Choosing Life, Part 2
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Choosing Life
Choosing Life
God’s First Words to Man Were Both a Command and a Prohibition.
One Of The Attributes of the Imago Dei is Freedom.
True Freedom is Trusting the One Setting the Conditions.
The knowledge of God.
Knowing that God is good and will only do that which is for our good.
Knowing that we can’t know everything God knows.
Knowing that if we should know it, God will reveal it at the appropriate time.
Experiencing good vs. experiencing evil.
I don’t have to experience what is bad to know what is good.
I trust the one who knows more than me.
True Freedom Must Include Boundaries.
Any tree, but one one. On the day you eat...
Social science experiment:
Children in playground with fence.
security - protection
Game of basketball.
The boundaries and consequences are there to protect the freedom of the others involved in the game.
True Freedom must involve a choice.
You are free to eat…You must not eat.
self-control / meekness
vs. slavery to impulses, lusts, and desires.
True Choices must include consequences, otherwise they are just preferences.
In the day you eat, you will die.
Life - reward, blessings
Death - punishment, cursing
Satan Takes Advantage of this Choice. (Genesis 3:1-5)
Satan Takes Advantage of this Choice. (Genesis 3:1-5)
The Serpent Was More Crafty (vs 1)
The definite article is present before serpent, so a reference to a particular beast.
Interestingly the Hebrew word for crafty can mean wise or prudent. So you have the wise one coming to the ignorant one to get her to embrace his wise ways.
This may be why Satan chose to incarnate himself in this beast.
He addresses God with Elohim only and not as Yahweh.
Yahweh is connected to His covenant promise and desire for personal relationship.
Signifies Satan is neither under God’s protective covenant, nor in a personal relationship with Him.
But it does show he acknowledges God as Creator.
Satan’s schemes.
Satan’s schemes.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
Three Categories of Temptations Employed By Satan. Briefly go over sheet.
Acknowledge God as Creator, but not as Lord.
Head knowledge vs. Heart knowledge, or better Soul knowledge.
Don’t need to have a personal relationship with Him.
Don’t need to be in covenant with Him. You can find your own way to Heaven.
He Said To The Woman (vs 1)
Why was she not surprised that the Serpent was talking?
“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Why was she allowing that which she was to have dominion over, take dominion over her?
Has God Said...? (vs. 1)
Challenges God’s Authority
Questions God’s Wording
Twisting His word around creating confusion.
You shall not eat from any tree?
Opposite of what God actually said.
Confusion with mental gymnastics.
splitting hairs / saying the same thing in different ways.
Waiting to pounce upon whatever answer comes through a misunderstanding we may have.
Get Us To Add To The Command. (vs. 2-3)
Or Touch It.
Mankind is really good at adding to God’s word.
It’s one of the things that Jesus constantly pushed back against the Pharisees.
in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
Cause Us to Doubt God’s Word. (vs. 4)
You Surely Will Not Die.
Seeds of Distrust
God’s Word is not trustworthy.
It’s possible he’s addressing the added command…nor touch it.
It’s a true statement that they would not die for touching it.
Speaks truth out of context.
God’s not Good.
He’s holding out something good from you.
You can’t trust God to make sense of the world.
You need to be able to discern for yourself what is good and what is evil.
God uses scare tactics and guilt to get you to comply. DEATH!!!
Test God’s Plan and Consequences (vs. 5)
Your Eyes Will Be Opened
What God has given you is not good Enough.
Seed of Discontent.
Begs the question, opened by whom? The power of the tree? Or more plausible - the evil one. Who better to give you understanding of evil than the evil one?
You will be in the know.
Promises Sophistication. Rather, in the day you eat...
Instant gratification vs. slavery to sin and death.
Instead of death, your eyes will be opened.
Instead of death, you will see clearly. You will see things you hadn’t seen before.
And the opening of ones eyes is an idiom for being a “sign of life.”
You will be more alive after you eat. You aren’t really alive until after you eat.
Beautifies sin.
Eases our consciences.
You can sin and get away with it.
Sin is not that big of a deal.
Minimizes the consequences. The end justifies the means?
Promises Spiritual Advancement Apart from God (vs. 5)
You Will Be Like God
Again using Elohim only emphasizes God as Creator.
They were already like God because they were created in the Image of God.
But in context, you will know what God knows.
You’ll understand things like God does.
Not wrong, just in the wrong way.
You Will Know Evil Experientially.” “yada”
Satan adds to the understanding. Puts words in God’s mouth.
The tree of knowledge was Da’at and is closer to objective, informational knowledge.
You won’t just have information about evil, you will experience it.
Let’s experience some evil.
“Try it and see if you like it. If not, now you know.”
the problem - you can never take back the bad experience.
With the presumptive thought that once they experienced it, they would now understand the difference between the two, which is played off as wisdom.
We may gain wisdom from learning from our bad choices, but the best kind of wisdom is learning from other’s bad choices.
In this case, trusting God that the alternative to “good” is not worth knowing.
Pleasing to the Eye and Good for Food (Genesis 3:6)
Pleasing to the Eye and Good for Food (Genesis 3:6)
The woman saw...
Eve is already usurping God’s authority.
God saw it was good…evening and morning a day...
Now Eve saw that it was good.
She is already taking on God’s role.
She is giving her allegiance to Satan by listening to him.
Pleasing to eye and good for food was the same as in 2:8-9
So the thing that seems to have enticed Eve was the desire for wisdom through the wrong means.
The word for desirable “to make one wise” can mean to lust and covet.
But used in the passive stem - it indicates something that is worthy of being desired. That was the rub. Satan got Eve to think that eating was a worthy endeavor.
In Eve’s mind, this is not a question of outright rebellion, but rather a noble quest for wisdom.
It is being able to know “what else is good, that I don’t know about.”
A quest for wisdom apart from God.
How many times has Satan gotten mankind to think that his ways were a worthy endeavor?
She Gave Also To Her Husband With Her And He Ate. (Genesis 3:6)
She Gave Also To Her Husband With Her And He Ate. (Genesis 3:6)
There is much speculation here.
Why did Adam not protect Eve by saying something while the serpent was talking?
If he told her the prohibition, did he add “do not touch” or did she add that?
Here’s what we do know.
And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
The woman was deceived, but it is Adam that is held accountable.
Sin entered the world through Adam.
As the head of the family, as the one who accepted dominion over his family, even though Eve is the instigator, Adam is held responsible.
They Sewed Fig Leaves (Genesis 3:7)
They Sewed Fig Leaves (Genesis 3:7)
Their eyes were opened.
A revelation to the truth.
They recognized their wrong doing.
They just experienced evil. The sin of disobedience.
They experienced the fact they were naked.
Different word than naked and unashamed from earlier.
that naked meant being open and vulnerable before God.
Nothing to hide.
It also implies ignorance. Oblivious to evil.
This is an appropriate example of ignorance being bliss.
This naked means to be stripped of covering.
God was their covering.
A covering of innocence.
A covering of blamelessness
A covering of being unashamed.
A covering of ignorance.
3 different times in the Song of Solomon.
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
They became self-aware.
No longer innocent
No longer blameless
No longer unashamed. A metaphor for guilt and shame.
They tried to cover up their shame and disobedience with works of their own hands.
How often do we try to make up for our sin by doing better? Trying harder?
Gospel connection: Fortunately we see another foreshadow of the Gospel.
The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
We can’t make up for our wrongdoing with our own works.
God will do it for us.
Instead of our own works that are temporary and will fade God gives a permanent solution.
An innocent animal was killed and its blood shed so that they could be clothed in the innocence of the animal.
God clothed them in righteousness.
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The Corrective: Choose Life
The Corrective: Choose Life
Life is Found by Trusting that God is Good.
God wasn’t keeping something from them, God had been keeping something for them. “The Good.”
God knows the damage that evil can do.
He’s protecting us from that damage.
God provides the good if you will just trust Him.
Life is Found by Trusting God’s Word - As It Stands
Don’t add to God’s word. It gives Satan an “in”.
When in doubt, go back to the Word of God.
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Life is Found by Asking God to Open Your Eyes.
Being Content With What God Has Revealed and Given.
Allowing God to reveal the truth to you.
The Holy Spirit will guide you to all Truth.
Life is Found by Fearing The Lord and Seeking Him for the Answers.
The Fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
I know Christians who buy into their horoscopes. Dangerous.
Don’t give any opportunity for the devil.
Life is Found by Clothing Ourselves with Christ.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
God Is Good. All The Time. Back at ya.
Good God Almighty