2019-12-22 Genesis 3 Christmas Sermon
Notes
Transcript
Gen 3:1-
1 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 not die,” the serpent said to the woman.
5 “In fact, God knows that when 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.
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, 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 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 is this you have 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. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.
I. The snake distorted the truth of God.
I. The snake distorted the truth of God.
gen 4:4
4 And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,
5 but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.
A. God created us to be like him, the snake perverted that.
A. God created us to be like him, the snake perverted that.
4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman.
5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Illus: God created you valuable. In fact he created you in his very image. He created you to know him and find life in him.
When God created humans, he differentiated them from all the other animals and created world. Yes he called the world good, but humans were very good, because they bore his image.
It is odd the the snake came to pervert the very thing that made humans distinct. He promised that they would be like God.... but wait God created humans to be like him.
That is what the devil does… he takes the good that God creates, and distorts it.
You can look around at the world around, at the wondrous gifts God has given us today and see how easily the snake has taken what is good and distorted it.
The greatest life you will have is living in the presence and will of God. God wants you to live abundantly, but that abundant life is found in him.
The devil on the other hand comes to steal kill and destroy. How does he do that, but taking the good God has given us and leading us to believe the way of the snake is better.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.
B. We as people believed the snake’s lie and embraced his death.
B. We as people believed the snake’s lie and embraced his death.
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.
4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman.
5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Illus: It is easy for us to pass off the the blame for the mess of our lives on the devil. “the devil made me do it.”
That seems to be the mantra of our day, blame someone else, or circumstances for the decisions of your life.
At the end of things, God holds the snake accountable for the snakes actions, and holds Adam and Eve accountable for their actions.
You need to own up to your own mess.
We make decisions every day on whether we will embrace the abundant God honoring life we were created to have, or choose to sin through inviting death into our lives.
Let’s get practical. Your sin is on you. If you have a drinking problem, the problem is not alcohol, it is you. If you have a spending problem, the problem is not money, it is you. If you have an anger problem, the problem is not what folks do to you, but that you respond in a sinful way.
Yes, sin enslaves you. Once you invite it in, it will hold your heart.
Yes, we live in a world of death, where wickedness calls us all the time.
That said, you are the one who courts it, embraces it, and chooses to sin.
The snake did not cause eve to sin. Eve chose to sin.
You are not the victim of your sin. You need to own up to your mess.
25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.
Romans 1:
II. God is unfazed by our failure.
II. God is unfazed by our failure.
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, 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 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 is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Gen 3:
A. God created us and redeemed us knowing he would die for us.
A. God created us and redeemed us knowing he would die for us.
B. There were consequens
9 So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
Illus: God was not fooled at this moment. He was not wandering around looking for Adam as if Adam and Eve had pulled a quick one on him.
God is not fooled or befuddled when you sin. He is not surprised when you embrace sin and mess up your life.
God knew were Adam and ever were just as he knows where you are when you are in the midst of your foolishness.
Our God is eternal, and new before he ever spoke man into existence that he would die for Adam and Eve. He knew before you were in your mother’s womb that He would die for you.
God created you knowing he would die for you. Your sin did not deter God from giving you value, but instead that value led God to die in your place.
When God
9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
10 This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
B. There were consequences for our failure, but there was also a plan.
B. There were consequences for our failure, but there was also a plan.
9 So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
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 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 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.”
Gen 3:16-19
Illus: When I was a kid and I messed up, I desperatly wished that saying I’m sorry would be enough to get me out of punishment.
There are consequences for the actions in your life.
Embracing anger will kill the relationships in your life.
Embracing porn will kill your intimacy.
Embracing gluttony will.. I forgot I’m talking with baptists.
You cannot escape the natural death that comes when you invite it in.
Yes we will face the earthly consequences for your sin, but sin and it’s consequences will not reign forever if you trust Christ.
When God became a man, he took the eternal consequences for you. He bore the pain you deserve.
4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”
7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.
Gal 4:4-7
III. God’s plan from the beginning was Jesus Christ.
III. God’s plan from the beginning was Jesus Christ.
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.
A. Jesus brings life where Adam and Eve brought death.
A. Jesus brings life where Adam and Eve brought death.
Illus: In Eden God created man. In Bethlehem, God became a man.
God knew while he was forming Adam from the dust of the ground, that He would take on that same dust.
God knew when he pronounced that Adam would return to dust, that He would be laid in that dust.
No sooner did God pronounce the earthly punishment for Adam that he promised his eternal salvation.
Adam and Eve were very good, but they were not God. The hope of humanity lies in God. In faith.
Romans 6:12-
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.
13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.
14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.
15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not!
16 Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?
17 But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over,
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.
13 In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person’s account when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression. He is a type of the Coming One.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many.
16 And the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification.
17 Since by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.