OUR GUILT SO WE CAN CONFESS: God already knew where Adam and Eve were – He wanted them to know where they were so they could admit their sin, own up to their guilt, and come clean. God could have condemned them and announced judgment but He wanted to lead them to confession! It is the first sign here of grace. God comes in judgment, yes, but also in mercy. Sooner or later God will walk by and give you the opportunity to open up to Him. In fact, He’s here this morning!
Look at the next sign of grace – verse 21: “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” God killed two animals to cover up the guilt, shame, and sin of Adam and Eve. Life had to be killed for them to be covered. GOD SUPPLIES A PROVISION FOR OUR SIN SO WE CAN LIVE IN GRACE. While we can cover our bodies we can never cover our souls. The Old Testament repeatedly makes it very clear that for there to be forgiveness, cleansing blood must be shed and life sacrificed. When someone sinned, he was required to bring a lamb without blemish to the priest at the temple. They would then perform a ritual, during which the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the altar to make up for – atone for – his sin.
Jesus Christ was the sacrifice – the Lamb – who shed his blood so we can be cleansed. John the Baptist, who had been preaching to prepare people for the coming of Jesus, saw Jesus walking towards him, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Why Jesus? Why not Muhammad or Buddha? Paul wrote (2 Cor. 5:21): “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” It’s Jesus’ personal mission to protect his flock from the advancing enemy of sin.
So Jesus clothes us – He protects us – He covers us. I understand that if you go over to Scotland, or anywhere there are lots of sheep, sooner or later you're going to see a very unusual sight. You'll see a little lamb running around the field, and you'll notice this lamb has what looks like an extra fleece tied around its back. In fact, you'll see there are little holes in the fleece for its four legs and usually a hole for its head. If you see a little lamb like that, it means its mother has died. And without the protection and nourishment of a mother, any orphaned lamb will die. If you take the orphaned lamb and try to introduce it to another mother, the new mother will butt it away. She won't recognize the lamb's scent and will know the new baby is not one of her own lambs. But thankfully, most flocks are large enough that there is a ewe that has recently lost a lamb. The shepherd will skin the dead lamb and make its fleece into a covering for the orphaned lamb, then he'll take the orphaned lamb to the mother whose baby just died. Now, when she sniffs the orphaned lamb, she will smell the fleece of her own lamb. Instead of butting the lamb away, she will accept it as one of her own. In a similar way, we have become acceptable to God by being clothed with the blood – the forgiveness – of Christ. JESUS PROTECTS US – HE COVERS US.
Peter wrote (1 Pt. 3:18), “Christ…never sinned, but he died for sinners that he might bring us safely home to God.” Sin can touch us, but not claim us. It can detour us but not keep us from home. As David wrote (Ps. 32:1-2 NLT): “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!”
Benjamin West, the renowned artist, has told about how he became a painter. One day his mother went out, leaving him in charge of his little sister Sally. He discovered some bottles of colored ink and began to paint Sally's portrait. He really made a mess of things. Ink blots were all over. On her return the mother saw the mess. She said nothing, picked up one piece of paper, and saw the drawing. Grace prevailed. "It's Sally," she said excitedly, and then gave Benjamin a kiss. Later, this great painter, said, "My mother's kiss made me a painter." (vi)
Our world, our lives, are in a mess because we’ve made a mess. But Jesus is here this morning. In the words of John the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Quit hiding from Him. Quit trying to cover up. Come out from the bushes and be honest. Repent – confess your sins; expose your blots. And let Jesus cover you with clothes and kisses of grace.
(i) Helmut Thielicke, How the World Began, Muhlenberg Press, Third edition, © 1961 by Muhlenberg Press, p.166
ii) Maxie Dunnam, Dealing with Guilt and Shame
(iii) Les Carter, Putting the Past Behind, Moody Press, pages 57,58
(iv) New York: Hawthorne Books, 1973, p.13
(v) Anne Graham Lotz, God’s Story: Finding Meaning for Your Life in Genesis, WORD Publishing, © 1997 by Anne Graham Lotz, p.76
(vi) Dunnam
