Sermon Tone Analysis

liberty bible church          10~/29~/06 P.M.

By Tom Zobrist

“The birth of blame-shifting”

Genesis 3:8-24

introduction

Illus. of “Center Field” In Discipleship Journal, Don McCullough wrote: “John Killinger tells about the manager of a minor league baseball team who was so disgusted with his center fielder’s performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the position himself.

The first ball that came into center field took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth.

The next one was a high fly ball, which he lost in the glare of the sun—until it bounced off his forehead.

The third was a hard line drive that he charged with outstretched arms; unfortunately, it flew between his hands and smacked his eye.

Furious, he ran back to the dugout, grabbed the center fielder by the uniform, and shouted.

‘You idiot!

You’ve got center field so messed up that even I can’t do a thing with it!’

Blaming others for your own faults and failures is not something that we have to learn.

It comes to us naturally in our sin nature.

Blame-shifting is very destructive and can ruin relationships permanently.

What is it that leads us to blame-shifting and what are the results if we fail to keep this sin in check?

OPEN to passage.

*Prop.

*In this passage, we see the hazards of blame-shifting and see how we can overcome the temptation to blame others for our failures.

Open in PRAYER.

PREVIEW the passage.

It’s been since April 23rd that we were last in Genesis.

Let’s recap briefly what has taken place so far.

We have seen the creation of everything in the universe and specifically the capstone of that creation being man and woman.

All of creation took place in six literal days.

Adam and Eve had been placed in a perfect environment in the Garden of Eden, shortly after which they got into trouble.

How much time has passed since the creation week, we aren’t given.

It could have been anywhere from hours to days to maybe a few months.

It is apparent that no children were born to them yet.

Enough time had passed for the fall of Satan, when he desired to be like God and sit on His throne and soon he and 1~/3 of the angels fell from heaven and God’s presence.

That gets us to chapter 3 where we see the origin of sin, at least in respect to mankind.

Cf. 3:1-7 to get the context.

Adam and Eve questioned God’s Word, then disbelieved God’s Word; now they have to live with the ramifications of their sin.

That’s where we begin tonight with…

 

  i.

the first case of blame-shifting vs. 8-13

Illus. of someone once said, “Don’t find fault, find a remedy.”

There was no remedy for Adam and Eve’s problem at this point.

So, they shifted the blame.

A.     Adam’s Blame-shift

V 8a     1.

How did they hear the sound of God walking in the Garden in the heat of the day?

Perhaps it was a Christophony.

At any rate…

V 8b    2.

They hid themselves.

Why?

They were convicted the moment they fell into sin.

They once had life, now they were to have death; pleasure, now pain; they once had abundance, now a meager subsistence by hard work; they once were in perfect fellowship with God, now they were alienated and in conflict.

V 9-10 3.

For the first time, Adam felt shame.

Do you think that God did not know where he was?

God wanted him to think about what he had done and the ramifications of it.

It’s the same process that we still go through today when we need to be forgiven.

God wants us to recognize what we have done, confession, and then seek to overcome it.

V 11    4.

There was only one way that Adam could have sinned and known that he was naked.

V 12    5.

Rather than take responsibility as the leader of his home, he blames his wife…and God.

“The woman YOU gave me…” That’s one bad meal she served up.

At this point, God lets Adam off the hook and moves to dealing with Eve.

 

b.

Eve’s Blame-shift

V 13a   1.

God knew everything that happened, but once again wants Eve to recognize what happened, as He did with Adam.

V 13b  2.

She passes the buck as well.

She told the truth, but that does not release her from accountability.

Even though she was deceived, she was still accountable for her sin.

*Trans.*

THE FIRST CASE OF BLAME-SHIFTING was clearly evident in the first sin than mankind ever committed.

However, shifting blame, even though justifiable, does not release us from responsibility.

That brings us to…

           

 ii.

the curses of blame-shifting vs. 14-19

Illus. of Harry Truman’s most famous saying…”The buck stops here.”

There was no one else for the devil to blame, so the curses begin with him.

A.     Satan and the creature he used were cursed  

V 14    1.

The serpent must eat crawl on its belly and eat dust.

This was to be a perpetual reminder to mankind of temptation and the fall.

Every time we see a snake, we can be reminded of temptation and the fall.

V 15a   2.

There would be a perpetual struggle between the serpent and the woman and their offspring.

The capital “S” of Seed here refers to Christ.

Satan’s offspring refers to the demons and any who are enslaved and serving him.

V 15b 3. Satan would bruise the heel of mankind by crippling him with a sin nature.

But, Christ would crush Satan’s head by defeating him on the cross and rising from the dead.

b. the woman is cursed

            Besides suffering the pain of death, there were more curses.

V 16a   1.

She would have pain in childbearing.

How it was going to happen prior to this, we will never know.

But, it is painful now.

V 16b  2.

She will be mastered by her husband and she will cause her husband to sin, just as Eve did.

“Your desire shall be for or toward your husband” means that the woman would attempt to get her husband to sin.

Cf.

Gen. 4:6-7 The woman becomes a source of temptation for the husband, but he should be able to overcome it.

Cain could not.