The Purpose, The Problem, & The Plan

"I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer”- Jim Carrey

This is only one quote but it is the shared sentiment of tons of celebrities. They feel unfilled so they set a goal of what they need to achieve to be happy and then they reach the top, get all the things they dreamed of and they still feel empty. Why? Because the world is broken and looking to be fulfilled in all the wrong places.

It wasn’t always this way. People weren’t always desperately looking for fulfillment and stuck in a cycle of brokenness. In fact, in the beginning everything in Creation was fulfilling its purpose perfectly. This shared emptiness we feel is the consequence of stepping away from our purpose.

Tonight we are going to primarily be focused in Genesis 3 if you want to turn there and we are going to see how we got here and what God is going to do about it.

So, what is this purpose ran from?

Introduce Creation

Genesis 1:26–27 NET

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.” God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.

1) We Were Created to Reflect God’s Character and Authority

As God’s image bearers we reflect his character

Our intelligence, our emotions, our souls, all of that comes from us being unique among creation as image bearers

As God’s image bearers we reflect his authority

In ancient times when a king would take over another kingdom he would put a statue of himself in an area to show the province belongs to him. As God’s image bearers we are also his vice-regents meaning we rule over the rest of creation under his authority and as a result are the reflection of God’s authority to the rest of Creation.

The world in its perfect state has God on the throne with us fully submitted to and reflecting him, and then us ruling over the rest of creation as his image bearers. There is no pain, no fighting, no hunger, just peace and healthy authority structure. Unfortunately, things didn’t stay that way.

You see in this perfect world with this perfect authority structure God gave us ONE rule

Genesis 2:15–17 NET

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it. Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”

So God has given one really easy rule, and he has made the consequences that come with breaking that rule really clear. This is where the problem really begins- read with me in Genesis 3.

Genesis 3:1–7 NET

Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’ ” The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

2) The Enemy Wants to Convince Us to Take God’s Authority For Ourselves (Sin)

This is not just Satan’s tactic in the garden, it is his tactic today. He wants to convince you that you should get to decide good and evil for yourself, that God is keeping you from something good. He wants you to think God is just bossy and wants to restrict you from what is fun, so you should just do it anyways and Eve fell in the trap, why? Because she gave him the time to lie to her.

In your life, do NOT give the enemy a foot in the door to lie to you, thats why knowing the truth of this book matters so much, do not let him twist God’s words

So, Adam and Eve have listened to Satan and disobeyed God

Genesis 3:8–24 NET

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” The man replied, “I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” And the Lord God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.” So the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman replied, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the wild beasts and all the living creatures of the field! On your belly you will crawl and dust you will eat all the days of your life. And I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; her offspring will attack your head, and you will attack her offspring’s heel.” To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your labor pains; with pain you will give birth to children. You will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you.” But to Adam he said, “Because you obeyed your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground thanks to you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, but you will eat the grain of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return.” The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. The Lord God made garments from skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. And the Lord God said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. When he drove the man out, he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life.

3) The Required Consequence For Sin is Death

God warned them and here it is, suffering comes from sin, shame comes from sin, but the big one, is death!

Romans 6:23a NET

For the payoff of sin is death,

That means the pay we are owed as the result of our sin is to die. Adam and Eve deserved to die that day for their disobedience and they were separated from the tree of life and from relationship with God, but they didn’t die on the spot, why? Because God made a sacrifice that died in their place. An animal had to die to save them and cover their shame and that sacrifice is just a shadow of the way God has always planned to redeem mankind and to restore the balance of authority.

Genesis 3:15 NET

And I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; her offspring will attack your head, and you will attack her offspring’s heel.”

4) God Has Always Had a Plan For Redemption

God is omniscient and eternal which means he is all knowing and outside of time. God knew we were going to betray him before he even made us, and loved us enough to be willing to create us even when the solution to restore relationship would be costly for him.

Romans 6:23 NET

For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus is the solution to the problem of sin and the rest of the Biblical story is him From this point of the story on we are waiting for that promised seed, Jesus to come and crush the head of the serpent. The serpent bites his heel when Jesus goes to the cross, but he rose from the grave defeating sin and death and he is coming back in the end and crushing the head of the serpent and restoring his rightful place on the throne forever. No more pain, no more sickness, no more sin- just every part of Creation in fellowship with Jesus giving him the glory he deserves.

Gospel invitation

Discussion Questions:

What stood out to you from the sermon?

What does it mean to be made in God’s image? What is our purpose as mankind?

How did the enemy convince Eve to sin? How can we keep from letting him deceive us in the same way?

What are the consequences of sin? Where do you see those in the world around you?

What is God’s plan for redemption? How should knowing he has a plan effect how we live?

How can you better reflect God’s character and authority this week?