The Day God Came Looking

THE DAY GOD CAME LOOKING

Gen. 3:6-12   Gen. 11:1-8   Lk. 19:10

What Are You Looking For?

When you get up in the morning, what are you looking for as you think about the day?

When you come to church, what are you looking for?  Jesus ask this question of the religious leaders in reference to them going out to John the Baptist.   ‘What went you out to see?” (Matt.11:7-9)   How much of our looking is to discover the Lord’s Will and Leading in our lives?

Some folk look to out of curiosity. (traffic)  Some folk look to get involved.   Some folk look to help.  Some folk look to give.  Some folk just look….

Many people will ‘go looking’ with no intent to do any thing about what they see.  They are spectators.  They want to have something to talk about.  But, they don’t want to do anything to bring about a change (positively) to the situation they are observing.  For example, look at our community.  Look at senseless murders.  Murder never makes sense.  Look at he plight of so many of our young people.  Look at the situation with our families.   Look even with the things that are going on with the church.

There’s a whole lot of  ‘talking’ about the situations but very little ‘walking’ to do anything about it.  IF TALK COULD FIX THINGS THERE WOULDN’T BE PROBLEM IN THE WORLD.   NOT EVEN SIN.

What Was/Is God Looking For?

These passages let us know that the Lord is looking for something.  The ironic thing is, some of us don’t realize it but He’s already been to ‘our house’, looking for us.   He came with an:

• Inquiring Look  (about our actions)
• Investigative Look  (our motives)
• Liberating Look  (to save our souls)

NOTE:  In each of these situations, man tried to ‘fix’ the problem ‘his way’. 

• Adam & Eve discovered they were ‘naked’ and sewed leaves together to make an apron.  But the apron wasn’t long enough.  (Gen. 3)  The apron still left some parts exposed.  On top of that, they used the wrong material and put it on in the wrong place.  The required material was blood.  It was to cover their sin, not their body.

• Nimrod and his group are symbolic of people determined to get to heaven THEIR WAY.  So he tried to fix this problem by building at tower that he thought would reach heaven.  How many ‘Towers To Heaven’ are still attempting to be built?  This represent man’s pride and arrogance in the face of God.  (Gen. 11)

• In the NT, is a group that tried to fix having ‘favor with God’ by keeping the law.  The problem was, no one was keeping the law.  No one was able to keep the law.  Therefore, no one had the favor of God they sought. 

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (KJV)

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God Came Looking in the Garden     Inquiring Look  (about our actions)

• Because the fellowship had been broken by sin

3:9 “Where are you?” The question was God’s way of bringing man to explain why he was hiding, rather than expressing ignorance about man’s location. Shame, remorse, confusion, guilt, and fear all led to their clandestine behavior. There was no place to hide; there never is. See Ps. 139:1–12

The Lord is so in tuned to His creation, that nothing happens without Him knowing it.   Jesus said that not even  a sparrow falls from the air without God knowing it.

It is with this connectiveness with creation that God knew instantly when Adam ate of the fruit.  Adam ‘broke’ the continuity of obedience and order.  NOTE:  To understand this should not be too hard for us.  For whenever a piece of machinery that we are using starts to malfunction, we immediately begin to  investigate and look for the cause.  We know that it is not working the way it was designed to.  It is putting out the wrong sound.  It may have stopped running altogether.  Whatever the case there is one thing for certain.  IT’S NOT WORKING LIKE IT WAS.  IT’S BROKEN AND NEEDS TO BE FIXED.

I.     Temptation (3:1–6)

·         God is not the author of sin, nor does He tempt people to sin; this is the work of the devil (James 1:13).

    The target.

·         Satan aimed at Eve’s mind and succeeded in deceiving her. 

·         He is a liar himself and the father of lies (John 8:44).

The tactic.

·         As long as the mind holds to God’s truth, Satan cannot win; but once the mind doubts God’s Word, there is room for the devil’s lies to move in.

·         Satan questioned God’s Word and then substituted his own lies (v. 5).

·         Note that Satan seeks to undermine our faith in the goodness of God—he suggested to Eve that God was “holding out on them” When we question God’s goodness and doubt His love, we are playing right into the hands of Satan.

·         Satan made the temptation sound wonderful by making an offer: “You will be like God!” Satan himself had wanted to be “like the Most High” (Isa. 14:14), and centuries later he offered Christ “all the kingdoms of the world” if He would worship him (Matt. 4:8).

D.     The tragedy.

·         Eve should not have “given place to the devil” (Eph. 4:27); she should have held to God’s Word and resisted him.

·         We see the tragic operation of the lust of the flesh (“good for food”), the lust of the eyes (“pleasant to the eyes”), and the pride of life (“desirable to make one wise”)—see 1 John 2:15–17.

·         It is difficult to sin alone. Something in us makes us want to share the sin with others. Adam deliberately sinned and plunged the world into judgment (1 Tim. 2:14).

II.     Condemnation (3:7–13)

• Immediately there came a loss of innocence and glory and a sense of guilt.

• They tried to cover their nakedness with their own works, garments that God did not accept (v. 21).
• A loss of desire for fellowship with God. When they heard God approaching, they hid!.

7 Consequences of Sin

God Came Looking at the Tower    Investigative Look  (our motives)

• Because the fellowship among them was united in sin.  (The sin of pride)

III.     Nimrod’s Confederation against God (11:1–9)

A.     The dictator (10:6–14).

Nimrod was a grandson of Ham through Cush, and his name means “rebel.”

·         He was a mighty tyrant in the sight of God, the first dictator.

·         The word “hunter” does not refer to the hunting of animals, but rather to the hunting of men.

·         He was the founder of the Babylonian empire and the organizer of the enterprise that led to the construction of the tower of Babel.

·         Nimrod and his wife devised a new religion built around “the mother and child.”.

·         “Babylon” in the Bible symbolizes rebellion against God and confusion in religion.

B.     The rebellion.

God had commanded men to replenish the earth (9:1, 7, 9), but they decided to settle down on the plain of Shinar where Babylon was located (10:8–10). This was deliberate rebellion against God’s Word. They decided to unite and build both a city and a tower.

Their purposes were to (1) maintain unity in opposition to God, and (2) make a name for themselves.

This entire operation is a foregleam of the final opposition of man (and Satan) against Christ, centered in the Babylon of Rev. 17–18. Men will unite then in a world church and world political organization; they will be led by the Antichrist, the last world dictator; and their plans will be frustrated. It is interesting to note that today the world is rapidly moving toward the “one world” concept,

God knew the designs of the rebels and judged them. The Godhead held another conference (see 1:26 and 3:22) and decided to confound the languages of the workers, thus making it impossible for them to work together.

” The description of God’s action here explains the origin of the languages of mankind.

It has often been pointed out that Pentecost was a reversal of Babel—there was true spiritual unity among God’s people; they spoke with other tongues but were understood; and their work glorified God, not men.

God (Jesus) Came Looking For the Lost   Liberating Look  (to save our souls)

• (Lk. 19:10)  “To Seek and To Save….”

1.      (Luke 5:31-32)  And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. 32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

1. (Lk. 15:4-7,32 ) The lost sheep.

A seeking man became found (v. 5). Zaccheus thought he was seeking Jesus (Luke 19:3), but Jesus was seeking him! (Luke 19:10)

·         By nature, the lost sinner does not seek the Saviour (Rom. 3:11).

·         When Jesus was ministering on earth, He sought out the lost; and

·         Today the Holy Spirit, through the church, is searching for lost sinners.

A small man became big (vv. 7–8).

It was not Zaccheus’ fault that he was “little of stature” and could not see over the crowd.  In a spiritual sense, all of us are “little of stature,” for “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). No one measures up to God’s high standards; we are all “too little” to enter into heaven.

The tragedy is, many lost sinners think they are “big.” They measure themselves by man’s standards—money, position, authority, popularity—things that are an “abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). They think they have everything when really they have nothing (Rev. 3:17).

A poor man became rich (vv. 9–10)..

Zaccheus was not saved because he promised to do good works. He was saved because he responded by faith to Christ’s gracious word to him. Having trusted the Saviour, he then gave evidence of his faith by promising to make restitution to those he had wronged..

The host became the guest (v. 6). Jesus invited Himself to Zaccheus’ house, and Zaccheus received Him joyfully..   Zaccheus became the guest in his own house, for Jesus was now his Master. He was ready to obey the Lord and do whatever was necessary to establish a genuine testimony before the people..

When a day begins, you never know how it will end.

Jesus is still seeking the lost and yearning to save them. Has He found you?