...But God Called out to the man

(S1)

25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Genesis—The beginnings of creation (not an R rated message)

— A glorious garden: perfect in every way (8-9). Flowing life-giving waters running throughout (10-14). Tending to it brought human fulfillment (15). A partnership shared (22) between man and woman; the creator and his creation.

— God calls them man and woman(wife)—God’s intended fellowship with humanity

Yet in the midst of this glorious perfection. This divine fellowship between creator and the created—Something has changed. God asks this question

(S2)

9 BUT the Lord GOD called to the man, “Where are you?”

What prompted God’s verbal inquisition? Why the question to the man? Where are you—surely God knew? Is it simply a question of location, or is there more to it?

Genesis 3 can be summed up this way—From Great beginnings to Troubled Waters (movie)

— They had everything; then they had nothing—They were rich in the Lord; then poor in spirit.

Maybe you have been there? You know God’ love—follow Jesus, but yet at times you are weighed down with anxiety, worry, or feel discouraged? Facing unresolved conflict, an uncertain future, or a hill too hard to climb? Overwhelmed both physically and spiritually? Feeling unworthy, unloved or unredeemable?

(S3)—The good news—There is always a BUT with God!

There is no bridge to far—No sin to wrong—No hurt to hard—No problem to difficult—no distant to great... where God can’t find you, because you are his creation whom he loves.

Still the question needs to be asked of this man—Where are you?”

SERIES—BIBLES—PRAYER

(S4) —Troubled Beginnings

To understand the BUT God, we need to know what goes before it...

READ 1a

Why did it have to be a snake (Indiana Jones)—If a snake is involved its not going to be good—Satan’s use of a reptile

Revelation 20:2 “He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.”

Bound to slither on the ground, Known for his slick and cunning ways

Believe in me—Trust in me, just in me…Jungle Book(Kaa)

Three ways the serpent causes trouble in the garden

(S5)—DECEPTION

READ 1b

Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes (Danger Zone)

A foolish old farmer, so the story goes, concluded one day that the oats he had fed his mule for years were simply costing him too much. So he hatched a plan: he mixed a little sawdust in with the feed, and then a little more the next day, and even more the next, each time reducing the amount of oats in the mix.

The mule didn’t seem to notice the gradual change, so the farmer thought things were fine and kept decreasing the proportion of oats. But weeks later, on the day he finally fed the poor beast nothing but sawdust, the mule finished the meal and fell over dead.

Deception can only end badly for one who is deceived—The serpents deception was subtle—Causing Eve to question God.

“Did God really say?

As followers of Jesus, its ok to have questions of God. Its how we learn, grow, better understand our beliefs, doctrines and theology. But to question God…?

Is satan any less cunning today? Deception among Christians can be a subtle—Did Jesus really say…?

2 Corinthians 4:4 “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

How many know that a conversation with a snake is never going to go well! The woman’s response

READ 2-3

(S6)

We should note, Adam’s account of this instruction from God—Eve’s interpretation—Subtle differences

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

(A) Free to eat—(E) may eat—(A) Tree of the knowledge of good and evil—(E) Middle of the garden

First Marital Conflict

Deception — “The intentional misleading of another, causing them to belief in untruth.”

2nd way the serpent causes trouble in the garden and a close relative to deception

(S7) — DECEIT (LIE)

READ 4-5

His lie is two-fold—You will not certainly die—You will be like God

This is still a core belief of Mormonism today.  In fact, the Mormon Church has issued an official statement in their “Becoming Like God” Gospel Topic Essay on their Church website that describes how you can become a god. MG-04 – Do Mormons Believe They Can Become Gods? – 4Witness.org - Witnesses for Jesus, Inc.

Most Christians may not say I want to be like God, but it is certainly in our human nature to replace things with God and make them our God.

SIN—Anytime we elevate anything, including ourselves, above God—to be like God

you will certainly not die…you will be like God

Its was easy to believe the lies of the serpent

Psalm 10:7 His mouth is full of lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue.

Easy for us to believe the lies as well—Truth of the word of God

Third way he causes trouble in the garden

(S8) — DESIRE

READ 6-7

The tree looked appealing! Good for food—pleasing to the eye—desirable for wisdom

Proverbs 11:23 “The desire of the righteous ends only in good, but the hope of the wicked only in wrath.”

They underestimated the power of human desire!

It starts when we are young—The child at the checkout line

Unholy desire can be as simple as unhealthy eating, having the next new shiny toy or as destructive as self gratification —addiction in all its forms

Desire is not bad, in fact it is God’s nature in us. But when its misplaced and self oriented it can be destructive

Who has the desires of your heart?

Psalm 73:25 “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.”

Deception, Deceit and Desire led to a poor decision—So, in fear they hide, instead of facing the music

READ 8-10

(S9)

Fear drives them away from God—They could not hide and neither can we

Psalm 139:7 “7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?”

Confrontation with their creator is still imminent

READ 11-13

Excuses—blame—passing the buck—Saying anything to get out of it

Hitting light with a tomato

Its easy to make excuses, and pass blame. Who likes to own up to their mistakes. We cannot hide from our own spiritual deficiencies—Fear will too drive us away if we let it.

God’s response—Better explains the question, where are you?

(S10)

1. “Who told you that you were naked — Who did you listen to besides me?

The world has many voices today. Problem is they don’t come in the obvious form of a serpent. Peter warned the early church of this...

2 Peter 2:1–2 “There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.”

God asking, “where are you,” is to CONVICT and CONVINCEus when we are unfaithful.

Bible Study (John 15-16)—Role of the H.S. or Paracletos, as comforter...

(S11)

“The advocate’s role is of convicting the world of sin, convincing the believer and persuading them about the truth—Spirit of truth.” Ben Witherington

Our moving foreward as a Global Methodist Church is about reconnecting to the core of Christian truth

A Catechism of Christian Faith and Doctrine

God’s has given us his truth, the church has given us our Creeds, which come from His word to convict and convince us away from sin and into a life of righteousness—A right relationaship with God

(S12)

2. Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from—Have you disobeyed me?

In some circles the 10 commandments have become the 10 suggestions. We have replaced them with Jesus’ command to LOVE and traded them in for a LIE that loving others comes before loving God.

Luke 10:27 “He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’””

Loving God is obedience to His word and will, then loving others will come naturally...

God asking, “where are you,” is to elicit a CONFESSION to lead us back to faithfulness

“Confession is good for the soul”—admitting our errors helps us ease the burden of guilt and shame

Early Methodism’s growth—Small accountability groups—Articles of Religion and Confession of faith

1 John 1:9 “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Communion—Confession—Gets us right with God

3. “What is this you have done?”

God asking, “where are you,” is to convey COMPASSION

None of God’s response are to CONDEMN to those he loves, but to CONVICT and CONVINCE so we will CONFESS …not to avoid the consequences, but so we will know his COMPASSION.

Psalm 103:8 “8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”

Sure there are consequences to their sin, as there is to ours, but for the one who is convicted, convinced and confesses, there is GRACE

Wesleyan Way of Salvation

The only one condemned was the deceiver himself.

READ 14

The serpent got his due. They were deceived, lied to, and fell to their own desires—They deserved his wrath, instead they got his BUT God...

(S13)

Genesis 3:15 (NIV)

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Jesus is our BUT God…yes sin entered the world that day

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

BUT God…called to the man and asked, “Where are you?”

Is that a question for you and me today? Where does the H.S. need to CONVICT, CONVINCE, and elicit a CONFESSION in your life? Where do you need to know the compassion of Jesus who does not condemn but desires only to bring you back to faithfulness?

(S14)

The good news is…there is always a BUT with God! Jesus is that Good News

Weighed down with anxiety, worry, or feel discouraged? Facing unresolved conflict, an uncertain future, or a hill too hard to climb? Overwhelmed both physically and spiritually? Feeling unworthy, unloved or unredeemable?

You can never fall to far from God’s grace because Jesus is our BUT God.