Who Do you Trust?- Genesis 3:6

Reminder: Primary Function of the Church

As our calendars get full, a reminder: Proclaim The Message of God to the world- The Gospel.

The Word diagnoses who we are and why we are, and it is the only place that can accurately diagnose our hearts because it's written by our creator.

Everything else is an outflow of what the Word says - our worship, our gatherings, going on mission, life groups, meeting for prayer. It flows out of here.

Context

Genesis 1: We saw that God created all things and made the perfect conditions for his apex creation, humanity, to flourish in.

Genesis 2: We saw that humanity was in a perfect paradise, in relationship to God and also one another.

THIS IS ALL OF OUR STORY. BUT THIS IS NOT OUR CURRENT REALITY.

Our current reality is that humanity is miserable, broken, and not living in a paradise. There is a brokenness within humans with themselves, one another, and with God.

And Genesis 3 explains how we got here.

Genesis 3 is an account of the human story. It happened- and irrespective of where you are from, your skin colour, background, this is where we ALL come from. It tells us what happened.

But at the same time, Genesis 3 also tells us what always happens in the heart of the human and to you and me individually.

ILLUSTRATION: Rugby Team Analysing their matches:

On rugby tours, good coaches will ask their players to watch their opponents’ matches.

They know the defence strategies and also how they attack. They know their opponents’ weaknesses and how to capitalize on them.

But what I have seen is that great coaches will ask their teams to also watch their matches and focus on how the individual played, analysing themselves, seeing their own weaknesses.

And then the coach gives them a strategy to use in the match. And they must trust Him.

Like an incredible coach, Genesis chapter 3 gives us the enemy’s schemes but also, like a mirror, shows us our own weaknesses and where the enemy wants to capitalize.

Scripture

Genesis 3:6 “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”

Main Points: IN THE MIDST OF TEMPTATION, TRUST GOD.

The Enemy

The Christ

The Christian

Point 1: The Enemy’s Strategy

Genesis 3:6 ESV

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

In Genesis 3, the devil has entered the picture and has caused damage. He has:

Doubt: Caused doubt in Eve’s mind by asking? Did “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?

Deception: You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. (Essentially - God is a liar, He’s not that powerful, You be like God)

Now Eve is in a place of DISTRUST!!

SHE CHOOSES TO TRUST HERSELF

She doesn’t trust God anymore and now moves towards making a judgment based on her own human reasoning.

But her reasoning is the 3 areas that humanity has always fallen into. These areas are channels that the enemy uses to distract and cause damage in our lives.

The lust of the flesh

The lust of the eyes

The pride of life

When temptation is presented to us, the enemy uses 3 avenues to persuade us to sin:

THE LUST OF FLESH

Genesis 3:6 ESV

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,

The enemy tempted her with the TREE. But it was the desire for food that drew Eve into sin.

The motivator used here is the need to meet a physical, legitimate need.

You and I have real, God-given needs - the need to eat, rest, friendship and relationships, intimacy, and have purpose. Those are all given by God, and He has designed how those needs must be met.

The enemy will use legitimate needs to tempt and justify any sin/shortcut. This is our flesh.

When you attempt, doubting, have been deceived, and are now stuck in your head: The enemy will convince you to sin by meeting these legitimate needs illegitimately.

Instead of developing godly friendships and relationships, our Loneliness → unhealthy relationships

Instead of having godly rhythms of sabbath rest - our Exhaustion/Stress → escapism/addictions/pornography/alcohol/comfort eating

Desire for closeness/intimacy/ affirmation → sleeping around

Need for rest → laziness/passivity.

Desire for significance → workaholism

TRANSITION: The lust of the flesh has to do with the motivator that comes from inside me, but the next channel has to do with the motivators that come externally - the lust of the eyes.

THE LUST OF THE EYES

Genesis 3:6 ESV

So when the woman SAW that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the EYES

The 2nd channel that will stimulate a desire for sin in our hearts is through eyesight.

Our appetite for something sinful will be heightened by our seeing it. There is an added desire that comes with looking, enticements that come through the imagination stirred by something seen. (Eaton)

Eve’s desire to sin was heightened by what she had seen.

KEY: Do not underestimate what you look at and see. The enemy knows that this is a key human weakness, and scripture is full of this warning:

King Solomon warns his son in Proverbs 6:25, “Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes.”

King David sees Bathsheba bathing, and this heightens the sinful desire in his heart (1 Samuel 11)

Achan saw the possessions of Israel (a cloak, silver, and gold), and he says when he SAW them, I coveted them and took them. Joshua 7:20–21

Delilah, she was offered 1 100 pieces of silver, and she betrayed Samson, Judges 16

Lot’s wife was told to leave the corrupt and defiled cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but she LOOKED back, longing for what God had condemned and was judging, and it led to her death Genesis 19:26

Judas Iscariot worked with the money of the disciples, and it triggered a desire to sin - greed and theft. This would ultimately lead to him betraying Jesus. John 12:6

FRIENDS!!!! Their eyes see what the world has to offer us and fuel a desire to sin, to covet, to greed, and to steal.

As George mentioned last week: What is disciplining you? For our generation, we are mostly discipled through our eyes:

OUR MODERN CULTURE:

You were happy and content until you open Instagram and see someone’s car, house, family, body, sneakers, DIY project, vacation, and now it’s awakened comparrison, ungratefulness, feeling like a loser, lust, and envy.

TRANSITION: We see that the enemies we face are our Flesh, what our eyes see from the world, and now 3rd is Eve’s 3rd test and motivation.

THE PRIDE OF LIFE

Genesis 3:6 ESV

and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise

Eve’s need to make her wise shows a dark reality of the human condition - to be wise in our own sight.

To be the ones who decide for ourselves what is good and evil, what is right and what is wrong.

In other words, this reveals our need to actually be God.

This is what we call the pride of life - the desire to be elevated above where we are, the desire for power, control, self-rule.

It is at this moment that Satan says come and join my team. Pride is the sin that got Satan kicked out of God’s presence, and he is using the same tactic on Eve. “Come and be wise. Be like me. That old Geser called God does not know what He is talking about!” This is Satan’s oldest lie - God can’t be trusted, and he is limiting you, holding something from you.

OUR MODERN CULTURE:

Our culture worships: autonomy, self-definition, self-rule, and self-expression.

“Follow your heart”. “They are old-fashioned, what do they know?” “I am a brand”, “Ambition to climb up the corporate ladder, prime ministry ladder”, and “My truth”.

EVE TRUSTED HER OWN HUMAN REASONING AND IT ENDED UP IN HER AND ADAM EATING THE FRUIT!

THEY TRUSTED THEMSELVES!!!!

TRANSITION:

But now, what about us? IAre we doomed to the same fate as Adam and Eve, who literally had everything but chose not to trust God?

Is there another way? YES!!!!!! His name is Jesus Christ.

In this room, we are Christians - our response has to come from looking and TRUSTING Christ.

Because that is what a Christian is! (mini-Christ, imitate and emulate Christ)

Point 2: The Christ

Matthew 3:16–17 ESV

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 4:1–11 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,  ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, 'Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.”

Let’s look at how Jesus responds to the same strategies of the enemy:

Jesus is baptized, and the Holy Spirit rests on Him.

He hears the Father’s voice affirming His identity, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.”

He is led by the Spirit to the wilderness to be tested. How does the tempter tempt him:

Lust of the Flesh

Lust of the Eyes

The Pride of Life

How does Jesus respond? He quotes God’s Words. What did the Father actually say? All of His responses were based on trusting the Father and His word.

He does not allow Himself to be deceived.

He does not entertain the enemy’s questions.

He silences Him with truth and with the Father’s words. The scriptures, He already knew.

KEY: Jesus did not trust his flesh, eyes, the world, or pride to win. He didn’t trust His own judgement/feelings - He trusted His Father. THE FIGHT IS NOT ABOUT BEHAVIOUR, IT’S ABOUT TRUST!!!

He was tempted in every way that is common to man. The point of testing/temptation is to see who you will trust. Jesus did what no human was able to do.

He lived the life that Eve and Adam could not live,

He lived the life that you and I struggle to live.

He did not fall into sin. The sin that will lead to spiritual and physical death of all humanity - He didn’t fall into it.

And by not falling to sin and living a fully sin-free, blemish-free life, He defeated the power of sin and death forever!

He represented us. We share in his righteousness! He did for us.

TRANSITION:

And now you and I can be Christians, “mini-Christs”,

A Christian is someone who follows, imitates, and belongs to Christ.

What does this look like in our own lives to respond as Christ did?

Point 3: The Christian?

Christ modeled how we should respond and live.

He trusted the Father. The Christian must trust Christ.

Friend, do you trust Him?

You are not exempt from the same temptations, but here is the promise:

When Jesus saves you, He fills you with His Holy Spirit.

His Spirit dwells in you.

His Spirit is the proof/assurance that you are his Son and Daughter.

The Spirit of Jesus will makes more like Christ. A journey of Him working in us and with us.

His Spirit will convict you of your sin (big alarm saying don’t be a mampara)

He will bring back to remembrance what He has taught you.

He gives you power, love, and a sound mind/self-control.

He will lead you into all truth (His voice, Scripture)

How do I know if I have the Spirit in my life? What is the fruit?

Galatians 5:19–23 ESV

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Conclusion

There will always be a fight between the Christian and the Enemy. It’s not a new fight.

The enemy will use the Flesh, the Eyes, and the Pride of life to tempt you to sin - but the Christian has a different option.

If you don’t see the fruit of a Spirit-led life in your life, will you STOP and cry out to God and say HELP ME. SAVE ME. GIVE YOUR SPIRIT, PLEASE GOD.

JESUS SAVE ME, PLEASE.

And become His Son and Daughter.

If it’s obvious in your life that the marks of His Spirit, that the fruit is not there, and you are being led by the world, the flesh, and Satan’s deceptions - will you cry out and say God HELP ME! I want to be led by your Spirit.

MINISTRY RESPONSE:

Some of you trust yourselves. The first decision is to choose Him. Friend, are you saved? Have you responded to Him?

Some of us need to repent - METANOIA. Not just feel bad/sorrow, but make a full change in how you live your life. Do you depend on God? Do you entertain your emotions, the flesh, and the eyes? Friend, will you repent and change how you live and imitate Christ? Live and be led by the Spirit of Jesus. (Know the Father’s Word, allow Him to Convict You, fight for your relationship with Him). We are not saying to be better, but to be a son and a daughter.

We would love to pray for you to receive Jesus and to be filled with His Holy Spirit, Matthew 7:11

Luke 11:13 (ESV)

13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

END