I suppose we all have played hide and seek. Some of you – or us – still look for a hiding place when our wives make a list of some major tasks – for us – like vacuuming the carpet, or emptying the dishwasher, or taking out the trash, or picking up socks or putting our clean things in the drawers.
Adam and Eve were not just playing games when they took a dive into the bushes to hide themselves. They were hiding in fear and bitter shame. But I run ahead. Let’s check out the account:
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden”?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.”’ The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ He said, ‘I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.’ And He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ The man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.’ Then the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ And the woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’” Genesis 3:1-13 (NASB). Follow along with the narrative:
I. THE DECEITFUL DESIGN:
A. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, ‘From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die." The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”
1. He created a doubt about what God said and why He said it. If God didn’t say it, there was no prohibition.
2. He had no interest in, or concern for, their betterment. He wanted first and foremost to hurt God by wrecking the innocence of His first children.
3. He is the master of deceit, the father of lies and a schemer.
B. There are, 3 universal factors of temptation and deceit all of which were at play in Eden. John sums up those factors in this way. "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world." 1 John 2:15-16 (NASB). :
1. The lust of the flesh – that is, the sensuous, illicit, uncontrolled desires of our bodies.
2. The lust of the eyes – that is, wanting everything we see.
3. The boastful pride of life – that is vainly and with conceit showing off to be the center of attention and to be admired.
4. Using those desires, Satan tries to deceive and score on us. He will tell you:
a. “Just a little won’t hurt you!” Yes, it will!
b. “Everybody does it.” No, they don’t!
c. “You can quit whenever you choose to.” No you can’t!
d. “It’s okay as long as it doesn’t hurt someone else.” No, it isn’t\!
e. “God is just head of the anti-pleasure Gestapo.” No, He isn’t!
C. Anytime you desire that which God forbids, and justify getting or doing it, you have placed yourself under the sway and power of the evil one and you have been conned by the best in the business.
D. When Satan tempts us, he always promises what he cannot produce– and wouldn’t, if he could. Jesus said he was a liar from the beginning and no truth is in Him.
1. He promises pleasure and gives us pain.
2. He promises gladness and gives us grief.
3. He promises freedom and gives us fetters.
4. He promises fulfillment and gives us failure.
5. He promises life and gives death.
E. Speaking of deceit, it was time for the annual cake sale at a church. Alice Grayson was to bake a cake for the Church Ladies Group bake sale, but she failed to do it until the last minute. She remembered it the morning of the bake sale, and she took a cake mix and quickly made it. But when Alice took the cake from the oven, the center had dropped flat and the cake was horribly disfigured. There was no time bake another cake. So, being inventive, she looked for something to build up the center of the cake. Alice found a roll of toilet paper. She plunked it in and then covered it with icing. Not only did the finished product look beautiful, it looked perfect!
Before she left the house to drop the cake by the church and head for work, Alice woke her daughter Sally and gave her some money and specific instructions to be at the bake sale the minute it opened at 9:30 and to buy this cake and bring it home. When Sally arrived at the sale, she found that the cake had already been sold! She grabbed her cell phone and called her mother.
Alice was horrified. She was beside herself. Everyone would know! What would they think of her? The next day Alice promised herself that she would try not to think about the cake and she would attend the fancy luncheon/bridal shower at the home of a friend of a friend and try to have a good time there.
She did not really want to attend because the hostess was a real snob, but having already RSVPed, she could not think of a believable excuse to stay away. To Alice’s horror, the cake wwith the roilet paper denter was presented for dessert! She started to rush to the hostess and tell her all about it, but before she could get to her feet, the Mayors wife said, What a beautiful cake! Alice, who was still stunned, sat back in her chair when she heard the hostess proudly say, “Thank you, I baked it myself.” The disgrace of sin always affects others, too, as our Forebears shame affects us as well. We also lost Eden’s paradise.
Eve fell for the deception and we see as an outcome:
II. `THE DELIBERATE DISOBEDIENCE:
A. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” Eve could not say, “The devil made me do it!” She deliberately ate it!
B. There are stages to disobedience:
1. We are attracted to the forbidden.
2. We either put it behind us or we consider it.
3. When we give it too much consideration, we try to justify it.
4. When we justify it, we decide to do it.
5. When we do it, it is because we made a deliberate decision to disobey.
C. When we sin it is not because we made a mistake or had no other option or way of escape. We sin because although we know something to be wrong, we deliberately do it anyhow! Adam and Eve deliberately disobeyed.
1. The forbidden fruit was not secretly hidden in a salad where they would unknowingly eat it.
2. They couldn’t blame their dysfunctional parents or difficult childhood.
3. The forbidden fruit was considered, desired and deliberately taken against God’s will.
D. There is no excuse for us not knowing God’s universal will. Remember: God has declared in the Bible His will for us. Here are some clear declarations of His will which we will obey or disobey by choice.
1. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 "For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.”
2. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
3. 1 Peter 2:13-15 "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men."
4. 2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."
5. 1 Timothy 2:3, 4 "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
E. Chad illustrates deliberate disobedience: His parents were going out with friends for the evening and told him to stay home to finish his history paper. He asked permission to use the car for awhile. He said he needed to borrow a book from his friend, Todd. His father told him he had all the books he needed and to stay home to do his paper.
Chad knew what his dad said, but he had plans of his own. He wanted to drive the car. Chad took precaution, though. He had to be sure to put in enough gas so his parents wouldn't notice. He would work fast on his paper when he got home. But, to his horror, on the way to Todd's house he got a flat-tire! He had never changed a tire in his life! Now he was not only going to have to change it, but have it fixed and still get home, cleaned up and working before his folks got home. He figured out how to jack the car up, and began working on the lug-nuts. They seemed frozen in place. He worked for about half an hours and finally walked to a gas station, exhausted, frustrated and in big trouble.
When he got to the service station it was after 10:00 p.m. but one of the attendants drove him back to the stranded car. He seemed to have no trouble because, unlike Chad, he knew that on this side of the car the threads are reversed.
When Chad got home, he was of course disciplined. But the day came when he got to drive the car again. His parents didn't disown or discard him for his wrong. Like Chad, Adam and Eve disobeyed and experienced The painful consequences. Because of deliberate disobedience we see:
III. THE DISGRACED DUO:
A. They were suddenly aware of the folly of their misdeed and tried to hide.
B. “They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”
1. “God’s coming and we ain’t got no clothes on! We ain’t got no clothes anyway. We don’t even know what clothes are! Hide!”
2. But they soon discovered that you cannot hide from God!
3. They were disgraced and shamed and embarrassed in their own sight as well as God’s.
4. But God didn’t leave or abandon them in their disgrace.
C. Jesus told about a disgraced woman. She had been caught in adultery and her accusers demanded her stoning. Jesus said, “Let the sinless among you throw the first stone, at which they all went away. Then Jesus said to this frightened and disgraced woman, “I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
D. Sin always brings ultimate disgrace and makes us want to hide from God in shame, but He wants to set us straight. We sin and are ashamed
1. Because we know we have displeased the One Who loves us most.
2. Because of the pain we have brought to others.
3. Because we could have done much better
4. Because we know we deserve judgment.
E. As I thought about wanting to get away and hide, I thought about my good buddy at NCC John Dammarell. One day we were eating in a local restaurant to avoid the Troughateria. We were seated in a booth where a dinner plate was still on the table . On the plate was an olive pit. Now, I knew what John was planning to do because I would have done the same thing if the plate had been on my side of the table. I nonchalantly observed his hand drawing closer to the plate. Just as he flicked to the olive pit at me I moved my head to the left. The pit flew past me – hitting the glasses of the fellow sitting in the booth behind me. John, wanting to get away and hide, slunk down and said, “Nolte! He’s glaring at me.” I thought it was hilarious, he thought it was humiliating and embarrassing
Shame made hiding seem to be the best thing to do for Adam and Eve as well, But they soon learned that you can’t hide from God! And when found, they experienced:
IV. THE DIVINE DELIVERANCE:
A. When the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of God among the trees of the garden, God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?’” Not harsh or angry, just in a concerned manner
B. When God asked that question, He asked
1. Not for information but as a gracious invitation to come out of hiding and to come to Him..
2. To indicate that He wanted them to approach Him.
3. To assure them that He still cared for them because He created them and loved them.
C. Whereas they sought to cover their nakedness with fig leaves and to hide from God, God called to them and made provision for their need with animal skins.
D. We cannot justify our disobedience or deliver ourselves from sin
1. We try to cover our sins with good works, or rituals, or pledges, or tears, but all our efforts to do so are fig leaves – we must have the work of God to be redeemed and restored.
2. Like them, we try to acquit ourselves by passing the buck one to another. “The man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.’ Then the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ And the woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’”
E. Max Lucado told the story of Christina who left her Brazilian neighborhood to see the world, breaking her mother's heart. Knowing what life on the streets would be like for her young, attractive daughter, Maria hurriedly packed to go find her. She searched bars, hotels, nightclubs, any place with the reputation for street walkers or prostitutes. But, it wasn't too long before the money ran out, and Maria had to go home.
It was a few weeks later that Christina descended the hotel stairs. Her face was tired. Her brown eyes no longer danced but spoke of pain and fear. Her laughter was broken. Her dream had become a nightmare.
A thousand times over she had longed to go home, but the little village was, in too many ways, too far away. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes noticed a familiar face. She looked again, and there on the lobby mirror was a small picture of her mother.
Christina's eyes burned as she walked across the room and removed the small photo. Written on the back was,, "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn't matter. Please come home." She did.
With God there is always grace, there is always mercy, there is always forgiveness if we come to Him in humble repentance. God will never save us in our sins, but will always save us from them.
While they lost the earthly Paradise of Eden, and though we have no Paradise on earth, there is a Mansion in Heaven because Jesus said, “In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:1-3 (NASB).
But to be with Him then we must come to Him now. Hear God calling, “Come out! Come out, wherever you are!” SOFTLY AND TENDERLY
