What's Wrong With the World?

Introduction

Have you ever wondered what is wrong with this world? No matter who you are, what you believe, you must see that this world is broken.

That the world is broken is seen in the way people act:

They lie to each other, hurt each other, murder each other. Nations fight against nations and so many die in war. Prisons are stuffed to capacity.

This world is also broken in ways not directly caused by people:

Natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, mudslides. Diseases like cancer. People die in accidents every day.

And again, everybody agrees that there is something wrong with the world.

You may hear people argue that there is no such thing as right and wrong, good or bad . . . yet they affirm just that when they express their sadness over certain terribe things in this world.

What person in there right mind would not say that child trafficking is not evil?

What about genocide? What about serial killers who torture and murder people in horrendous ways?

You don’t have to look far in this world before you come face to face with the reality that true evil exists.

In fact, some have seen this as a problem . . . they call it the problem of evil.

It goes like this: If God is all powerful, and if He knows everything, why is there evil in the world?

They reason that the existence of evil means that something’s gotta give . . . either God can’t be all powerful . . . or He can’t be all knowing . . . or He just doesn’t care—He’s an evil God Himself.

This is genuinely a tough problem, but in the process of trying to solve that problem, people tend to miss a different problem . . . and that’s the problem of good.

That problem goes like this . . . the simple fact that we recognize evil in the world means that there is also good . . . because the existence of evil means that there is some standard of good not being met.

So, my question is . . . what is that standard of Good?

Every problem in life can be attributed to one thing: sin.

o Every hard time you face, every problem you have in relationships, every physical illness; everything wrong in your life is because of sin.

o We often are quick to blame others when hard times come about, we even blame God. But when we have to deal with difficult circumstances, we are simply dealing with the consequences of sin.

o Romans 3:23 says that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” so all of us have sinned, and we all continue to sin. It is because of this sin that problems exist. But all of this sin can be traced back to one particular act of disobedience.

o This act of disobedience was not merely one of confusion, or error; it was an ugly, evil act that stemmed from a desire for self-rule, a desire for autonomy. A desire to be self-sufficient, apart from God. A desire for more than what was already given, of greed. In the process, worshiped something other than the only one who deserves to be worshiped, which is idolatry. This was the first sin, and the start of a world history that is filled with sins like it. Everyone would be affected by it, either directly or indirectly. Sin is what is wrong with the world.

In Genesis 3, we will see in three scenes how sin began, and God’s promised solution to that problem so that we will have a right understanding of our deepest problem, and a right understanding of God’s solution to that problem and our hope.

The three scenes are:

1. The lies of Satan (3:1-5)

2. The choices of Adam and Eve (3:6-13)

3. The Judgement and Grace of God (3:14-19)

- Turn with me to Genesis 3 (Page ____)

We will begin by looking at the first scene: The Lies of Satan (1-5)

- V.1

o The serpent.

§ In the NT, both the apostle John and the apostle Paul identify this snake as Satan himself.

§ Satan, or Lucifer, was a created angel, and from the prophet Ezekiel we see that he had amazing beauty. From the prophet Isaiah we see that he desired to usurp God’s authority, however, and in so doing he was cursed, along with the angels that chose to follow him.

§ We know from Genesis 1:1 that God created everything and owns everything – it is all His. So when Satan rebelled against God, He was going against his purpose and design, rebelling against the God of the universe.

o He was crafty.

§ This is something we should always keep in mind about Satan and his demons. They are very crafty, and will take every opportunity they can to cause you to indulge in your sinful desires. Therefore you have to always be on guard, always be working. Like a down escalator, if you aren’t going up, you’re going down. Be intentional.

o Has God said…?

§ Satan was casting doubt on her understanding of what God had said for her to do. He was saying, “Did God really say that?” “Are you sure that’s what He really meant?” “Is that really what a loving God would command?”

§ We need to be sure to study God’s Word, and be fully informed as to what it says so we can answer these doubts when they arise.

- V.2-3

o Eve told the snake “We have every tree in the garden to eat from, and they are all good; there is only one tree we can’t eat from.”

o “you shall not eat from it, or touch it.”

§ Eve knew what God had commanded, and she had the zeal to add the prohibition from even touching the tree.

§ God gave them everything in the garden to enjoy, there was only one tree they weren’t to eat from; yet Satan questioned God’s goodness to them because He withheld something from them.

§ As we will see, even now Eve is thinking through what Satan is saying, questioning the goodness of God in her heart.

- V.4

o Satan went from casting doubt through questioning God’s command to a blatant lie.

o The simple truth is that if she did eat from the tree, she would die. This death would be two-fold.

§ First, she would experience physical death. In God’s grace, she wouldn’t die right away, but she would eventually experience physical death and decay. A separation from the soul from the body.

§ Second, she would experience spiritual death. This death is a separation from God.

§ Finally, if she did not seek God’s forgiveness and died in her sin, she would experience the second death – eternal punishment in Hell.

o Satan told them flat-out that this would not happen to them, and he goes on to say that it would be wonderful for them to eat from this fruit because they would be like God.

§ Satan put this idea of autonomy and self-rule into her mind, and it appealed to her. She liked the idea of ruling her own life apart from God, and making her own rules.

§ Satan knows that this appeals to us today as well. Nothing has changed with time. We all desire to make our own rules and live like we rule our own lives, as if we didn’t need God. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Next, we will look at scene two: The Choices of Adam and Eve(6-13)

o V.6

§ She saw that it was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes…

· It is hard to imagine how beautiful the Garden of Eden was. Nature today is majestic and beautiful, from the cold mountain peaks to lush forests to the bright sandy beaches; this world is full of beauty.

· But this world is fallen because of sin, and thus the beauty that we see is imperfect, fallen beauty.

· Can you imagine how beautiful the Garden of Eden must have been? It was perfect.

· And here we see that this fruit was desirable to the eyes, this must have been an incredibly good-looking fruit.

· Sin always looks so pleasing to us at first. We see the allure of it, and then we choose to forget the consequences of it. All it takes is a second.

· As soon as she sank her teeth into that fruit, and as soon as she gave it to her husband, they were both spiritually dead.

· It was at that moment that they both deserved an eternity separated from God in hell. There they would spend an eternity of pain, suffering, torment, darkness, fire, solitude and loneliness. An eternity without God is an eternity without hope, peace, any form of comfort, joy, love. All of this without any hope of an end. This is what they deserved.

· Again, Romans 3:23 says that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

· This is what you all deserve too because of your sin. You deserve this same punishment.

· Adam and Eve needed to be saved after their fall, you need to be saved too.

- V.7

o They had innocence, but that was replaced by shame. So they attempted to cover their own shame, something that could never work on their own.

§ Often we attempt to do the same, but the truth is, we cannot cover our own shame, our own sin. It has to be covered for us.

- V.8

o Previously, they used to walk with God in the garden. But instead of joy and excitement of walking with God when they heard Him coming, they were filled with fear and dread.

- V.9

o God is omniscient, so He obviously knew where they were.

o God was simply forcing them to explain why they were hiding. They were hiding out of fear and guilt, God wanted them to realize that for themselves.

- V.10

o He hid because he was naked.

- V.11

o Again, God asked this question even though He knew the answer already.

§ God was giving them multiple chances to confess their sin to Him and repent of it. This demonstrates God’s amazing grace even early on in the history of man.

- V.12

o But Adam didn’t take the opportunity to repent, instead he chose to blame Eve for that had happened.

o More than blaming Eve, he was blaming God.

§ He said “the woman that You gave me.”

§ Adam was saying that his problem wasn’t something that he did, but a problem with his situation. He was telling God that he couldn’t do anything about his sin because God put him in a situation in which he could do nothing else.

§ 1 Corinthians 10:13

· No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

§ We are never in a situation so bad that we can’t do anything but sin.

- V.13

o Eve then blamed the snake for deceiving her, again not repenting of her sin and instead blaming it on something else.

Finally, we come to the final scene: The Judgement and Grace of God (14-19)

- In this section, we see God’s curse not only on Adam, Eve, and the Snake; but also on the rest of creation. Everything is stained with the curse of sin.

- V.14

o God then cursed the snake for being the manifestation of Satan.

- After this, God curses the world. Woman will have pain in childbirth, man will have to work hard for his food, the ground was cursed, relationships will have struggles, sin will be rampant.

- So what does this have to do with Christmas? What is the big deal?

o This can be seen in V.15

o God isn’t talking to the snake anymore, He is talking to Satan.

o This is called the Proto Evangelium, or first gospel.

o The seed of the woman is Christ, he will bruise the snake (Satan) on the head.

o Bruising on the heal is suffering.

o Bruising on the head is fatal.

o Why is this verse so important? Because in the middle of God’s curse on mankind because of sin, He provides a glimmer of hope of redemption. We are so blessed today to be able to know that that hope came in Christ.

o Christ came to earth as a man, but still God. He lived a perfect life, free of all forms of sin. The reason He came was to take that penalty of our sins on Him, as He died for them on the cross. Adam and all of those in the OT times had to look ahead in faith to this coming messiah. We in this Church age have the privilege of looking back at the finished work of Christ.

- Jesus came to reverse the curse of sin! He came to take the penalty of sin onto Himself so that we don’t have to suffer for eternity.

- So what about you? Will you believe the lies of Satan and choose to live in sin, or will you seek the forgiveness of God through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross?

**Consider going through the card – what this text says about God, man, and what to do in response.

**Encourage them to read through John (Page ____).