Sermon Tone Analysis

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.

8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked?

Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

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.

22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.

Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.”

Advent Introduction

Each year we celebrate Advent in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

It is a tradition that’s been embraced for centuries with connections as far back as the 4th century.

According to one historian, it was first mentioned in written records at the Council of Sargossa in AD 380 that sought to respond to a gnostic inspired heresy (see Ryan Reeves article on Advent on The Gospel Coalition website).

Gnosticism embraced a form of Plato’s philosophy in which the body was inferior to the spirit and redemption is to finally escape the body and live in spiritual form in heaven.

Advent, in part, draws attention back to the incarnation of Jesus, his physical birth into the physical world.

This is still needed today.

Advent is also tied into the bigger story that we find unfolding in the Bible.

It comes from the Latin word Adventus, which is translation of a Greek word, parousia, that we find in the Bible referring to both the 1st and 2nd coming of Jesus.

Lighting candles for advent can be likened to the parable of the ten virgins that light their lamps in wait of the bridegroom to come.

We remember Jesus has come in the flesh and will come again in the flesh.

It’s a time of anticipation, repentance, and hope.

Series Introduction

If I asked you what kind of book is the Bible or what is the Bible about, what would you say?

How do you answer that question?

We find lots of different genre’s: narrative, poetry, legal contracts, prophecy, proverbs, and apocalyptic literature.

From the Bible we learn history, theology, songs, wisdom, and about the future.

And yet, it’s history is very limited.

It’s theology is very limited.

It’s revelation of the future is often couched in symbolism and imagery.

It’s it primary purpose was to give us a history of the world we have to say it leaves an awful lot out.

If it’s primary purpose is to give an exhaustive guide to God, we have to say its not very exhaustive.

If I asked you what kind of book is the Bible or what is the Bible about, what would you say?

How do you answer that question?

We find lots of different genre’s: narrative, poetry, legal contracts, prophecy, proverbs, and apocalyptic literature.

From the Bible we learn history, theology, songs, wisdom, and about the future.

And yet, it’s history is very limited.

It’s theology is very limited.

It’s revelation of the future is often couched in symbolism and imagery.

It’s it primary purpose was to give us a history of the world we have to say it leaves an awful lot out.

If it’s primary purpose is to give an exhaustive guide to God, we have to say its not very exhaustive.

There is one thing that ties all of these together, that makes sense of the entire book, and it is this: the Bible is a story.

It sets the stage, introduces a crisis, develops the plot to resolve the crisis, and describes the glory of the resolution.

It is the ultimate story that gives the pattern for every other great story that draws us in.

The central character of the story is Jesus.

How do we know?

We know because Jesus himself tells us.

In , in a scene following his resurrection, he engages in a conversation with some of his disciples.

Luke describes the content of that conversation like this:

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

What I want to do in this series is show how the whole story of the Bible anticipates the coming of the Lord.

While the name Jesus isn’t revealed until the New Testament, the person of Jesus is anticipated all the way back in the opening pages of the Bible, and as God unfolds history, he unpacks his plan to redeem a fallen people, and that plan is built upon the person and work of Jesus.

This really is the story line of the Bible.

In the next few weeks we will look at some of the key ways we see Jesus in the Old Testament.

What I want to do in the next few weeks is look at how we see Jesus in the Old Testament, beginning with Moses.

The First Gospel

Moses begins in the beginning.

He wants the people of Israel to know who they are and why God is rescuing them from slavery and so he starts with the account of creation.

He tells them of their first parents, Adam and Eve, created in the image of God, in innocence, who walked in close friendship with God.

He tells them of their encounter with the serpent who tempts them to eat of the forbidden fruit.

It’s a disastrous meeting and sets the stage for God’s plan of Redemption to unfold.