No! That's Good!

Series: The Journey: Strolling through the Scripture with the Savior

Title: No! That’s Good!

ATTN

Pic - Sam and the Shams

Ok, if you were really a radio fan back in the day, you may remember “Sam and the Shams” and a little song called No That’s Good. The words went something like this:

Not long ago I was walking down the street

When a woman in a car knocked me off my feet

(Ohhhhh, That's Bad)

No, That's Good

My insurance paid me a lot of dough

More money than I'd seen in a year's payroll

(Ohhhhh, That's Good)

No, That's Bad

My doctor's bills is where my money went

And all I had left was a very bad limp

(Ohhhhh, That's Bad).

No, That's Good

Cause the way I walked got me a role

As the marshall's partner on a TV show

Pretty young actresses started hanging 'round

And every night we'd do the town

(Ohhhhh, That's Good)

No, That's Bad

I ended up back in a hospital bed

'Cause my horse fell on my bad leg

(Ohhhhh, That's Bad)

No, That's Good

'Cause just when I was feeling my worst

I fell in love with a beautiful nurse

(Ohhhhh, That's Good)

No, That's Bad

'Cause I found out she was the doctor's wife

Now I'll be in a wheelchair the rest of my life

'Cause no matter how I pleaded and begged

He operated on my good leg

(Ohhhhh, That's Bad)

No, That's AWFUL

Well, there you go: What you think is good can really be bad and what you think is bad can actually be awful, but the opposite is also true. What you think is bad can really be good!

BACKGROUND

Last week we began this series entitled The Journey showing the important part Scripture planes our journey through the Scripture at the beginning: Genesis. God has created a perfect world in which man can live. and 2 are amazing chapters that highlight God’s sovereign power and man’s amazing relationship with that God. But then this amazing relationship falls to the serpent’s lie. Faced with the option to worship God or to worship self, Adam and Eve turn themselves and their own knowledge into idols and reap the shame and guilt their rebellion brings. Before when God would come to walk with them at the end of the day, they welcomed Him, but now, they cower in shame and fear, hiding from the God who sees everything.

Confronted by their sin they begin to blame: Adam blames Eve; Eve blames the serpent, then God steps in. He pronounces their judgment which brings us to our text for today. Let’s read God’s word together.

Genesis 3:14–24 NKJV

So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Now, before you begin to think that God is harsh in this judgment, just remember that it was God Who created Adam and Eve, placed them in the perfect environment, spent time with them every day and only asked one thing from them. Then, even when they have disobeyed, He comes to look for them. What mercy!

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” 16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” 20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Now, before you begin to think that God is harsh in this judgment, just remember that it was God Who created Adam and Eve, placed them in the perfect environment, spent time with them every day and only asked one thing from them. Then, even when they have disobeyed, He comes to look for them. What mercy!

And yet that mercy must include God’s judgment of sin. That may be a little hard to really get your head around. How can judgment be merciful? Well, if you see judgment and mercy as irreconcilable forces, maybe you need to readjust your viewpoint. I would submit to you that what God does in is not negative but positive. Yes, it is judgment, but there is some powerful mercy here. His judgment actually IS mercy.

NEED

Now, before you write me off as crazy, please hear me out. I think you might be glad you did. The reason I say that is because understanding God’s mercy can help you if you’re discouraged by your own defeat. You may feel like Satan is winning in your life and that there is little hope for you. I encourage you to listen this morning.

Others may be frustrated by conflict. You are at odds with your spouse and you can’t seem to get along. Listen this morning. may shed a lot of light on the conflict you are in.

Maybe you’re struggling with death. Someone close to you has died and you are struggling with the whole idea of death. Why would a God Who claims to be merciful allow something so horrible as death. What loving God could do that? Listen. may have a very powerful lesson.

TRANS:

I firmly believe that God’s judgment actually IS mercy and I believe that for some reasons you can see in . God’s judgment is merciful because of what it can achieve in our lives. What does the mercy of His judgment achieve? Well, in the first place, God’s judgment:

D1

God’s judgment develops our dependence.

EXP

Now, the text begins with God’s judgment on the serpent, but I am going to save that one for later and look at His judgment on the woman and the man. With both the woman and the man, God sends their greatest frustration in the areas of their greatest potential.

The woman was frustrated in her greatest fulfillment.

Take the woman: in v 16 He says to Eve, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children . . . Think about it for a moment. Probably the greatest achievement of any woman, no matter how business oriented they may be, is to have children. At the point of her greatest potential, God introduces great pain and agony. Where she would find great fulfillment, she would also find great trouble. She would be frustrated in her greatest fulfillment.

The woman was frustrated in her greatest relationship.

And she would also be frustrated in her greatest relationship. Look back at v 16. God says: I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. What in the world does that last phrase mean when it says, Your desire shall be for your husband?

Well the word “desire” carries with it the idea of ruling or being in control. Simply put, I think the verse is saying that, because of sin, a woman will seek to control her husband and be in charge wherever she can. Now there are some women who have a very authoritarian nature who can dominate their husbands. Most often, however, a woman has to take control through manipulation. She will get her way “by hook or by crook.”

God says to Eve, “From now on, you’re going to want to manipulate Adam to get him to do what you want him to do; you will desire to control your husband . . .” but then there is a big BUT. Eve, you will want to manipulate Adam, but HE will rule over YOU!

So let me ask you: What happens when two spouses are both fighting each other to control the relationship? One word: CONFLICT; one more word FRUSTRATION. You want to know the really sad thing? Many couples live all of their married lives (if they stay married) in perpetual conflict and frustration never realizing that their conflict is simply a manifestation of the original curse. They don’t just fight because they are at odds with each other; they fight because they are at odds with God.

But it’s not just the woman who is frustrated in the area of her greatest potential. The man is too. Look at His judgment in v17:

Genesis 3:17–18 NKJV

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.

The man was frustrated in his greatest productivity.

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.

Man’s greatest potential is his work. You see that just in the focus men have on achieving something great on the job. God steps into Adam’s workplace and messes everything up. Now when he plants corn, he’ll get thorns. Now, instead of productive unhindered work, he will toil and struggle for illusive results. He will be frustrated in his ability to produce.

The man was frustrated in his purpose.

But not only will his productivity be frustrated, his purpose will be frustrated too.

Genesis 3:19 NKJV

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

Before in the perfect garden, God had given him purposeful work that brought real achievement: He was the manager of God’s creation. Now his work has only one purpose: survival. He will spend his whole life sweating his way to his next meal desperately seeking to live another day and all of it will unceremoniously end in a dirt nap! He is made out of dust and he will turn back into dust.

V19 says: In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” Before in the perfect garden, God had given him purposeful work that brought real achievement: He was the manager of God’s creation. Now his work has only one purpose: survival. He will spend his whole life sweating his way to his next meal desperately seeking to live another day and all of it will unceremoniously end in a dirt nap! He is made out of dust and he will turn back into dust.

ARG

And right about now, you might be saying, “I thought you said that God’s judgment was actually mercy. Nothing about what you just described sounds very merciful. We are consigned by God’s judgment to a life of pain, sorrow, toil, and futility—then we take a dirt nap. How is that mercy?

Well, I don’t believe our frustration is a bad thing, I think it’s actually a GOOD thing. That’s right! Our frustration in our own sin is the only thing which will turn us from self-dependence—the very self-dependence that came from eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is through our frustration that we understand that we do need God and we are taught to depend on Him.

APP

God leads us to frustration so that He can lead us to surrender.

You could say it like this: God leads us to frustration so that He can lead us to surrender. When we toil and toil in our own strength and get nowhere, it is then that we throw up our hands and say, “Ok Lord, I’ve done it my way and it’s not working. I need you.” God leads us to frustration so that He can lead us to surrender.

God leads us to surrender so that he can lead us to dependence.

Then He leads us to surrender so that He can lead us to dependence. Then He leads us to dependence so that He can ultimately lead us to joy. When we depend on Him, we discover that all the frustrations of life are meant to return us to the relationship He wanted with us all along.

ILL

Pic - Michelle Akers

By college, Michelle [Akers] had become an All-American soccer star, earning ESPN's woman athlete of the year in 1985—the same year the United States formed its first women's national team, with Michelle a starter.

In 1991 the U.S. team won the first-ever Women's World Cup and Michelle scored 10 goals in five games, including the championship's winner. She signed an endorsement deal and became the first woman soccer player to have a paid sponsor. She played professionally in Sweden. Michelle's drive and tenacity were beginning to pay off. She even tried out as the place kicker for the Dallas Cowboys: her longest attempt reached 52 yards.

But just as her star was rising, Michelle's health was declining. By 1993, the woman who used grit and determination to make life happen found her life unmanageable. She suffered from Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), a debilitating disease affecting more than a million adult Americans. "When it was really bad, I couldn't sit up in a chair. The racking migraines stranded me at home, unable even to get up to brush my teeth or eat."

For the first time, Michelle could no longer count on her old friends—strength and hard work. She had to find a new way to cope.

"I couldn't bear not to be the best in the world, not to be the one who could bounce back from any injury," she says. "It was the only me I knew." When her marriage of four years broke up in 1994, Michelle had reached the end of herself.

"I was so sick I couldn't take a five-minute walk without needing two days on the couch to recover. I was forced to spend a lot of time thinking about who I was. I didn't like what I saw."

Michelle had put her trust in Christ as a high-school student, but ignored God in college and after graduation. Now sick and alone, Michelle reluctantly accepted an invitation from a strength coach to attend his church, Northland Community Church in Longwood, Florida. Although she couldn't articulate it at the time, in retrospect Michelle says she knew she "needed to get things right with God."

"Looking back," she explains, "I think God was gently, patiently tapping me on the shoulder and calling my name for years. But I continuously brushed him off, saying, 'Hey, I know what I am doing. I can make these decisions. Leave me alone.' Then I think he finally said, 'Okay,' crossed his arms and looked at me sadly—because he knew I was going to make a lot of mistakes by ignoring him. He knew I would be hurting in the future.

"It took total devastation before I would acquiesce and say, 'Okay, God. You can have my life. Please, help me.'"

Hey! God leads us to frustration so that He can lead us to surrender. He leads us to surrender so that He can lead us to dependence.

He leads us to dependence so He can lead us to joy!

What does God’s judgment achieve? Well, God’s judgment develops our dependence and then,

D2

God’s judgment defends our future.

EXP

In verse 22, it seems that God is seeking to avoid a very bad situation—a danger you might say. That verse says:

Genesis 3:22 NKJV

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—

What is it that God is trying to prevent here?

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” … What is it that God is trying to prevent here?

Well, He’s trying to prevent something very bad. Man, in his disobedience, has become a sinner with the potential for becoming more wicked than anyone could ever imagine. You only have to go over two more chapters in Genesis to see how wicked a sinful nature could make you. If, in his sinful state, man reached out and ate from the tree of life, he would exist eternally in his sin becoming more and more wicked until God would have to utterly annihilate Him. So God moves to defend man’s future.

Genesis 3:23 NKJV

therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.

Genesis 3:23–24 NKJV

therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

God’s response was to allow man to die, but, in allowing man to die, God is not arbitrarily “getting back at man” for having the audacity to challenge Him. No, there is mercy in this judgment! Even in death, God is good. It was this judgment that keeps us from living eternally in this wicked, sin-cursed world. Even in death, God is good.

See verse 23: therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. God’s response was to allow man to die, but, in allowing man to die, God is not arbitrarily “getting back at man” for having the audacity to challenge Him. No, there is mercy in this judgment! Even in death, God is good. It was this judgment that keeps us from living eternally in this wicked, sin-cursed world. Even in death, God is good.

APP

We need to know this because death can seem so cruel.

And Oh, how we need to know this! We need to know this because dying can seem so cruel, can’t it. I am a pastor and I have seen death up close and personal. There is nothing quite so chilling as seeing your loved one lying there lifeless. There is an emptiness and despair to that which defies description, but even in death, God is good.

We need to know this because God can seem so harsh.

We need to know it because God can seem so harsh. In some situations, death seems like a relief, especially when an elderly person who has been suffering goes to be with the Lord, but there are many times when death makes God seem harsh and we want to lash out at Him. But listen to me: Even in death, God is good.

ILL

One person wrote on Facebook: Tragedy strikes when you least expect it. This week we received the news that a Facebook friend of ours, 30 year old Pastor Josh Allen, was killed instantly when he was hit head on by a driver driving in the wrong lane. This 24 year old driver was estimated to have been going 90 mph when he hit Josh who was headed to the airport to pick up his twin brother. The next day was Josh's wife's birthday. He is also survived by a nine-month old son. They have no life insurance. And not only does my heart ache for his family, but I can't help but ask why would a loving God permit this to happen. Why would God ever take home a young pastor, husband, and father in the prime of his life? It just doesn't seem fair!

How many times have you and I felt like this? How many times have we looked at death and questioned God? I’m not here to make you feel bad about that—I’m really not. But I am here to tell you that even in death, God is good.

I’m reminded of the older song by Pam Thum. It goes like this:

You turn the key then close the door behind you

Drop your bags on the floor you reach for the light

But there's darkness deep inside and you can't take it anymore

'Cause sometimes living takes the life out of you

And sometimes living is all you can do

Life is hard, the world is cold we're barely young and then we're old

But every falling tear is always understood, Yes, life is hard, but God is good

You start to cry 'cause you've been strong for so long

And that's not how you feel you try to pray

But there's nothing left to say so you just quietly kneel

In the silence of all that you face

God will give you His mercy and grace

Jesus never said it was an easy road to travel

He only said that you would never be alone

So when your last thread of hope begins to come unraveled

Don't give up, He walks beside you on this journey home

and He knows

Life is hard, the world is cold

We're barely young and then we're old

But every falling tear is always understood

Yes, life is hard, but God is good.

TRANS

Listen! The only thing worse than dying is living forever with your sinful nature. I know, none of us are ready for our loved ones to leave us, but never doubt the mercy of our death. Dying is the only way to spare us a fate worse than death: LIVING FOREVER IN OUR SIN!

And I know that really believing that there is mercy in God’s judgment of death is ludicrous without this last point. You see, not only does God’s judgment develop our dependence; not only does God’s judgment defend our future; most of all:

D3

God’s judgment defeats our enemy.

EXP

Go all the way back to the beginning of the curse in v 14.

Genesis 3:14 NKJV

So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.

It begins So the Lord God said to the serpent: The serpent was an animal that was inhabited by Satan. Notice the judgment that is pronounced. 14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. Now we don’t know if the serpent crawled before, but we know he would crawl from now on. He would “eat dirt.”

But that was not his greatest judgment. His greatest judgment comes in v15.

Genesis 3:15 NKJV

And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

It says, And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

It says, And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

If you went to seminary, you would here this verse called the protoevangelium. That’s just a fancy way to say that it is the first appearance of the gospel of Jesus Christ all the way back in Genesis chapter 3. Follow what is being said here.

There will be a conflict between Satan and humanity. As God tries to work out His purpose, Satan is trying to use man to fight against God and this causes great conflict. That conflict becomes very evident in the very next chapter as Cain is inspired by his own sin and Satan’s temptation to kill his own brother, Abel. God replaces Abel with Seth and it is through Seth that God begins to raise up a godly line of men who can bring deliverance.

The promise continues in Abraham who is promised a nation of people through whom God will bless the world and win this battle. Then the promise continues through Moses whom God sends to rescue His people from the clutches of wicked Egypt a Satanically inspired tyrant nation who has enslaved His people.

And the promise continues as the prophets tell the Jewish leaders that, even though their kings can never fully win this conflict, there will come a Messiah one day who will deliver the people. Then comes Jesus, God in flesh, Who comes to this earth. Yes, Satan does strike His heel. He inspires men to oppose Him, accuse Him, try Him and hang Him on a cross. Satan thought that he was getting the best of God, but the very death he caused was the very shedding of blood that broke the curse and set us free. And on the third day the Jesus arose and CRUSHED that serpent’s head. And it was God’s JUDGMENT that defeated our enemy!

APP

God’s judgment of Satan has given us unlimited power for living.

And how we need to hear this!! God’s judgment of Satan has given us unlimited power for living. Do you remember the last thing Jesus said while He was on the cross? He said: IT IS FINISHED!

He was not saying, “I’m finished, I’m dead,” O no! He was saying, “The Battle is finished; Satan is defeated. Yes that serpent struck me in my heel, but I am CRUSHING THE SERPENT’S HEAD.”

Paul said it like this in :

Colossians 2:15 NKJV

Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Paul is describing a scene common to his day when he wrote that verse. In that day whenever the Romans would defeat another country, they would take the leading generals from the opposing army, sometimes strip them, and march them through the city in utter humiliation. They would make a “public spectacle of them.” That’s what Jesus did with Satan and his minions. The message renders like this:

When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, 14 the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. 15 He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets. - Message

Listen! God’s judgment OF our enemy DEFEATS our enemy and gives us the power to live a victorious life!

You see, God’s judgment does seem hard and difficult at first glance. We are consigned to live a life of futility so that we will learn to depend on Him. We face the reality of our own death and the death of our loved ones and it all seems so wrong. And yet, the same judgment that causes us to struggle and causes us to die is the same judgment that ultimately defeats our enemy and promises us an incredible future. So I have to say, when it comes to God’s judgment, “No, that’s not bad; ultimately that’s good!”

The question then becomes this: Will you believe it? Will you believe that all of God’s works, even His judgments are good? Will you stop fighting and surrender? Even more importantly, will allow His power to operate in you by faith so that you can begin to experience in your life the victory that Christ has already won?