CLOSE ENCOUNTERS SERIES
1 – ADAM
Today, I want to begin a BRAND NEW series of messages entitled “CLOSE ENCOUNTERS”
And over the next few weeks, we’re going to be talking about the people of the Bible who had CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD
And the reason that I’m going to be preaching this series is because like never before, every…
--parent
--teen-ager
--church worker
--person in this room this morning
Needs a close encounter with God
And…
--we’re living in the last days
--we’re about to have the rapture of the church
--the Anti-Christ is about to be revealed
--the church needs revival
And if there’s ever been a time to have CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God, IT’S NOW
And you may say, “Wait a minute pastor, I’m…
--not holy enough
--not worthy enough
--educated enough
To have a close encounter with God
But the truth of the matter, and the MAIN THESIS OF THIS MESSAGE, is that no matter…
--your past
--your pain
--your failures
--your problems
--your pedigree (who you are)
We can all have CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD
And I’ll prove that to you over the next few weeks as the people we’re going to be looking at were people…
--who struggled with their faith, like Abraham
--who made tragic choices, like David
--who had had a bad past, like Paul the Apostle
--who’s world had fallen apart, like Job
--who ran from the Lord, like Jonah
Ordinary people
Average people
Scarred people
Marred people
Every day people
And I hope that before this series of messages is over with, that we would ALL have a fresh “Close Encounter” with the living God
And so today, we’re going to start at the very beginning by talking about ADAM, the very first human being
Let’s read…
Genesis 2:7 (KJV) 7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
INTRODUCTION
We begin our series of those who had CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD by talking about the one human being who ever lived who had complete and unhindered access with God, and that was ADAM and his wife Eve
For the Bible tells us that they literally…
--walked with God
--talked with God face to face
That God literally came down to talk with them in the cool of the day
And there are several things that I want to point out to you, but before I do, I can’t preach on Adam and Eve without addressing the fact that there are many who do not believe that all humanity came from Adam and Eve
The EXPERTS tell us that we just kind-of oozed out until finally, we became mankind
They say that first of all, there was some little speck of protoplasm, some little blob of something in a sea of nothing and it all just sort of happened, that this one celled animal that came to be some sort of primitive ameba and then that grew and became an unsegmented worm, that became a fish, that became a reptile, that became a bird, that became a mammal, that became a man.
And according to the experts, it all just sort of happened just by blind chance
But you know what an “expert” is sometimes – An “ex” is a has been, and “spurt” is a drip under pressure
But that really takes MORE faith to believe that than to believe Genesis
Because really, what they’re saying is that NOTHING TIMES NOBODY EQUALS EVERYTHING
And they’re looking for the missing link, but the missing link is just this…
There was literally a creation, and God literally formed man out of the dust of the ground, and God literally made woman out of man’s rib
It reminds me of the little boy who heard the Sunday School teacher talk about how God put Adam to sleep and opened his side and took out a rib and made his wife, Eve. That afternoon, he went home and started feeling a pain in his side. He told his mama and she said, “What’s wrong?” He said, “I think I’m having a wife!”
But my friend, God did make Adam, and there was no one who ever had a greater close encounter with God than he and his wife
And as we’re begin our message series on “Close Encounters” and as we consider the close encounters that Adam had with God, let me share with you three things…
First of all, I want you to understand that…
1. HOW ADAM WALKED WITH GOD IS HOW GOD ORIGINALLY INTENDED IT TO BE FOR ALL OF MANKIND FOR ALL OF TIME
Literally, God intended to walk and talk with man face to face JUST like He did with Adam and Eve
We tend to forget that – we tend to forget that what we read in Genesis in the garden of Eden, a world of paradise where God come down and walked and talked with Adam and Eve, is EXACTLY HOW ITS SUPPOSED TO BE TODAY!!
In other words, just as we walk with our family at the shopping mall, so God wanted to walk and talk with us
God literally intended to have intimate, detailed, face-to-face contact with us as human beings
We were not made to…
--die
--go to hell
--be hooked up to breathing machines
--rushed to the hospital in ambulances
--be bound on drugs
--be used up like trash and thrown away on the ash heap of this old world
There was never intended to be…
--funeral homes
--prisons
--war
--death
We were made to…
--breath celestial dust
--walk hand and hand, heart to heart, and face to face with Almighty God
And that’s why there’s a vacuum in the human heart that only God can fill
People can…
--have drugs
--sex
--money
--wealth
But there’s just something way down deep that’s missing and the reason is because we were all made to have CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God
That’s why…
--drugs
--alcohol
--sex
Will never satisfy – THE MOMENT YOU COME TO JESUS, something happens in your heart that you know, THIS IS WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT!
King David of the Bible had all of that…
--many wives
--much wealth
--power
--position
But here’s what He said…
• Psalms 73:25 ( KJV ) 25Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
• Psalms 34:8 ( KJV ) 8O taste and see that the LORD is good…
So, the first thing I want you to know is that how Adam and Eve walked with God is how it was supposed to be for all of us
Secondly, when it comes to Adam, I want you to understand…
2. HE BLEW IT!!!
I mean, think about it – he blew it bad
You remember what happened – God told them there was a forbidden tree that they should not eat
And Satan came in and deceive Eve, and then Adam ate and there eyes were opened and they knew they were naked
And I want you to think about that
That tells me first of all what sin really is
It’s not...
--adultery
--smoking pot
--pornography
--child molestation
--murder
Sin is simply disobedience
And then, I want you to understand this – nobody has ever sinned as bad as Adam and Eve
They had
--no sin nature
--a perfect environment
--perfect bodies
And the committed the PERFECT CRIME
But here’s what I want you to understand, when they sinned, do you know what God’s first words were to fallen man? WHERE ARE YOU?
Not…
--how could you do that?
--you’re going to die you rebel
--wait until I get my hands on you
NO! God’s first words to the worst sinners was WHERE ARE YOU?
This tells me that God wants us to have CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
And God is doing the same today
To each of us, He’s asking the QUESTION –WHERE ARE YOU
I want…
--to fellowship with you
--you to want to know me
--you to know how much I long for you
And God said to Adam, what have you done
And Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent, and the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on!
And I want you to listen to this, God gave several consequences
--driven from intimate access to God
--driven from the garden
--it would be hard to make a living
--the woman would remember the pain she helped bring into the world when giving birth
But here’s what I want you to understand
God said…
Genesis 3:15 (KJV) 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
In other words, when man had done His worst, God promised His best
Which brings me to my last point…
--not only do we know that how Adam walked personally with God was the way it was to be for all mankind
--not only do we know that Adam blew it!
But finally, the Bible tells us…
3. THERE WAS THE SECOND ADAM
The Bible tells us that THERE WAS ANOTHER “ADAM”
This ADAM was called THE SECOND ADAM
1 Corinthians 15:45 ( KJV ) 45And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
And His name is Jesus
Think about it…
The first Adam caused all mankind to be lost in a garden
The second Adam prayed in another garden “not my will but yours be done”
The first Adam was put to sleep and a tear was made in his side and a bride was made
The second Adam died on a cross and they tore his side and out came blood and water and that formed another bride – the church!
The first Adam failed, BUT THE SECOND ADAM WON!
The first Adam died and became dust again, but the SECOND ADAM DIED AND ROSE AGAIN ON THE THIRD DAY!
Why is this?
1 Corinthians 15:22 ( KJV ) 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Romans makes it even more clear
• Romans 5:12 ( KJV ) 12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
• Romans 5:18-19 ( KJV ) 18Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
In other words…
--the FIRST ADAM brought death, the SECOND ADAM brings life
--through the FIRST ADAM, we lost communion with God
--through the SECOND ADAM, we can have close encounters again with God
IN CLOSING
It must have been so very hard on Adam knowing what he lost
And one of these days, you’re going to wish that you had a close encounter with God
He wants it more than you do
Inside each of you, there is a vacuum, that only God can fill
A certain professor had his students in college, and he had a great big wide-mouthed jar. And in that jar he had some large rocks. And he asked his students this question because the rocks came all the way up to the top, "Is this jar filled?" Well, one or two students lifted their hands said, "Yes, the jar is filled."
He said, "No, the jar is not filled." And then he took some gravel and put gravel in top of that jar, and the gravel begin to fill in all the places around where those big rocks are, he shook it down good and smoothed it off. He said, "Now, is the jar filled?" They said, "Yes professor, now it’s filled."
He said "No it’s not." And he took some fine sand and begin to put it on top of the gravel and shake it down and it filled every little place there and he said, "Now, is the jar filled?" They were afraid to answer now. A few of them said, "Yes, now it is filled."
He said, "No, it’s not filled yet." And then he took some water and poured the water in the fine sand and the water began to seep into every little crevice and so forth and floated on the top and he said, "Now, is the jar filled?" They said, "You tell us."
He said, "Yes, the jar is filled." He said, "What is the lesson?"
And they said, "Well, professor, the lesson is this: that there will come a time in your life when it will become so filled and so saturated that you can’t put anything else in."
And he said, "No, that’s not the lesson. Here’s the lesson: If I had not put the big rocks in first, I would never be able to put them in. That’s the lesson."
