All across this nation we have lost our fear of sin. Fear will cause us to protect ourselves and avoid what is harmful to us.
Illus: Most of us have a real healthy fear of snakes. This is a healthy fear because it keeps us from being harmed. If we were not afraid of snakes we might carry them around in our pockets, and if that were the case, we would hear about people all over the place being poisoned by snakebite.
Sin is more deadly than all the snakes put together, and we should not be surprised when we hear that homes are being broken up all over the world because of it. The first married couple, in the garden of Eden, discovered that one can play with sin if he so chooses, but he will soon find out there is a penalty to pay.
Illus: Samson played with wicked Delilah. She toyed with him, but one day he woke up and found out Delilah was not playing. He soon found out sin carries a high price tag!
Galations 6:7 says this, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." God tells us that we cannot sow seeds of sin in our marriage and not reap them. If you actually think you can, you are doing two things:
(1) You are being deceived.
(2) You are mocking the Word of God.
You will soon find out that you cannot mock God, the seed of sin will sprout! You are deceived if you think otherwise. Couples all over this nation are deceiving one another. They actually think they can live in sin and their marriage will turn out alright. There are multitudes of broken homes that testify to the fallacy of this kind of thinking!
Illus: Someone said, "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and will cost you more than you want to pay!"
Let us look at the first married couple in Genesis, chapter 3. We have to remember that when God made marriage He said, "It is not good that man should be alone." I'm sure a lot of women will also say, "It is not good that woman should be alone.”
Illus: Did you know there is medical data that confirms that it is not good for a man to be alone. That is, statistics have proven that married men live longer than single men. It could be that it is not healthy for single men to eat their own cooking, but whatever the reason, it has been established that married men do live longer than single men. So, if you're looking for a long life, get married!
Illus: One single man protested, saying that data was not accurate. He said, "Married men do not live longer than single men, it just seems longer!"
Seriously, the happiest people on earth are those who are married and are living for the Lord. Those who try to live without the Lord Jesus will often find their marriages are not successful. God, Who ordained marriage, knows what it takes to make it work successfully.
Illus: Years ago, when automobiles had just been invented, a man bought one and was going down a country road when it broke down. He had no idea what was wrong with his new vehicle. In a few minutes a man came along and asked if he could be of any help. The man said, "I hope so, I certainly do not know what to do with this thing. Do you know how to get it going?" The man got out of his car and in a few minutes he had the stalled car fixed. The man was so thankful he did not know how to express his gratitude. He said, "I sure do want to thank you; by the way, what is your name?" The man replied, "Henry Ford."
Jesus knows what it takes for a marriage to make it. We see in Genesis, a good example of what happens when a couple
disobeys God. Notice Adam and Eve, they both have just sinned, now let us see what sin does to this couple. First, we
see…
I. SIN TURNED TO SHAME - GENESIS 3. VERSE 7.
"And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked..."
Illus: It has been said that Adam and Eve had the ideal marriage. He didn't have to hear about all the men she could have married, and she didn't have to hear about the way his mother cooked.
Actually Adam and Eve had had an ideal marriage. They lived in the perfect environment, the garden of Eden, before they sinned. We cannot imagine what it would be like to live in such a wonderful place because sin has so marred this world today. However, when Adam and Eve sinned, they discovered something. They discovered that sin leads to SHAME. In chapter 2 they were not ashamed, but in chapter 3, after they sinned, they were. The Bible says that their "eyes...were opened, and they (both) KNEW THAT THEY WERE NAKED." Before sin, Adam and Eve were covered with God's shekinah glory, as God was and is. Psalm 104:2, says, "Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment..." Remember, they only committed one sin and that sin made Adam and Eve sinners. Many people think it takes an accumulation of sins to make a person a sinner. Once Adam and Eve committed that ONE SIN they KNEW they were sinners. Sin brings shame. Shame creates a guilt complex. Our conscience inside of us says, "You have done a terrible, wrong thing." Now, if the result of sin is guilt, how can a couple who are living in sin, expect to be happy. You cannot BUILD A HAPPY MARRIAGE on a foundation of SHAME. They sinned and the Bible says their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked. That is, God saw them and they knew that God saw them. What did they do? They should have let that shame lead them to repentance, but instead, verse 7 says, "......and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." The fig tree is the only tree in the garden of Eden that was mentioned by name. Some say the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was an apple tree, but the Bible does not say it was an apple tree. It could have been a fig tree. That is not important. What is important here is not what kind of tree it was, but the fact they sinned by taking the forbidden fruit and eating it. Then, instead of repenting, they tried to cover up. People have done some very intelligent things, but one of the dumbest things they have done, and continue to do, is think they can sin and then cover it up so God cannot see it.
Illus: That is as dumb as the man who wrote the corn syrup manufacturer and complained, "Dear Sirs, I have eaten three cans of your corn syrup and it has not helped my corns in the slightest."
People still display their ignorance. Sinful men and women are not repenting of their sins. They are trying to cover them up with RELIGION and EXCUSES. Everywhere you go you can find professing Christians living in sin. Are they repenting? No! They are trying to cover their sins by joining a church. Going to church may expose you to the gospel, but it will not excuse your sins any more than going to school will make you a genius. We know that does not happen when we study the SAT scores across this nation. If you are a sinner you need to repent! John the Baptist looked at the religious crowd of his day and he had one message for them, "REPENT!" Have you ever seen someone try to cover up their actions when it was very obvious as to what they were doing?
Illus: The story is told of a couple that was attending a society party in New York. They felt completely out of place socially, but they decided they were going to pretend they belonged there, so they tried to fit in with the elite. They walked up to where some couples were talking about classical music. One lady said, "Ah, I just love Mozart, don't you?" The lady of the "out of place" couple said, "Ah, yes. I just love Mozart also, in fact, I saw him getting on the No. 5 bus going to Coney Island this morning." There was a sudden hush and everyone looked at her. Her husband was shattered. He pulled her away and said, "We're leaving right now. Get your coat and come with me!" They were driving home and he kept muttering to himself. Finally his wife said, "You are angry about something!" He said, "Oh, really? You noticed! I've never been so embarrassed in my life! How dumb can you be! You said that you saw Mozart getting on the No. 5 bus going to Coney Island this morning. You ignorant woman! Anyone knows the No. 5 bus does not go to Coney Island. "
We can try to cover up and pretend all we want to but the Word of God teaches we cannot do it very long. Even if no one else knows we are covering it up, God knows it! We live in a generation that has lost their fear of sin and they have sinned so much that they no longer fear the consequences. They have been deceived and they cannot feel their shame. Paul speaks of people like this in Philippians 3:19, "Whose end is destruction...whose glory is in their shame..." That is, they actually sit around and brag about what they should be ashamed to even mention out loud. All they are doing is showing their spiritual ignorance.
Illus: How many times have you heard lost couples sit around and brag about how they do not go to church to hear the Word of God preached? They act like every week they do not go is another week to brag about.
The very thing they should lower their head and be ashamed of, they boast and brag about.
Our nation has sinned so much that we have lost our shame.
Illus: In some of the hotels in San Francisco there is a little booklet in each room entitled, "Where to sin in San Francisco."
We have a nation of people who are laughing their way to hell. They are so deceived by sin that they have lost their shame. But notice, the Bible tells us that Adam and Eve were ashamed when they committed the first sin, and you cannot build a happy marriage on shame. Instead of repenting, they took fig leaves and tried to cover themselves.
II. SHAME TURNED TO SEPARATION - VERSE 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." The immediate outcome of their act of sin was feeling shame, and their shame led to separation from each other and from God. Probably Adam and Eve were proud of their new fig leaf outfit. Everything was just fine until they heard the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Then the Bible says that they went and HID THEMSELVES. This is one reason it is hard to get sinful people to attend church. The last thing they want, is to go to church and have the Word of God preached to them. Notice, when the Lord God came into the garden, the Bible shows us a progression. They said, "...I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." We ask, "Adam, Eve, why did you do those things?" They answer, "...I did eat," or "I disobeyed!" Now when the Lord appeared on the scene, notice that Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent.
Look how sin divided that home! In divided homes all across our nation parents are blaming each other and the children are blaming the parents. Sin brought SHAME and SEPARATION to that marriage.
III. SEPARATION TURNED TO SEARCHING - VERSES
9-11.
"And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" Their separation turned to searching, but notice who is doing the searching...it is God Who is doing the searching. Adam and Eve were hiding from the Lord and God called for them. Did God not know where they were? God was not asking that question because He needed the information, but that they might see their guilt:
- THEY WERE HIDING. They needed to ask themselves, "Why are we hiding from God?"
- THEY WERE AFRAID. They needed to ask themselves, "Why are we afraid.
- THEY WERE NAKED. How did they know they were naked?
Before a person can get any help from the Lord he has to quit playing games with God. There is no place one can hide where God cannot see him. The thing the guilty person needs to consider is the reason for the HIDING, FEAR, and KNOWING HE IS NAKED. It is because he has SINNED and he is not willing to repent! Neither Adam nor Eve were willing to accept the blame for their actions. Look at verses 12-13, "And the man said. The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." We are still playing this game of "passing the buck. "
Illus: Every time we hear about some serial killer going on a rampage and killing people all over the country, the defense always states, "It is not his fault, he grew up poor, neglected, and abused." He would have you believe it is everyone's fault except the fellow who did the killing. Then we have some who have the defense, "They didn’t know what they were doing. They were drunk, or taking drugs." Well, that won't fly either, because they knew when they began drinking and taking drugs what could happen. They are guilty of their crimes and should be punished!
We, as individuals, play this game of "passing the buck." Adam said, "It wasn't my fault. That woman that you gave me made me do it." Well, how do you suppose Eve did that? Do you think she walked up behind him and locked his arms behind him and made him eat... Eve said, "It wasn't my fault, that serpent made me...”
Conclusion/Summary: God asked them those questions because He wanted them to search their hearts to see why they were afraid, and, why they were hiding. He knew it was because they knew they were guilty of disobeying His Word. Look at what happened to them. Look at what sin cost them. They had been placed in the perfect environment, or you might say, they had had the perfect home. But, because of sin, Genesis 3:23-24 says, "Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." They lost their perfect home. They were driven from it because of sin. We can lose our homes also. Sin will cause them to break up.
I. SIN TURNED TO SHAME - VERSE 7
II. SHAME TURNED TO SEPARATION - VERSE 8.
III. SEPARATION TURNED TO SEARCHING - VERSES
9-11.
