And It Was Good Part 3
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A Light in the Darkness
A Light in the Darkness
Genesis 3-
Main Idea: Sin corrupted the good.
Me: Rosey waking up from a night terror.
On Friday morning I was getting ready to head to the gym, it was about 5:20.
I had my gym bag, drink, banana and I was reaching for the door when I heard some crying coming from one of my three children’s rooms.
I paused for a second because if it was Theo he would go back to sleep.
But I noticed it wasn’t from his room.
And I listened hard trying to find out where it was coming from and it was Rosey, she is seven and my middle child.
And I walk pretty quickly to her room as she is just sobbing.
I open the door and she yells at me “NO DAD THERE IS A SPIDER!”
LOOK OUT.
And I realized very quickly she was having a bad dream.
or more of a night terror.
And all i could do is just hug her and hold her tightly and just kept telling her its just a dream, its just a dream, its just a dream.
The spider isn’t real, the spider isn’t here, you are safe, you are safe, you are safe.
And she begins to claim down and by this time Brittni is in the room as well.
And she goes and lays down with Brittni in our room and I head to the gym.
And as I am driving I have three thoughts, one was what the heck would I have done if there was a massive spider in her room— and the second is how terrifying it must have been for Rosey to have a nightmare.
I think it may have been her first real nightmare where she woke up and couldn’t tell what was real and what was fake.
Like if you ever recall a moment where that has happened to you, it is super scary.
And my last thought was I knew I was going to speak on the entry of sin into the world— and couldn’t help but to think that nightmares had to be a result of sin entering the world.
I mean think about how we dream and how many times we hear that phrase sweet dreams.
No one wishes a child or loved one “I hope that your nightmares are terrifying and they make you wet the bed.
Heck no.
We say good night and sweet dreams.
And there are so many things that we suffer from because of a decision that was made at the beginning of the creation of earth.
A decision that would lead to a lack of trust in God.
A decision that was only made because of the belief that there was something better for us out there.
And we can sit here and think about how much stuff is effected by sin and we would be here for awhile.
But the biggest things that happened on that dark day was sin entered the world.
And everything that was good was now perverted.
We throw that word perverted around in a more gross sexual type of way.
But perverted means: having been corrupted or distorted from its original course, meaning, or state.
Sin perverted what was originally good.
That included creation and the relationship of man and woman and between man and God.
Everything was about to change from it’s original design.
Sin perverted what was meant to be good.
It took the state of perfect and lit it on fire.
Here is what that day looked like.
If you have your Bibles turn to Gen 3.
God:
Recall— that God has created everything and it was all good and last week we talked about how God created man and women to be in a relationship and that was good.
What was not good was for man to be alone.
But God gave Adam, woman or Eve.
We end chapter 1 and 2 kind of in a different world then we know today.
It is a world that is perfect and good.
And as we enter into chapter 3 everything is about to change.
Here is what happens:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
This serpent comes into the picture.
And let me tell you something if I would have seen the serpent I would have been gone, and if it started to talk to me— double gone.
But what is fascinating is that Eve was not scared by this serpent.
And the serpent was described as crafty or clever.
Meaning that when it comes to speak to Eve— it makes sense.
And as I was reading this passage, I asked the question how can a snake, who is described as good— ask questions that challenge God’s goodness?
That would mean that it would have to be something other then this snake acting on it’s own.
It had to come from Satan.
Satan is a real person on this earth that is trying to tempt you and tear you away from God.
He believed that he could become God and he challenged God prior to the creation of the world.
And when Satan led his revolt— 2/3 of the angels fell with satan.
So this snake becomes a mouth piece for satan.
And the questions is asked about “did God say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?
And this is in reference to Gen 2:16-17
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
One tree they were told they can’t eat from.
It’s right here.
Don’t do it— it will not end well for you.
And I think the woman does well- she is like we can eat from the fruit of the trees.
But Eve does say this in verse 3.
but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Eve is so take by this that she says not only can we not eat from the tree but we are not allowed to touch it— because if we do we will die.
Notice that God said nothing about touching it.
It means that Eve and Adam probably agreed that death sounds terrible— so they were not even going go near the tree, let alone touch it.
So we see them wanting to follow God’s word.
But that was not enough for the serpent.
Here is what the serpent is doing— it begins to test Eve and questions God’s goodness.
“You won’t die.”
No way lady!
For God knows you won’t die from this if anything you will become like God.
You will know good from evil.
The serpent promised something that we all want and desire— the promise of sophistication— you will become wise.
Your eyes will be open.
And number two is spiritual advancement.
That they will be like God.
This was enticing.
Eve saw that God is a good and creative God.
Literally created her out of nothing Eve wanted that— that is the promise that she desired.
The serpent challenged God’s goodness and his judgement and Eve found that she desired to be like God.
And so instead of listening to God, who said do not do this, she lacked trust in her creator and settled for the created serpent.
So 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 to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
Thus was the spark for sin to enter into the world.
Notice that if Eve would have just said— Nah, I’m good snake.
If she would have just fled from a talking snake— the world could be different.
But instead she saw that the fruit was good— that it would bring her instant pleasure.
The desire to be wise lured her to believe that she could be like God.
And it drove her to take the fruit and eat it.
And while she was there— having a conversation with the snake guess where her husband was.
RIGHT NEXT TO HER.
YOU KNOW THE ONE WHO IS SUPPOSE TO PROTECT HER.
TO LEAD HER.
TO CARE FOR HER.
HE IS RIGHT NEXT TO HER AND DOESN’T SAY A WORD.
And many men today do this practice this same type of silence in all of their relationships.
And it is disappointing and hurtful to their bride.
Adam let this wife be tempted and he let her sin and then joined her in her sin.
And immediately their eyes were opened and they saw they were naked and they felt shame.
At the end of chapter two life was good.
And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Nothing was wrong up to this point.
But something changed it was the simple fact that sin had now entered the world and they became aware that they were naked and it became shameful.
The world was shattered.
They saw each other and felt guilt and shame, and dare I say embarrassment.
This couple that was one— hid them selves from each other.
What was pleasing to the eyes of Eve now brought displeasure in their own nakedness.
They ran to cover up.
In their new wisdom, which they got.
They covered themselves in fig leaves.
They try to cover up the shame themselves and their efforts are just as puny as their attempt to hide from God.
And 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.
It was part of the sad deception that the man and woman who wanted so much to be “like God,” rather than obtaining the stature of deity, are afraid even to commune with him.
K. A. Mathews, Genesis 1-11:26, vol. 1A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 239.
They are hiding from God.
Did you ever make your mom so mad that they said: “You just wait until your father gets home.”
And you do everything you can to be on the lookout for dad, but also hidden well enough that it might take a bit to find you?
No just me?
That is how Adam and Eve were feeling.
They ate— made fig clothes— and then hear God walking and they ran and hid.
And what is interesting to point out is that God was just walking through the garden.
This showed that the relationship between God and man was good and it was good and intimate.
And God calls out to them— Oh by the way it is important to mention here that God knows everything that has happened.
But lets read about their dialogue.
But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
Adam responds:
And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
God claps back.
He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
You are hiding from me because you have mess up.
You are hiding from me because you know what is right and wrong.
You are shameful and scared to be seen.
And if you are a dude here, this is your chance to step up and face the music that you failed to protect your wife.
That you failed to obey the one rule that you gave them.
Here is Adam’s response.
The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
Adam’s like I know that it is not good for me to be alone, but God that woman you gave me she is a temptress who gave me the fruit from the tree and I ate it.
I knew it was from the tree I wasn’t suppose to eat it from.
Yes I did hear her talking to the snake,
but God that gift you gave me.
Has caused me more trouble then anything else.
So really God this is your fault.
So thanks!
This is the vibe I get from Adam when I am reading this passage.
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Your good creation God— that made me do it.
I ate it.
When sin entered the world so did the blame game.
God’s questions were designed to bring confession not information.
God knew what happened.
He knew perfectly well what they had done.
In this moment, we see that sin again has consciouses.
It always does.
And man and woman get punished but so does the snake.
And we know that this snake was the mouthpiece of satan it seems like it is a punishment to satan as well.
But even in this dark day God still offers up hope.
Check this out:
The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
The snake was to crawl around the rest of it’s days.
Eating dust— its a punishment
but in verse 15 things shift.
As judgment was coming down on the snake and satan— it was at the same time a promise to mankind.
that someone was coming to strike down not just the snake but the one who controlled it.
Hope was coming.
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
As sin entered the world it took what was good and it changed it.
It perverted the goodness of creation.
and we are dealing with this still today.
We are dealing with this curse that happened right here in Gen 3 thousands of years ago.
But what is different is this.
You know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we’re in—first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death. That sin disturbed relations with God in everything and everyone, but the extent of the disturbance was not clear until God spelled it out in detail to Moses. So death, this huge abyss separating us from God, dominated the landscape from Adam to Moses. Even those who didn’t sin precisely as Adam did by disobeying a specific command of God still had to experience this termination of life, this separation from God. But Adam, who got us into this, also points ahead to the One who will get us out of it.
Yet the rescuing gift is not exactly parallel to the death-dealing sin. If one man’s sin put crowds of people at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God’s gift poured through one man, Jesus Christ, will do! There’s no comparison between that death-dealing sin and this generous, life-giving gift. The verdict on that one sin was the death sentence; the verdict on the many sins that followed was this wonderful life sentence. If death got the upper hand through one man’s wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?
Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right.
All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.
This is our hope this is the Gospel.
While the world may be broken, and fallen and is need of hope.
God always had hope on his mind.
It was always the plan to send His son to the earth.
To live a perfect life— to pay for the payment of all sin on the cross through His death.
So that we could be free from the bondage of sin.
Not sinless— as we still commit sin daily— but free from the punishment of sin which is eternity separated from God.
With the hope that one day we will come back to that garden.
That we can partake of any fruit from any tree.
That we will get back to the garden some day and it is all possible because of Jesus.
This is our hope.
And if you don’t have this hope.
Do NOT spend another day without it.
Do not spend another moment without the hope of Christ.
Because without Jesus our hope we will be lost and forever separated.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
God loves you so much that he set a rescue plan in motion the day that sin entered the world so he could bring hope to the hopeless.
So that you could be called righteous through the blood of Jesus.
If you have never given your life to Jesus and you would like to do that tonight— I just want you to repeat after me.
God I am broken, I am a mess, and I desperately need you.
God I know that I am a sinner and I know that if I continue down this path of sin that I will end up separated from you.
My hope is only found in your son Jesus.
Who came and lived a perfect life.
And died for my sins.
So that he could raise again three day later and conquer sin and death
God please forgive me of my sins.
For God I want to follow you all my days.
God I commit my life to you.
I’m done running, I’m done hiding.
I want to live for you Lord.
Be the Lord of my life.
With ever head bowed still— if you prayed that just now— will you just look up and make eye contact with me.
I’m not going to call you out— but I want you to being to start growing in your faith and I want to get leaders connected to you.
So if you prayed that prayer tonight and you are ready to follow Jesus just look up at me.
Amen.
If you prayed that with me tonight tell someone— tell your leaders!
We want to celebrate with you.
While we talked about this whole idea of the fall and how sin entered the world— it was sad but God offered hope even in the midst of the worst day ever.
God is a God of hope and I pray that everyone in this room knows that and has experienced that.
Will you pray with me.