Who Told You?

Introduction

Well, good morning! Listen, I don’t know about you, but I’m still on an Easter rush. Seeing six people profess their faith…committing themselves to Jesus…that’s something I could get used to every single week, amen?

But listen, with that…I’m excited to get back into Genesis this morning…to pick up where we left things off a few weeks ago. But before we do that…let’s recite our mission verse together. If you remember, this is the week we’re gonna try it without the verses on the screen. And so, I hope you’ve been practicing…I hope you’ve been challenging each other.

I’ll get us started. Matthew 28, verses 19 & 20:

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[Prayer]

Alright, if you have your Bibles and I hope that you do, open ‘em up with me to Genesis chapter three…Genesis chapter three. If you remember, several weeks ago, before we started looking at the Holy Week accounts…we left Adam and Eve in a mess in the garden, right? They were in this paradise of a situation and there was this encounter between them and Satan. Of course, Satan asked them a question that would impact the rest of humanity…did God really say? He caused them to start questioning the Word of God…questioning it’s truthfulness and it’s goodness for their lives…and where we left them off was both, Adam and Eve, taking things into their own hands and partaking from the the forbidden tree, right? And in the moment of their disobedience, their eyes, they were opened and they recognized immediately their disgrace, which they covered with fig leaves. Instead of becoming like God, which was where their heart was leading them, all they felt was shame and regret. Listen, that was the moment sin entered our world.

But as we continue in that story this morning…what we’re gonna see is that…that’s not the end of our destiny. Praise Jesus that another question’s asked…who told you? Who told you you were naked, Adam? In the midst of man’s greatest rebellion, we get a glimpse of God’s greatest act of mercy and grace.

Listen, when I was younger, I was a pretty good kid. I mean, I didn’t get in trouble…I always did what I was supposed to do…I never really disobeyed my parents. Listen, I was every parent’s dream child, right? I mean at least that’s how I’d describe myself. But listen, there was this one time…I’ll never forget it, where I actually got a whopping. I know I’ve told this story before, but it’s so perfect for this genesis account.

Listen, one morning, I went out with some friends and we came up with this brilliant idea to jump in the canal and swim with some alligators. I mean, those Cajun kids, they aren’t known for always being the smartest kids on the block. But anyways, because I thought it was an equally brilliant plan, I immediately jumped in the water with my friends…and I did that just as my dad came looking for me over the levee. And of course, when he peaked that hill, he saw this 10 foot alligator like 2 foot from me in the water. And so of course you can imagine…he wasn’t very happy with me, right? And listen, there’s a ton more to this story…my mom was pregnant, she had just gone into labor, they had been searching for me for hours. But the point of the story, just before he whopped me that night…he said to me, “Who told you it was okay to jump in the water with an alligator?” “Who said that was a smart thing to do, son?” And then before he delivered his punishment, he told me just how much it hurt him to do this…which of course, no kid ever believes, right? I mean come on why would they! But what really got me was how he delivered the rest of my punishment. He said to me, “Listen, if you want these other privileges back…here’s the things you need to do.” In the midst of my rebellion, my dad was showing me a way out. He was giving me something to hope in.

Listen, while our spiritual state’s a little different because there’s really nothing we can do on our own…we can’t prevent the death we’ve brought on ourselves through our sin, what we’re gonna see through God’s response to Adam and Eve’s rebellion, is a way out. In the midst of man’s greatest act of rebellion, God approaches the situation with grace and with mercy and He comforts them in their guilt and shame. God graciously seeks out the broken and He offers them reconciliation.

And so, if you’re there with me this morning, let’s stand together as we read starting in verse 8. It says this:

Genesis 3:8–15 (ESV)

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. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of 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 fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 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.”

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.”

Thank you, you can be seated.

Listen, as we dig into this text, there’s three things I want you to see…number one, God seeks the guilty…number two, He confronts the guilty…and then finally, number three… He comforts the guilty.

And so, if you’re ready, let’s dive into the text.

1.) God Seeks the Guilty (vv. 8-10)

Point number one…God seeks the guilty.

Look back at verse 8 with me again. It says, “8 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.”

And so again, remember where we left off with Adam and Eve…they had everything they could’ve possibly of needed. They walked with God in a very real way, right? This passage, it proves that…God was in the flesh…walking with them in a very personal way. Which for the record, if you understand the Trinity of God…then you understand that the person walking in the garden with them, it’s Jesus…it’s the Son of God. Because for one, that’s Jesus’s role in the Trinity, to be the mediator between man and God…but secondly, because only the Son’s been seen by man. Jesus says in the gospel account that no man has looked upon the Father, except for Him…that would obviously include Adam and Eve…and listen, knowing that this is Jesus in the flesh at the fall of man, the very person of the Trinity approaching them in their rebellion, it’s critical for us today because as we’ll see in just a moment, it was Jesus through which everything was created…it was Jesus that man rebelled against…and listen, it was Jesus that approached man in their sin and promised to send Himself to be their substitute, right? We see that right here in this passage this morning. We really get a glimpse into the grace of God. Jesus did so much more for man than just the cross and the resurrection. That’s the heart of Jesus. And it’s exactly the same reason why when He approaches Jerusalem later on in His earthly ministry, why it says He weeps when He looks upon His people. Jesus created us because He loves us…Jesus does everything in His power to redeem us because He desires us.

Look at our passage again…the first thing to understand, it’s that in their sin…Adam and Eve, they felt the real guilt of their decision. They covered themselves in the prior verses showing the guilt they had for themselves and now we see the guilt they had in their relationship with others. They hid themselves from very person that provided them with everything they needed and wanted back in chapter two. The fig leaves they covered themselves with created barriers between the two of them, but now they have to hide to create another barrier between them and God. They were aware that the fig leaves they created for themselves…they weren’t enough to conceal them from God.

God’s omnipresent…He’s all knowing…He’s in all places at all times…and of course, He was the very One that allowed Satan to be in the garden in the first place to tempt the man and the woman. He knew exactly what had happened…He knew man rebelled before He ever approached them. Adam and Eve, they couldn’t really hide from God…which again shows us that eating from the tree didn’t actually give them the knowledge they were seeking. It didn’t help them understand things on God’s level…in fact, they didn’t know God any better than they did before…in reality, it just separated them even further.

But guys, you have to understand…this passage, it’s showing us, their sin…it brought on guilt. They were guilty and their actions showed that. It’s why they covered themselves…it’s why they hide themselves from the only One that truly cared about ‘em. They were guilty sinners.

But listen, in their guilt…in their shame…God still came after them. He graciously came seeking them. Look at verse 9 again. It says, “9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

Again, God knew exactly what happened…He knew man’s disgrace…He knew man’s rebellion…but yet, He came anyway. And the very first question recorded in Scripture from God, “Where are you?” It wasn’t to gain information…it wasn’t to gain clarity…He knew where Adam was. He came asking the question so that Adam would begin thinking for himself.

Listen, if you had a friend coming to your house for the very first time and he was lost…what’s the first question you’d ask him? Where are you, right? If he can tell you where he is, then you can tell him how to get there. Here’s the thing…you have to know where you’re at before you can receive directions to where you need to be.

God’s question here, it told Adam two things…first, “You’re lost!…You’re lost, Adam!”

But second, “Listen, you might be lost, but I’ve come to find you!”

Guys, every person, they have to know those same two things today…you have to know that you’re lost without Jesus…you have to know that you’re separated and headed down a road that’ll lead to an eternal hell…that you’re actions, they’ve brought on punishment and death. When you sin, which we all have…it caused you to become lost. And before you can be reconciled to God, you’ve got to answer the same question for yourself…the same question God asked Adam, “Where are you?” And the answer to that question…”I’m lost!” Before you can be found…before you can be reconciled…you have to recognize you’re lost. You gotta admit that!

That’s why Adam finally says, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” Guys, he was admitting that he was lost…that he was guilty…ashamed.

But listen, you’ve also got to admit that it’s God that comes graciously seeking you. He’s the one that comes looking…because on our own, we only wanna hide…we wanna hide our guilt…we wanna hide our shame. It’s God that comes graciously looking and seeking us. You understand? And I say graciously because on their own, just like us, Adam and Eve deserved death…they didn’t deserve to be saved. They didn’t deserve to be found or forgiven. They rebelled openly and deliberately against God and His great love.

Guys, understanding where you’re at, it involves understanding that God graciously seeks you out in your sin. He didn’t have to come looking for Adam and Eve. He could’ve zapped them out of existence and started over…just like He could’ve with each of us…but He didn’t. Instead He came looking. That’s what He does for each of us today. Not only did He come to be our substitute…but He continues to draw us through the Spirit of God today. He seeks us out graciously and He calls out to us…”Where are you?”

2.) God Confronts the Guilty (vv. 11-13)

“Where are you, Adam?” Listen, it sounds kind of remedial. Almost like a dad asking a disobedient kid hiding behind the door...”Where are you? Why are you there? Is that where you should be?”

But look at the next couple of verses…not only does He come seeking us out…but He confronts us in our sin as well.

Verse 11, “11 He [being God] said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Guys, I need you to listen to me…this is one of those things that American Christianity has just butchered when it comes to the gospel…God loves you…He does! It’s why He goes through such great lengths to save you…but listen to me, God cares about holiness even more. He doesn’t ignore sin…He doesn’t brush it aside like we tend to do. He deals with it…you understand? God’s the definition of what’s good. He’s holy…He’s righteous…He’s just…which means He can’t ignore your sin. He can’t! And listen, He will absolutely confront you in your sin.

Look at how he approaches Adam here…He calls out to him…He comes graciously seeking him, knowing that he was guilty from the start…knowing that he and Eve chose rebellion. And listen, there’s comfort in that…we see that with how Adam apparently comes out of hiding. He trusted God. He found security in God’s presence. But listen, that love and that grace and mercy, it doesn’t neglect the fact that God still confronted Adam in his sin.

He says, “Wait a minute…who told you that you were naked? Did you do the thing I told you not to do?”

Again, God knows the answer to this question, right? This question wasn’t for God, it was for Adam. The question, it’s meant to show Adam that something new had taken place inside of him, there’s this conscience now. There’s this inner voice telling him that he was naked and guilty before God. You understand? He was showing him that his heart was corrupt now. God used this question to get Adam to see that he was the complete opposite of what he wanted to be. This question, it’s meant to put this newly found conscience on display…”Who told you, Adam? Did you eat from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

“12 Then the man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

And so listen, it wasn’t Adam’s fault…it was the woman’s…and God gave her to him…and so ultimately it was His fault, right? He passed all the blame and placed it on the woman and on God.

Listen, that’s what sin does in our lives…we just point the fingers. We don’t wanna take responsibility for our actions. We wanna blame others…we wanna blame God…we wanna play the victim card. Listen, we got enough of that going on in our culture today. Even the woman plays the victim. Verse 13: “13 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.”

Guys, I just wanna say this…my biggest pet peeve, it’s when someone plays the victim card…Just ask my family, I hate it! You’re not the way you are because of your family. You’re not the way you are because of your circumstances. You’re not the way you are because you didn’t get a chance or whatever it is. You’re not the way you are because of Adam and Eve…You’re not the way you are because of Satan…you’re the way you are because you decided for yourself who you’d be…OWN IT! That’s what sin destroys. You understand? And being reconciled to God…it means you address your sin…because when you meet Him, He confronts it. It’s not just about love…it’s about repentance. It’s about owning your sin and turning from it.

Guys, every natural instinct in us, it wants to pass the buck. We wanna pass the blame. No one seeks God on their own. No one has the capacity to deal with their sin appropriately. But listen to me, when God comes seeking....and when He confronts you, because He will…we have to admit our failures…we have to admit our disobedience. We have to own up to what we’ve done. We acknowledge our sin because we know that’s the only way it can be dealt with…it’s the only way we can grow. And we know as Christians, we do this because it’s the only way God can take over our guilt and deal with it appropriately. And listen, this is ongoing…it’s not a one and done deal. He should constantly be confronting us in our sin. And if He’s not…then either one, you’re perfect (you’re just like Jesus)…or two, you’re not dealing with you sin and that speaks volumes about your walk with Him.

Playing the victim…passing the buck…or listen, just remaining passive about your sin, it’s gonna lead you down a path of destruction because one way or another, God’s gonna deal with it. He’s gonna confront it.

Guys, coming to Him…finding salvation in the Lord…even growing in Him as a Christian…it’s not just believing…it’s not just understanding that He loves you…it’s acknowledging who you are and owning your sin. It’s allowing Him to meet you in your disobedience and it involves you turning from that sin.

Listen, the whole point of God questioning the man and the woman here…it was to lead them both to repentance.

3.) God Comforts the Guilty (vv. 14-15)

Which leads straight into our final point…God comforts the guilty.

Look at the last two verses again. Verse 14, “14 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. 15 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.”

Listen, after God confronts their sin…He turns over to the serpent…but notice, there’s no mercy for him. God doesn’t ask any questions here…He just curses the snake. And here’s what the curse shows the man and the woman…He’s giving them comfort through this…He’s offering reconciliation.

First, God shows them that He’s gonna bring them reconciliation by defeating their adversary…the one that tempted them, the one that wanted them to fall. And this isn’t just a future thing either, we see God immediately curse the snake by making it crawl on it’s belly, right? Making him eat dust.

Donald Barnhouse said, “To eat dust is to know defeat, and that’s God’s prophetic judgement upon the enemy…There will be continuous aspiration, but never any attainment.”

God’s condemning Satan to an existence of frustration and defeat. You understand? We can’t have any kind of reconciliation because Satan proved that our greatest weakness, our flesh, it’ll always fall to his temptation. Which for the record, the real enemy here’s not Satan, it’s the thing that he goes after…it’s our flesh…our heart. And listen, God defeats both of our enemies because without this defeat, reconciliation can never be a reality for us. And He’s cursing the serpent here to provide comfort for Adam and Eve.

But listen, reconciliation can only happen if there’s One that can actually come and do the work God’s promising here…to defeat our enemy. And so, in the midst of man’s rebellion, God graciously offers reconciliation through His Seed who eventually conquers the serpent. And remember, the God that’s throwing out these punishments…it’s Jesus…it’s the very member of the Trinity that’ll come and that’ll live a perfect life…and that’ll die on a cross. And it would be on that cross that Jesus would ultimately defeat the serpent and the flesh.

Guys, it was at this same cross that this promise, this promise God’s giving here in these accounts, it was at the cross all of this was fulfilled. When Christ died on that cross…Satan struck His heel…in a literal way and in a metaphorical way. I mean think about it…where were the nails pounded in? His hands and feet…right through His heels. And when they took His dead body down from that cross, it appeared to Satan that he won. But listen, we know how the story goes…we talked about it last week…on that Sunday morning, that first Easter, the true Victor, He walked straight out of that grave…He was alive! He was risen!

Satan delivered a terrible blow…and no doubt he thought it was a knockout punch, but praise Jesus, the serpent was wrong! All he did was strike Jesus on His heel. That suffering and that pain…even that death…it had nothing on what Jesus did to Satan at the cross.

Because it was at the cross that true and lasting reconciliation would be offered to mankind. It was at the cross where God fully and entirely comforted the guilty. Not because of anything we did…but because He simply loves us and desires us. Listen, Satan might’ve bruised the heel of Jesus…the cross, it might’ve seemed like a great victory for him…but when Jesus arose from the dead, Satan was defeated once and for all and our path back to God became cemented in the work of Christ.

And listen, bringing it back to our story here in Genesis…when Adam and Eve deserved hell and condemnation, God promised the defeat of Satan and the victory of the Redeemer…the very Redeemer they rebelled against to begin with. At the beginning of their punishment…at their sentencing…God comforted them, he gave them a way out…and that way out, it was through Him. Listen, the very One they rebelled against…He was promising to send Himself…to take on their punishment.

Guys, that’s how grace works. We deserve death…we deserve separation…we deserve to experience the punishment we brought on ourselves…but listen, the grace of God, it’s that He’s taken all that on for us…if we’d simply repent and believe, we could experience that. That’s what reconciliation’s all about.

Closing

Guys, coming to Jesus…experiencing salvation…it has nothing to do with us at all. Listen, God seeks out the guilty…He’s finds us…He finds us there, broken, and disgraced…hiding from His presence. And it’s at that point, He confronts us…He deals with our sin. He humbles us…and in that moment where we’re humbled, He comforts us…He offers us reconciliation through His Son, Jesus. That’s the heart of God.

And listen, this isn’t just a message for those far from God. It’s a message for us as believers as well. This process it’s ongoing. Once we’ve received eternal life by repenting and believing in Jesus Christ, we grow by continually being sought out by God and allowing Him to deal with our sin. We allow Him to sanctify us. But guys, that can only happen when we’re walking with Him. If He’s not confronting your sin, you might just be hiding from His presence in the midst of the garden.

Listen, as you think about that, would you bow your head and close your eye’s with me this morning?

March 3rd, 2003...God took a broken teenage boy and He gave Him new life. Guys, He gave me hope and assurance. He changed everything about me. And I'll never forget that night. I had fought it. I had fought God. Until, I remember sitting there in a Monday night Bible Study, I could hear God speaking to me. And guys, I can remember, for months feeling this tug in my heart. I just remember this internal battle going on. I thought, "There's no way I'm giving into this…I don't need God." That’s how I felt. But guys, I remember sitting there and for the very first time in my life, I felt the real weight of my sin. I felt the guilt…I felt the same kind of shame that Adam must’ve felt. I had a real understanding of what an eternity without Jesus would look like. And so, I turned my life to Him. And guys, He changed me.

But what you have to understand…it was God that came seeking me. When I constantly ran and when I hid myself from Him…He was there…He was asking, “Steven, where are you?” And listen, when I finally gave in to the Spirit of God…He absolutely confronted me in my sin and it drove me to repentance. But guys, when I finally let go…when I finally turned to Jesus, I found so much comfort in that. And even now, as He continues to seek me and confront me…He’s still changing everything about who I am…and He brings me so much comfort.

Listen, there's someone here today that feels that same tug on their heart. There's that internal battle going on…that hostility…and you're just trying so hard to fight it…you’re trying so hard to hide from it…but please listen to me, give in to that. That's the Spirit of God and He wants to give something that’ll impact not just your life here on earth today but your life for all eternity. He wants to transform you and give you new life. He wants to take away that shame and that guilt and that hurt that you've felt and He wants to replace it with love and with grace. He want's to grow you and help you see this perfect plan He has for your life.

Listen, no one's looking around...if that's you this morning, could you just stand up? Can you take a step of faith and say, “You know what? I’m gonna turn my life to Jesus…I’m gonna let me change it!” Could you do that this morning?

Listen, I’m down front…I’m right here for you this morning. Would you come. You feel the Spirit of God moving you, give into that…let Him change you.

And listen, if you’re here this morning and you just need to pray…whatever it is…the altar’s open for you this morning as Wendy play. And so, you come.

[Prayer]