Beginnings: What Is Our Problem?
Beginnings • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 5 viewsAs we continue our Christian journey, there are times when our true sin nature once again will rear it's ugly head leaving us asking the question, "what is our problem?" The answer to the question is sin--it is always sin.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome back.
This morning if you will, turn in your Bibles to .
In just a minute I will be reading a few verses, starting in verse 16 and going through verse 22.
And we will be using this passage in relation to the topic of our Beginnings and New Beginnings we have been discussing in the Book of Genesis.
If you recall for the lat two weeks, we have been looking at our identity and our purpose.
Asking and trying to answer the question of what is our purpose and why are we even here?
And again, I will mention that our identity, our purpose, our meaning is found in our being the ultimate expression of God’s love.
And our mission as Christians stems from that identity, in that we are to express that same love toward others.
This morning however, we are going to push things a little bit forward and begin to look at a few of the events in and asking, and hopefully answering, the question of what is our problem?
Have you ever asked that question or wondered that about someone.
They do something that is completely offensive and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, so you ask yourself the question—What is their problem?
Or even more to the point, if they have really offended you, you ask them what is your problem?
We probably have done one or maybe even both, but also are there ever times when you ask yourself, “what is my problem?”
You’ve done something so boneheaded or so completely against the nature of who you want to be and you think to yourself, “what is my problem,” or “why did I do that?”
I think it is a common thing that we all do.
The kicker though is, do you know the answer to the question?
Do you know what your problem is?
Do you know why do you what you do?
And, of course, the easy (and correct answer) is sin, but it gets a little bit more complicated than that.
Sin is the underlying reason why, but there is a great deal that plays into that sin as well.
And that is what we are going to be looking at here in .
However, we start in Proverbs because that gives us a clue and a backstory into the minds of Adam and Eve the first time they probably asked themselves, what is my problem?
So, if you have found Proverbs in your Bible, I’d invite you to stand with me as we read, starting in verse 16 . . . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
16 There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. 20 My son, keep your father’s commands and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. 21 Bind them upon your heart for ever; fasten them around your neck. 22 When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
Pro
16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver! 17 The highway of the upright avoids evil; he who guards his way guards his life. 18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. 19 Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud. 20 Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. 21 The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instruction. 22 Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but folly brings punishment to fools.
Proverbs 16:16-
Pride Goes Before Destruction ()
Pride Goes Before Destruction ()
Now, why do you suppose I started here in Proverbs?
It has to do with the issue that this passage discusses—that being of pride.
This passage is really a compare/contrast of human nature.
It talks about raw untamed human nature and compares it with refined and reformed by God human nature.
And again, the passage starts out with . . .
16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver! 17 The highway of the upright avoids evil; he who guards his way guards his life.
Proverbs 16:16
Basically to have wisdom and insight into the ways of life, is more beneficial to us than any amount of wealth.
It leads us to the understand of what good and evil really is.
It leads us to understand the difference between the truth (God) and the deceptions of the world.
It leads us into an understanding of how to tap into the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and avoid the evil pitfalls of life.
It actually helps us to understand the role of the Holy Spirit as our guide and guard and allows us to give the Holy Spirit the ability to do His job.
Which is all great, but there is something that stands in the way of the Holy Spirit doing His work.
But what could that possibly be?
What can stand in God’s way?
The passage goes on to point out that . . .
18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 16:
And there it is.
The key ingredient to our downfall and destruction.
Not just our simple “sinful nature.”
Not our “I can’t help it attitude.”
Not the multitude of excuses that we make day after day after day.
It is simple, ugly, self-serving pride.
In fact, in our New Testament we see this . . .
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And I quoted it from the KJV because it defines it better…the pride of life, which actually means “the boasting of what we do and how important we are...”
Strutting around like roosters.
It leads to destruction and it leads to our downfall.
And this is what Satan knew.
And this is what Satan used to deceive Adam and Eve and bring about the corruption of all creation.
Did God REALLY Say That? (Gen 3:1-7)
Did God REALLY Say That? (Gen 3:1-7)
So, with that backstory, now we can turn our attention to .
So, with that backstory, now we can turn our attention to .
Now, we do not know how long after God created everything that takes place so it could have been a week, month, year, century.
We don’t know.
But what we do know is that . . .
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Genesis 3:1
And this is where the trouble starts.
And what Satan is actually doing here is playing into Eve’s “pride of life” attitude.
He is trying to both spark her curiosity and then also make her question what God had already told them to do and to not do.
He asks here “did God really say that…Is that really what God meant?”
He got her questioning what God’s commands actually are.
And we do the same thing.
There is something out there that tempts us and we know God has already said “leave it alone, don’t touch it,” but then we begin to justify our actions.
We begin to look for loopholes in what God’s said.
To try to find just a little wiggle room so we can fit things in.
We tell ourselves things like “Nobody is going to know,” or “I’m not hurting anyone” and “what’s the big deal anyway, it’s my life.”
And that’s always a biggie as well, “It’s my life and I’m going to live it the way I want and no one is going to tell me what to do.”
Sound familiar?
It is all just a plot of Satan to pull us away from God and to get us to question God and question what God has already instructed us about.
So, Satan poses the question…Did God really say that…and Eve plays right into his hand . ..
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”
Genesis 3:2
And herein lies the problem.
Even told Satan what God had said, but she began to add to what God had said.
Again, in verse 3 she tells Satan . . .
3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”
Now, what God actually said is recorded in chapter 2 . . .
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
Did you spot the difference?
God never said “you must not touch it, or you will die.”
God told them they must not eat from it, or they would die.
And it is a small difference but an important difference.
By adding to what God had said, Eve has done something that churches from the beginning of Churches have done.
They have taken what God has actually said and added rules to it, so that we could not violate what God has said.
That is even why the Jewish Law went from 10 commandments, to over 600.
We don’t trust ourselves to follow God, so we add all of these layers of rules to prevent us from messing up.
Things like, provocative dancing leads to lust and promiscuity, so no dancing whatsoever, even though David danced before the Lord!
Alcohol leads to drunkeness, so no alcohol whatsoever, even though they all drank wine in the Bible because the water was unfit to drink!
And don’t get me wrong, these are not bad rules.
In fact, I personally do not think there is a need for alcohol in our society and nothing good comes of it today, so I am against it.
However, I can’t sit here and tell you that the Bible says “thou shalt not drink,” because it is not there.
It is a tradition that we have added because over the years we have seen that we cannot trust ourselves to do what is right by the Lord.
And the reason why we cannot trust ourselves is because we have never relinquished control over our lives to the Holy Spirit.
The problem is not really alcohol, the problem is our own inability to live under the power and control of the Holy Spirit.
But the point here is because we stack up these layers of rules, we also give the devil some wiggle room to come in and make us question the rules.
We begin to say, “It’s my life, I will live it how I want,” and we see God not as a loving and merciful God that is looking out for us, but an oppressive overlord who is trying to keep us from doing what we want in life.
And our own self-righteous pride begins to rise up and then Satan has us.
Just like he had Eve. Look at verse 4 . . .
4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 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.”
Genesis 3:4-
Ah, come on Eve, it’s just a piece of fruit, it’s fine, you’re not going to die.
God is just trying to hold you back, keeping you from your full potential.
After all God knows that if you eat it you will be just as powerful as He is and know all things.
You want to be like God right, Eve?
Live a little, take a chance.
And she is hooked at that point.
She begins to weigh her options . . .
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some 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 realised that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Genesis 3:6
Why not! Let’s do it. Surely it can’t be that bad.
And initially it was not.
They ate it and they didn’t drop dead on the spot.
So, was God wrong?
Absolutely not.
At the point that they gained the knowledge of good and evil and what good and evil were, they also gained the knowledge that they were naked and that they shouldn’t be running around naked.
So, they created the first “added rule,” they make some clothes.
And then after that, when they hear God walking along in the garden, they hid from God, because #1 they were naked and #2 they knew they had sinned.
But what about this whole death thing?
Didn’t God tell them they would die?
Yes, He did but he didn’t tell them they would die on the spot.
The thing is, life was maintained by the tree of life.
After sin was introduced, that tree was removed . . .
22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 3:22-
And death was introduced, not only to humanity but to all creation.
Point 3
Point 3
It was a ripple effect.
So, their pride had actually destroyed them.
Their pride had caused them to enter into a life of turmoil and struggle.
Their problem was their pride.
Altar Call
Altar Call
But our question this morning was “what is my problem?”
And that’s where we end this morning, what is our problem?
What is keeping us from coming to Christ this morning?
What’s keeping us from coming back to Christ this morning?
What is creating a barrier between God and us this morning?
Is it the lust of the eyes, the lust of the heart, or is it the pride of life?
Is it the “I’m going to do it my way” attitude?
What is it?
You know because the Holy Spirit is telling you right now.
The real question is, what are you going to do about it this morning?
Our altar is open, but will you use it or will you make excuses as to why you cannot?
What lie is Satan telling you right now?
Will you listen to God or listen to the lies?
You choose, right here right now.