Bad Good News and Good News

“Sin and Salvation”

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Genesis chapter three is one of the most important chapters in the bible because it gives us the bad news about what is REALLY wrong with man, and the Good news of how God planned to fix the problem!

Let me ask you a question? What is Really wrong with people in this world, and what if anything can be done to fix it?

You do realize this world is not the world as God made it? When we watch the news and see people doing the things they are doing- raping, robbing, killing we know that we are living in a fallen, broken world! But WHY? Why do people do what they do, why do we do what we do?

If you ask the social engineers and talking heads they will tell you what is wrong is:

· Economies.

If everybody had the same among of money, and opportunities there would be equality and there would be no jealous, stealing or murder. So the answer for them is socialism.

· Education.

If people just knew better they wouldn’t do bad things; they say we need better education! They believe that education can change a man’s conduct.

· Environment.

People who grow up in a negative environment do bad things. If they grew up in a better home, they would not have done the things they’ve done.

Is the answer for what is wrong in this world; Economies, education, environment? No, it is not!

· There are people who grow up in good families with plenty of money and yet commit terrible crimes.

· There are people who go to the best universities and get a great education and just come out smarter criminals.

· There are children who grow up in great environments, with sweet parents and kill someone.

There is something wrong with humanity, but it is not connected to the economies, education, or environment.

So where do we find out what is wrong with humanity? There is only one place to really find out what is wrong with man; and that is in that Bible you hold in your hand!

Everything is perfect on this earth in the first 2 chapters of Genesis, and everything is messed up from Genesis chapter 4 on….so the answer to what is wrong in this world must be found in , and it is!

What is wrong with humanity is SIN; Man’s problem is that he is a sin by birth, nature and by choice; he lives in rebellion to the Word and the will of God. Let me make sure you are getting this; you are a dirty, rotten, no good sinner, and you do what you do, because you are what you are.

You say well that is negative and that is bad news; yes it is, but it happens to be true! We will never appreciate the good news until we hear the bad news!

Here is we are given the bad news about sin and the good news about salvation! And these are the two greatest truths in the entire bible!

1st of all we are told about SIN:

1. Sin has Awful Consequences!

Satan came to Eve and told her a pack of lies, she listened to his lies, and she disobeyed God and ate of the tree that God said not to eat of.

God had commanded the man not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, if he did he would die.

Satan promised Eve that if she ate of the tree she would be like God, she would be wiser, greater; you will be satisfied and fulfilled like never before.

Eve had a choice believe God, or trust Satan; she reached out her hand ate of the fruit, gave it to Adam, who was right there with her and he did eat.

They disobeyed God, they transgressed his law, and they sinned against God! The very moment they disobeyed God they fell in sin; they fell from the place of intimacy and innocence into sin!

The sin that promised pleasure brought pain. The sin that promised delight brought death. The sin that promised knowledge brought nakedness. The sin that promised greatness brought guilt. Sin deceived them! Satan did not tell them about the consequences of their sin, and he doesn’t tell you about the consequences of sin; but God tells us about the awful consequences of sin, because He is always truthful with us, and Satan is not!

Notice the consequences of sin:

· Sin brings Shame.

V:7-“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked…

Their eyes were opened; you say was that a good thing or a bad thing? It was a terrible thing! What they saw was not there physical nakedness, they knew they were physical naked before they ate of the tree! They were naked and not ashamed in , but now they are naked and ashamed.

They lost the innocence they had; the openness they enjoyed the selflessness they had. Their sin made them self-conscience, ashamed and guilty!

You take of the sin that is so appealing to you right now, and you bit into it, your eyes will be opened, and you will wish to God that they were not!!

You will see things and experience things that you will never be able to erase from your mind. Your life will forever be change! Sin brings shame, guilt, selfishness, and heart-ache!

Eve’s shame turned to guilt when she realized she was the one who offered Adam the fruit. Adam’s shame turned to guilt when he thought about the fact he should have been protecting her when the serpent came tempting her.

They were now dirty in sin, feeling exposed, they were ashamed of themselves, and ashamed of each other, and feeling ashamed before God!

They have sinned, they are ashamed and guilty; what will they do? V:7-“ and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Adam and Eve were so ashamed of their sin, and the thought of facing God sent them to a nearby fig tree to get some leaves to sew themselves a covering. They knew they have lost the covering of the glory of God, so they try to cover themselves up! But those fig leaves were totally inadequate, God could see right through them!

Adam and Eve are not the last people to try and cover-up their sin themselves.

What fig leaves have you sewn together as a cover-up for your sin and shame before God?

Some people think:

· The fig leaves of good works will cover their sin.

· The fig leaves of religion.

Religion is the most popular fig life in all of history. People think, “I carry a Bible. I go to church. I quote some verses. I sing some songs. Nobody will ever see what I am doing, who I am, where I’m at spiritually.”

· The fig leaves of church membership.

· The fig leaves of morality.

Man-made coverings will never cover sin, guilt and shame before a Holy God!

-“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do”.

There are no fig leaves thick enough or big enough to cover your sin and guilt before God!

If you are dressed in the fig leaves of your own making you are naked before God.

-“it is not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy, he saved us.

Sin brings shame.

· Sin brings Separation.

V:8-“And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Sin drives a wedge between them and almighty God; sin brings separation. At first, Adam and Eve felt proud of themselves; Adam looked at Eve and said, green is your color baby. Eve looked at Adam and said you look so handsome.

They were feeling good about their man-made covering…..until they hear the voice of God as He is walking in the garden.

What they had made was good enough, until it had to face the scrutiny of God. God comes walking through the garden and when Adam senses the presence of Holy God, Adam says to Eve, say, I don't feel so good, she says I don't feel so comfortable either. They feel ashamed, guilt, Lost, and naked before God! So they run to the trees and try to hide from God, sin brought separation from God! They will find out that leaves, nor trees, nor distance, nor darkness, nor could anything else hide them from the all-seeing eyes of God!

The devil has done exactly what he wanted to do; drive a wedge between man and God. To get man to run and hide from God, to refuse to face God and receive help from God!

Some of you are doing exactly the same thing. You think God is your enemy. You fear him. You're afraid of him because sin has led to shame and shame has led to separation.

- "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God."

Are you trying to hide from God today?

Have you told everybody your work schedule is keeping you from church, when the truth is you want to be there because you are hiding from God!

Do you put up a good front that everything is right between you and God, you are at church, you are even serving….and maybe you serve every chance you get because you don’t want to be under the Word of God because you are hiding from God!

Deep in your heart you are afraid of being found out and exposed before God, and you are trying to hide.

How long have you been hiding, a week, a month, a year, your whole life?

Listen, you cannot hide from God. God knows everything. He sees right through your covering, and He knows exactly where you are!

Sin brings shame.

Sin brings separation.

· Sin brings Suffering.

V:14-19.

God judges the serpent, the woman, and the man, sin brought suffering to the whole human race.

The serpent is cursed to crawl in the dirt, and Satan is told he would be crushed in the future.

The woman is told, V:16-“you will have pain in childbirth, and you will have trouble with your husband. Are those two things truth ladies?

Because of the entrance of sin, pain in childbirth and it will no longer be naturally for you to submit to your husband.

The man is told in V:17, because you have eaten of the tree that I commanded you not to eat, cruised is the ground, it going to be hard, hard work as your labor, and sweat to grow your food, the ground is going to fight you…thorns, weeds, bugs. And then you will die and your body will go back to the dirt.

Satan said, “You will be like God.” No, you’ll be fertilizer; you’re going back to the dirt. Man came from the dirt, and man returns to the dirt.

The spiritual war over man soul started right here, Satan is a wounded serpent who is trying to damn people’s souls to hell.

Marriage conflicts, selfishness, and power struggles started right here.

Physical sickness, suffering, pain and death started right here.

Every person in here experiences the consequences of sin. Relational conflict, issues with work, sickness and death, separation from God…the consequences of sin are real and evident in our lives.

Listen, every person is a sinner:

-“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

-“For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

We all experience the awful consequences of sin, shame, separation, and suffering.

But thank God he doesn’t leave us without hope or help!

We learn in that man’s problem is sin, and sin has separated us from God.

But there is a second great truth we learn in this chapter:

2. God Provides an Amazing Salvation!

It is God that takes the initiative in bring sinners back into a relationship with Him!

Salvation involves:

· God Seeks you.

V:9-“And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art you?

Obviously this is a rhetorical question, God knew exactly were Adam was!

It was not Adam seeking God; it was God that was seeking Adam.

You would think that Adam would have realized the terrible, awful, thing that he had done, and started calling out for God. God, God, where are you? God I need to talk to you, I have sinned against you; I need your forgiveness and mercy.

But no he runs and hides from God, and God seeks him!

And it is God who still seeks us today; we love him because he first loved us. The only reason that you sought God is because God first sought you.

- "There is none that seeks after God, no not one."

Our sinful nature causes us to run from God and try to hide from God; not seek God!

So God in grace came seeking and calling to Adam and Eve; and God came calling them in love and compassion.

I want to tell you something dear friend, God is seeking you today.

Did you know that? He still seeks. He still calls.

God is seeking you through the music you heard today; God is seeking you through this sermon today. God is seeking you by His Holy Spirit today, He loves you and He is seeking you. God is seeking you through that sickness, sorrow, through that sunset, God loves you!

You're not here by accident. God is seeking you. God loves you. God calls you.

-"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man will hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him."

God is knocking at your heart's door today!

-"For the son of man has come to

seek and to save that which is lost."

Jesus didn't come to condemn you, he came to seek you, and he came to save you.

, "But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we yet sinners, Christ died for us."

That is good news that means that God didn't wait until we got right, until we went after him, but God saw us, vile as we are, weak as we are, sinful as we are and his great mighty heart of grace and love caused him to seek us.

God is seeking someone this morning, and you ought to Praise God that he is. Because the Bible says that God’s spirit will not always strive with man. God is not obligated to continue to call you; you ought to run down this aisle if God is calling you today!

If God is calling you day of opportunity has not passed, response to Him today!

God calls Adam, and Adam walks out from behind the tree and says, V:10-“I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself”.

Salvation Involves:

· God Seeking you.

Salvation involves:

· God Searches you.

V:11-“God said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree, which I commanded you not to eat of?

God did not ask Adam this question because he did not know the answer! God is asking Adam this question to get Adam to admit his guilt and sin, that he is a guilt, lost sinner! Adam has to get lost before he can be saved.

Adam has to get honest, and admit that HE had sinned against God. Notice what Adam does, he blames Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent, and the serpent doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

It is not my fault God….

V: 12-“The woman that YOU gave me…

God this woman has a defect, she pushed the fruit in my mouth, it is here fault; and if I remember correctly, it is you who gave her to me. So it is not my fault.

Guys still do this today “I think I married the wrong woman.” They get rid of her and find someone else. Then, they say, “Oh, I think I married the wrong woman again.” Did you ever think that maybe you are the wrong guy?

God confronts Eve, V:13-“what have you done? And see said the Devil made me do it.

When was the last time you saw a politician or a criminal get on TV and say, “I just want to tell you that I’m wicked and it’s my fault!”

We make excuses for our sin, it is never our fault, we live in a society of victims, and no one takes responsible for their sin anymore.

People blame their sinful behavior on Poverty, lack of education, the government, parents, spouses, coworkers, boss, anything and everything except themselves.

But you will never get any help from God until you take responsible for your sin!

God is searching your heart today just like he was Adam and Eve to get them to see their sin and guilt before Him.

Today pray:

-“Search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there is some wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."

The first step to everlasting life is to allow God to search you heart and agree with what He shows you, and bow your head and say oh, God, I acknowledge my sin.

"He that covers his sin shall not prosper but whosoever confesses and forsakes his sin shall have mercy."

· God Saves you.

We are given the plan of salvation in , and then give a snapshot of the cross and what it would accomplish for our sin and guilt to be forgive in V:21.

V:15 is the first gospel sermon in the bible; the first gospel sermon was preached by God Himself in the Garden of Eden to a congregation of two, Adam and Eve.

· There will be a virgin Birth.

There is going to be a savior born, and he will be the seed of a woman. This would be a miracle birth because children are normal born from the seed of the man and the womb of the woman. The prophet Isaiah read this and knew what it meant and said, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and be with child. And thou shalt call his name Emanuel, which being interpreted is God with us."

Why the virgin birth? Because we needed a substitute and in order to be our substitute, God had to become a man, but we needed a sinless substitute, and in order for Jesus to be sinless and not to inherit the sinful nature of Adam, he had to be born of a virgin. Today we have a perfect sinless substitute provided by the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The seed of the woman-JESUS!

· There will be a Spiritual Battle.

V:15-“I will put enmity between you-Satan- and the seed of the woman-Jesus…

God declared war on Satan, war between righteousness and unrighteousness, between heaven and hell, between light and dark, between Jesus’s way and Satan’s way.

There is an invisible war raging on American soil and it is being fought in this congregation this morning as I invite you to come to Jesus and surrender your life to Jesus. It is a fight to the death.

But I want to tell you who wins, and it's not the devil. Amen!!

Satan bruised Jesus heel; he was wounded for our transgression, He was bruised for our iniquities. But there is coming a day when Jesus will finish the devil off, and smash his head. I realize that the power of the devil was broken at the cross but I want you to know that he is going to be crushed when Jesus comes again.

-“The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.

God preached the sermon and then he gave an illustration of what it was going to take to provide forgiveness, V:21-“ Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Our sin separates us from God and we are incapable of dealing with it on our own, but God graciously provides forgiveness for our sins.

In order for Adam and Eve to live, an animal had to die. Blood had to be shed. A sacrifice had to be made.

- “Without shedding of blood there is no remission”

The necessity of a blood sacrifice is traced all the way back to the garden, where God shed the blood of an animal to cover Adam and Eve and their sin. It continued throughout the O.T. where the people had to come to the temple and offer sacrifices to cover their sin. Year after year, the people had to come to the temple and offer sacrifices to cover their sin.

-“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons”.

God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us.

When Jesus showed up to begin His public ministry, John the Baptist said,

- “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”

Jesus Christ died so that you could have life. He shed His blood to pay for your sins and my sins.

- “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ”

This morning, your problem is not environment or education or genetics. Your problem is that you are a sinner. You have disobeyed God’s Word and disregarded God’s will, and you cannot do anything about your sin. The good news is that Jesus Christ took care of your sin on the cross, when He died in your place and shed His blood for your sins.

You can leave church this morning with forgiveness and a new life; you can begin a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Today stop hanging on to the fig leaves, and trying to cover your own sin, stop hiding, stop blaming and get honest with God! You need the covering and forgiveness that can come only through Jesus!

He is the Lamb of God that can take away your sin today!

Jesus died for you, God is calling you, come to Jesus!!