In the Beginning Pt. 3.

Introduction

Have you ever noticed before, how in our own stories and thoughts, we are never the one that does bad, that is, we like to be the good guys. No, even when it is clear that we messed up, we made a bad choice, we either blame someone else or play the victim card. Why is this, because we all know that sinning, doing wrong, or even being wronged is in fact wrong, so we try to distract and shift reality around so it seems like we are the good guys. We see this happening even back to our earliest mother and father, Adam and Eve. I’ve never met a person before who has not proved this right. In fact, this week I myself did this over something so small and unimportant as lost car keys. Instead of facing reality, I chose to lash out while looking for them, when the lash out did no good, wasn’t helpful, and only distracted me for a second from the reality that I had miss-placed them and couldn’t find them. And worse yet, I can confess to even blaming others in my heart and mind (and I'm sure outloud) about much smaller and less important things like pens or pencils. You see, mankind in sin has the predisposition to blame others instead of ourselves or our decisions. This just goes to show that sin itself (which is ultimately rebellion against God and separates us from Him) has far reaching consequences, even to the point of harming ourselves and those we love. In today’s text, we will see that original sin of mankind, and the far reaching consequences that it had and even has on us today.

Prayer

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can be more like You, and made more into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all too often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possibly can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. I ask these things for your glory and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

Context

Last week, we took a look at the 2nd chapter of Genesis, the book of beginnings in the Bible. In this chapter, we see more details about how and what God did during the creation week. Specifically, that He rested on the 7th day, which serves as an example of our need to rest ourselves. Also, we saw more details about God’s favorite of all of His creations. That is, us mankind, which is His favorite and most precious creation. Say that to someone near you, I am precious to God…….

So precious to Him and concerned is God for mankind and you, that making us, God saw something about us, and made it right. This was that while Adam (the first man) was tending the Garden and naming the animals, he became lonely because there was nothing and no one else like him out there. So, in God’s deep love for man, from our first father Adam, he took his rib-bone and from it created a mate and partner just like him, in the first woman Eve.

Whereas before, God saw that something was bad in his creation, the loneliness of man, now that they were no longer lonely and had fellowship with others as they got to enjoy their creator God, now the created world was very good indeed. So, the man and woman enjoyed each other’s company without shame and fear, and enjoyed God’s company with limitless joy.

In this state, God, Adam, and Eve have the role to rule and subdue the earth and multiply on it. Tend the garden well, and enjoy God. Only with one well placed and good for them restriction, to not eat of the fruit in the tree in the center of the garden, the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They remained in this blissful and perfect world for a short while, but soon after; the deceiver would come into the world. He would trick our mother and father into sinning, rebelling against God; and this unfortunate trait is passed down to all children, including yourselves. This state and nature of sin has deep and powerful effects on how we live, how we think, how we act, and what we do. What I'm saying is that Believers must be aware of sin’s far reaching effects. Be aware of how deep it goes in our roots and veins, so that you combat it in your life with the help of the perfect sinless one, Jesus Christ the righteous. Let's see this fallen state happen today in the text, where I want you to see these truths about sin that have had far reaching effects even from the first, so that you can understand it better and face your own.

Message

The first truth about sin that you must know is that sin comes with: Deception from the evil one v. 1-7

3 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when[a] you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Here we see the serpent for the first time, the first mentioning in our Bible’s of rebellion against God and His goodness, though this by no means will be the last. The serpent here, is Satan, who most likely has either taken the form of a serpent or is using one, to deceive the humans. It says here he is what? He is cunning? Unlike anything else that Adam and Eve had ever encountered before. He uses his cunning and trickery to get Adam and Eve to do something that he had long before chosen to do. To question God, rebel against Him, and try to become like Him. Satan first chooses the woman, and asks her a question. Did God really say this?....... Why do you think that is?....... Eve responds, being only half true in her answer, showing that even now doubt and confusion was in her heart. Now, she thought, perhaps God is holding out on me, but I better not chance it. Then, the serpent goes deeper, he tells her, “ You will not die! In fact you will be better off if you do, God is holding out on you. He knows you will be like Him in power and might and ability if you eat of that fruit.” Satan offers this lie, the father of lies, fathering the first lie we had heard. Unfortunately, Eve believed this lie, and when looking at the fruit, and seeing that it was good, and yes she wanted to be like God and have this mysterious wisdom, she took it, and ate of it. Then, she turned, and gave some to her husband. In an instant, they realized that they were naked and vulnerable. Both against themselves and against everything else, so they chose to cover themselves.

Sin, extremely often, if not always, comes along with Satan’s deception. His trickery. That is, the devil lies, and we believe him, because we want that lie to be true, we want more than what we have been given. Just like in The epic story of the Lord of the Rings, all the kingdoms of living beings wanted more power and might for themselves. So, they all accepted special “gifts of powerful rings” from a deceiver. These rings, they were told, would make them more powerful and more able to rule well. And yes they did, but they also corrupted the wearers, some of whom became so at one with the corruption that they faded into a different kind of being, and became the deceivers' most powerful lieutenants. Others went mad. What’s clear was, those rings had a different purpose and master than they supposed, one that would enslave them and bring them under darkness if they did not resist them and take them off.

This, of course, was the writer's way of talking about sin. That is, it is dark and wicked and destroys us. But also, it comes from a deceiver who is trying to use each and every one of us as his pawns if we allow him to. Believers must be aware of sin’s far reaching effects. You must be aware that it comes with deception, something that is trying to trick you and blind you from the truth and what is best for you. Adam and Eve fell for it. Do your best not to fall for it, and when you do know that your redeemer still loves you, and He is willing and able to help you if you are but to ask of Him. Do not be deceived by the evil one.

The next truth about sin that you must know is that sin comes with:

Effects on all mankind 8-19

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,[b] and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”10 And he said, “I heard you[c] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”11 Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”12 The man replied, “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”13 So the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. 15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.[d] He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. 16 He said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children with painful effort. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you. 17 And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor[e] all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 You will eat bread[f] by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.

Here, the great tragedy of mankind received its just rewards. The rebellion had consequences, consequences that they decided to take on in their own accord and will. Consequences that doomed them. From these verses, we have far reaching effects that all of mankind (including myself and yourself) have to live and deal with. Here, I see 6 consequences for the rebellion for Adam, Eve, and the serpent.

The first is fear, never before had we known fear before, but with the knowledge of good and evil obtained, and knowing that they had done evil, the two were filled with fear when they heard God in the garden, never had they feared God before but had always enjoyed Him.

The second is blame shifting, blaming others for a sense of protection. We see Adam blame his wife for his decision to take the fruit (he didn’t have to but did anyways, as he wanted the same thing Eve did). We also see Eve blame the serpent for her decision, yes she was deceived by the serpent. However, the fact remains that both of them are responsible for their own decisions. Now, they chose to throw each other under the bus to protect themselves, how selfish and misguided.

The next has a mix of good and bad for us. This consequence goes to the serpent, Satan. For his actions, he will for the rest of eternity be low and will know defeat of the most embarrassing kind. He will forever be at war with mankind and all of its children. He will strike their heel to try to take mankind, but one is coming (a foreshadowing of Jesus) who will strike his head and destroy him.

The fourth goes to the woman. Now she will have pain in child bearing and rearing. It used to be easy, but now it's very hard. For misleading and manipulating her husband, now he is to be the one with authority between them. The same is true for all your daughters.

The fifth is addressed to the man, who is now the head of the human race. Since you ate of the tree you were not to eat of, from now on eating to survive will be necessary and hard work. You will toil your days away, the very ground will work against you, but you will have to work hard and laboriously to eat and provide. The same to all of your sons.

This leads to the sixth, death. God proclaimed, now because of your choice of rebellion against me, trying to become something that you are not, even worse than all the previous, you will now know death. Adam, I made you from nothing but dust, and to dust you shall return when your body expires.

These are all terrible things, and ones that we all must stare in the face, and ever greater yet is the tragedy that they never had to be. Yet, in our own selfishness, we brought them upon ourselves and we live with the fall out. Believers must be aware of sin’s far reaching effects. In turn, I remind you of the words of the apostle Paul to the church in Rome where he said, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Yes, death is what we deserve and what we will get in sin. But, this sin is not the end that God desires for your story, no He wants for you and has offered to you and everyone that will have it eternal life by accepting Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin. So then, I urge you to never think of any sin, no matter how small or petty it may seem, as unimportant or not a big deal. Because it is, all Adam and Eve did was eat fruit they were told not to, and it had far reaching and damaging consequences. Just as yours does, so believe in the gospel of Jesus and repent from your sins believer and unbeliever alike; for sin comes with effects on all mankind.

Another truth about sin that you must know is that sin causes:

Separation from God. 20-24

20 The man named his wife Eve[g] because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.22 The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life

Of all the punishments, here we see the worst of all. In a final act of work in the garden, Adam names his wife Eve. Then, to cover the shame that they now knew, the first deaths happened. God ended the lives of two animals, and used their skins to cover their nakedness, for now they feared being naked. That’s not the worst though, here it comes. God looks out, and sees that his beloved creation knows good and evil and these terrible things that come with it, so he has to take action to protect them. This includes separating them from Himself, as inside the garden was another tree that if its fruit was eaten, would make one live forever. This would not be good for the two, who have now proved that they cannot be trusted with this situation; they could be tempted. So, as to protect them from living in this terrible situation, God sent them away from paradise and ensured that it was always guarded so that one day they could truly live again. Sin separates us from God.

Have you ever seen or had separation anxiety before? This is the great feeling of worry a person (or even animal gets) when they are left alone, especially from the people or person they feel they need the most, their comfort. Growing up, for my 11th birthday, my parents gifted me (and for that fact the whole family) with a dachshund named Stormy. He was the classic kind, with the brown and black, and was a very good lap dog with a very keen sense of smell and a knack at catching mice. Stormy had one big thing about him though, one that is very common for his breed. And that is terrible separation anxiety. You see, this breed was meant to hunt and be in packs, so when one of us left, he was in deep distress the entire time. In fact, if we all had to leave, we couldn’t leave him the majority of the house, but rather in the kitchen with linoleum floors, as inevitably Stormy would puke 1-2 times before we returned from the worry, concern, and anxiety he felt being alone.

I can only imagine that lonely feeling, as Adam and Eve were placed out of their only home by their God that before knew perfectly. I could only imagine them walking away with no plans or idea what to do and looking back, and thinking and saying to themselves “what have we done?” Believers must be aware of sin’s far reaching effects. Yes, sin separates us from God even today. And yes, even the redeemed person can notice a lack of closeness with God when we continue in sin and choose it over Him. Know this though, God doesn’t desire this separation. He doesn’t want you to remain far away from Him. He is patiently waiting for you, as a parent waits for the kids to be dropped off home for the school bus, anticipating and anxious for us to return to Him. So then, as He is this anxious for you, why do you delay? Put away that nagging sin that you think you have hidden. Put away that one that everyone sees. Put away the one that you think isn’t such a big deal. Ask God to help you with them, and He will. Seek to remove them with purpose and veracity as an exterminator does fire-ants. No believer is too mature or too young to not do this. So then, seek (discover it, the ones you don’t know you are doing or are blind too) and destroy it.

Conclusion

Beloved, do you see it now? Do you understand that any sin no matter how large or how small has far reaching effects and consequences? Yes by Jesus’ blood you can be forgiven of your sins, but it’s on you to cease from them and change so that you do them no more. This inevitably means for each and every one of life changing and altering realities, having to find new and better comforts, admitting what we have done, trusting what God has prepared for you, and most of all, turning to God in your trials and difficulties. Without doing so, you will have no success, so do not labor in vain as the unwise does. But rather, be very wise and earnestly ask God to help you remove them, and He will. God is glorified greatly when we do so.

With all of that being said, I would be remiss if I didn’t share the Gospel (or the Good News) of Jesus Christ with you today, for the benefit of both believer and non-believer in the room. This begins all the way back at the beginning, God created everything, and he created all things good. He gave His most treasured creation (us, mankind) the ability of free will, the ability to choose Him or rebellion. Man was deceived by Satan and desired to be like God and sinned (or rebelled against God). This brought the curse of sin and death into the world and it remains with us to this day; which separates us from God. God, though, loved His creation (mankind) so much that He worked through history to redeem all mankind that would turn to Him from sin so that we can experience a full and perfect relationship with Him again. This was through the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the pay for sins. Accepting this free gift from God, makes you new and forgiven. All you have to do is accept this free gift by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus and you will get to experience the good side of God’s justice forever. So, now that you know this, you can no longer plead ignorance. I invite and urge you to respond today non-believer and apply this to every part of your life believers in the audience today.

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can be more like You, and made more into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all too often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possibly can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.