Sin & God's Good News

Introduction:

As we get rolling tonight, I want you guys to look up at the screen here…and you’ll see I have listed 12 different names, titles, or events......

Can any of you tell me what all of these names have in common? What is the common denominator?

All of these things listed up here have to do with the idea of rebellion:

Katniss Everdeen - (make symbol) - rebelled against the Capitol

Robin Hood - rebelled against King John

Colin K - rebelling against the NFL, against America

George Washington against the British

Rebellion means to “stand against or oppose the one in authority”

Most of the people on this list rebelled against an oppressive system or person in order to win freedom for others

George Washington - we’re grateful for that aren’t we?

Harriet Tubman - and the work she did with the Underground Railroad

You guys are probably most familiar with rebellion when it comes to your parents, am i right or am i right?

But, the truth is, sometimes rebellion isn’t a good thing, and whether it is good or bad, it always has consequences

Tonight, we’re going to talk about sin, and one way you can describe sin is as “rebellion against God”

And that too, came with consequences, consequences we are all dealing with today…most importantly, the consequence of separation from God

As we’ll continue to always talk about though....thankfully God made a way through Jesus to redeem His rebellious people.

Genesis 3:1-7

We’ve already talked about how God created humanity and placed them in the midst of His beautiful, good creation

However, everything was lost in one single act of defiance, or, rebellion

Read

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “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.” 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. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “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.” 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. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “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.” 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. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Starts With Unbelief

Now, the first thing to notice in the verses we just read is the truth that sin always starts with unbelief!!

Anyone ever not believed somebody about something before? Give me an example.....

Okay…and what was at the root of your unbelief?.....doubt!

Look at what Satan does here, look at what he says to Eve:

“Did God really say?”

See, Satan’s aim was to cause her to doubt God’s words

Translation: “God said what? Come on now…you’re really gonna believe that line? How absurd! You’ve got to be kidding me, are you serious?!?!”

Sin always starts with unbelief....even think about sin issues in your life today, right now....it’s because you don’t believe God’s truth

When have you seen people disbelieve what God has clearly said?

(Adam & Eve obviously) (How about when you speak what is untrue to somebody)

Moves from Unbelief to Idolatry

Not only does it start with unbelief, but it then moves from unbelief to idolatry

And we can see this in the verses here as well…verse 6 says Eve “saw that the tree was good for food”

Think with me…until that moment, who was the only one who saw and declared things to be good? GOD!!!!!

But, at this point, because of her unbelief, she turned away from God and started looking longingly at something else, in this instance, a tree

Adam and Eve took it upon themselves to determine what was good, and by doing so they ventured into idolatry.

They are pretty much saying to God, “We know what’s best for us!”

How many times have we been there ourselves?

They at this point, elevated a created thing above the creator…which is idolatry

And we do this same thing over and over and over, day after day in our lives

Which leads us to the need to examine ourselves:

Which of God’s good blessings are you most likely to place above God Himself?

It’s a tough question isn’t it? And if you think about it…there are probably more things than you can count that you are guilty of placing above God each and every day!

Leads to Rebellion

Unbelief leads to idolatry, which will ultimately, and does ultimately lead us into rebellion

At the core of their sin was a question of who would be lord of their lives.

Now remember, God promised if He was in charge, they would have goodness and blessing, that’s how He created it to be

But, when they chose to rebel against God, they were ultimately deciding to remove Him from the throne and place themselves upon it

Verse 5 - they believed that they would be like God

They thought they knew better, and they rebelled against God

Again…we are guilty of the same…this isn’t just an Adam and Eve problem…this is a problem for all of us:

In what areas are you most likely to resist the ways of God and insist on your own wisdom?

In what areas are you most likely to resist the ways of God and insist on your own wisdom?

Deeper Dive

Satan’s attack on Adam and Eve is the same thing he does to us today…do you realize that? It won’t be in the form of a serpent, but it can come:

From a condescending voice of a teacher or a coach or a popular comedian who mocks the idea of Christianity

It can come from t.v., movies, social media and the constant tearing down of our belief system

Or, it can come from the small voice inside of us, pulling us down asking us “Are you sure God’s way is really the best way?”

And if we’re not careful....we’ll continue to walk in sin just like adam and eve did!

Regardless of the how, the origin is the same --- Satan tempts us to doubt God

And how we stand against that is by:

1. Knowing God’s Word and what it says

2. Believing that it is true

English Standard Version Chapter 3

14 The LORD God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

15  I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

in pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,

but he shall rule over you.”

17 And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

and have eaten of the tree

of which I commanded you,

‘You shall not eat of it,’

cursed is the ground because of you;

in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

18  thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

19  By the sweat of your face

you shall eat bread,

till you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

for you are dust,

and to dust you shall return.”

20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

“14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18  thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19  By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

15  I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

in pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,

but he shall rule over you.”

17 And to Adam he said,

What are some devastating consequences that result from sin?

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

and have eaten of the tree

of which I commanded you,

‘You shall not eat of it,’

cursed is the ground because of you;

in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

18  thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

(Enmity between humans and creatures) (Pain) (Broken relationships) (Broken creation)

What are some devastating consequences that result from sin?

19  By the sweat of your face

you shall eat bread,

till you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

There are 4 consequences we want to look at:

for you are dust,

and to dust you shall return.”

Sin leads to Pain

God specifically mentioned the pain of childbirth to Eve in verse 16, but that doesn’t mean us fellas have gotten a pass....

20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

that principle extends into all other areas of life.

Before the rebellion, there was no mention of pain anywhere. All was good. God said it was.

After, life itself became marked by pain and suffering of every kind — physical, emotional, and relational.

Anyone in here ever experienced pain before? Yep....it’s because of sin!

Sin leads to relational conflict

Secondly, we see relational conflict come into play

In fact, we can see it even before God issued the punishment decree to Adam and Eve

Sin had already caused a rift between Adam and Eve

We see it in their response after eating the fruit…they were both ashamed of being naked in front of each other

And yes, we do also see it as God is talking to them when Adam points the finger and the blame at Eve.

Relational conflicts…anyone ever had a conflict with somebody? I’m sure we all have and most likely currently have!

What are some examples of relational conflicts we see in our world? Country? Community? School? Home?

Why is it that relational conflicts can be particularly hurtful to all people, not just the people involved?

Sin Leads to Death

If you remember back with me to , what did God say would happen if they ate of the tree? Lead to death

Now, I imagine Adam and Eve may have been waiting to drop dead after eating of the tree, because God said they would!

But they didn’t, did they? Why do you think they didn’t?

Because God is merciful…don’t miss that

Why haven’t you dropped dead yet..because God is merciful

Don’t mistake God’s mercy for a free ride...

But they would....God’s Word is always truthful, and we know that they did die, and we know that all mankind now faces death

Sin is a Loss of the Presence of God

However, those three things are bad, yes, but by far the worst consequence of sin is what?

Losing the presence of God

We see that God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden, away from His presence, away from that perfect relationship…and in , we see that God barred the entrance with a flaming sword

The message was clear: we can no longer approach God in our sinful state without dying

It is difficult for us to truly understand this....God, the very One whose presence made life perfect, became distant from mankind

How would you explain to someone that the loss of God’s presence was the worst result of humanity’s fall?

The End?

Do you guys realize that everything could have ended right there?

The minute they ate from the tree they could have died instantly and God could have stopped there

But He didn’t did He?

- God says to them “Where are you”

He sought after them

And yes, He did discipline them, but He sought after them

And not only that, but in his discipline, He made a promise....look at verse 15 with me:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

God is making a promise that He was going to crush sin…that’s what He is saying here

And that through Eve’s offspring…through Abraham’s line, God was going to send someone to bring us back into relationship with God

And that someone was Jesus Christ, part of the trinity of God, who was there at creation, who upholds everything…He was going to come, and He was going to save His people from their sins

Just as sin entered through an act that centered around a tree

So would sin be defeated through an act that centered around a tree…the cross of Calvary

Questions, Comments, Arguments?