PS-F 03 Who Am I?

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

We are made in the image of God

What does that mean?

Image:

Rule over creatures (verse 26)

Subdue the earth (verse 28)

Result of God’s efforts: Very good (verse 31)

Something seems different in today’s world…are we still “very good”?

Changed

The Fall

Genesis 2:15–17 NASB95

Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

God’s Command/Rule: Don’t Eat This Fruit

(Known as the foundation for the Law of Sin and Death)

Genesis 3:1–6 NASB95

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 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 desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

They didn’t trust God

They wanted their own way

How did the fruit look? The temptation? (verse 6)

Useful

Looks good

Wise

BUT, it was against God’s will

The Result

Genesis 3:7–13 NASB95

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 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. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

New insight

They started the blame game

Genesis 3:14–19 NASB95

The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat 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 you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

New burdens in life

Consequences from Adam’s sin affect all future generations

Genesis 3:20–24 NASB95

Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

Broken relationship with God

Lost privileges with God

Caught

Galatians 6:1 NASB95

Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.

Caught by surprise

In trespass

Need: restoration

What is sin?

1 John 3:4 NASB95

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

Sin of commission

Doing what I know I should not do

James 4:17 NASB95

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Sin of omission

Not doing what I know I should do

Romans 14:1–2 NASB95

Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.

Romans 14:22–23 NASB95

The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Sin of conscience

Circumstances:

No command one way or the other

My conviction (or faith) says I should not (or should)

I go against my conviction

How does sin develop?

James 1:14–15 NASB95

But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Enticed and carried away by lust→ conceived→ sin→ death

A process

What is this death? Why does it matter?

Romans 3:9–10 NASB95

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;

Romans 3:23 NASB95

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Who has sinned? Everyone

Does this include you?

Romans 6:23 NASB95

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Wages for sin = death

Wage = earnings

James 2:26 NASB95

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Death = separation

Body / / Spirit = Physical death

Isaiah 59:1–2 NASB95

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

_ _

Me | | God

|__________|

Me / / God = Spiritual death

2 Thessalonians 1:9 NASB95

These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

Death =

Separation (away from the presence of the Lord)

Destruction

Options? Solutions?

Romans 8:1–3 NASB95

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,