Genesis Session 7

This evening we are going to be spending time in the same passage of Scripture we studied last week, but our focus is going to be a bit different.

Last week, we focused on the enemy and his tactics. We looked at the details regarding the fall of man - the fall into sin.

The enemy worked to plant a seed of deception in their minds.

Once the deception began to grow, they began to become distracted by the fruit they could not eat.

Once the distraction overcame them, the destruction of sin was realized.

All of this was an attack of the enemy against God. Satan hates God. And he will do whatever he can to get at Him… so he attacked God’s creation.

Satan didn’t care about Adam and Eve, just as he doesn’t care about any of us. His motive is laid out in Scripture - steal, kill, destroy.

Satan is like a spiritual terrorist… he will use any avenue he can to accomplish his goal. But one thing to remember is - the devil is already defeated! God brought victory through His Son!

Genesis 3 presents to us the fall of man. It is a sad and revealing chapter for sure. But it also brings to light something that God gave to humankind… a beautiful gift that should not be overlooked. Our focus tonight will be on that gift - the gift of free will.

What is free will? Free will is the ability to act at one’s own discretion. Free will is the POWER of CHOICE.

We all know this “power” and exercise it daily. In fact, it is estimated that a person makes around 35,000 decisions every single day! No wonder our minds are so tired by sunset!

What to eat, what to wear, get up now or in five minutes, drive the speed limit or go a bit faster/slower, look both ways once or twice… and list could go on and on and… 35,000 times on!

But at the center of this ability… at the center of this power, this gift given to us by God, lies the most important decision… a decision that will impact the other 34,999 decisions a person might make in a day - that decision is the choice to love God… or not.

Why would God… give us this ability? Why would God allow humankind to make such an important decision on our own? Why would he give us the opportunity to succeed and… the opportunity to fail?

Such a decision makes a person’s love for God… genuine. It makes our love for Him authentic. Not forced, not obligation, not programmed, not manipulated, not corrupted, not quid pro quo (conditional), not any of the above.

As we talked about before, God’s love for us is unconditional. There is NOTHING we can do to separate ourselves from His love. We will see more regarding that truth in Scripture next week. However, we can choose whether or not to love God back.

God wasn’t looking for a fake or pretend fellowship with us. He gave us the choice to be real. He gave us the opportunity to say yes to His ways, or no. AND… He knew full well the consequence that would come if we said no.

And church, He warned us of that consequence as He does every day through His Word. Sin brings death. Sin brings destruction. He didn’t hide that truth, He didn’t water down that truth… He gave it to us in hopes that we would choose not to go in sin’s direction!

We see the power of choice displayed in Genesis 3:6. Adam and Eve knew God’s instruction. The serpent had spun his tale. Now came the moment of decision.

Genesis 3:6 NIV

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.

There is a lot going on here...

Eve DECIDED to look at the tree from a different perspective.

Instead of seeing it from God’s eyes, she looked at it with entitled eyes

Eve DECIDED the tree would bring gain

Good for food

Tasty and delicious

Gain in wisdom

Eve DECIDED to take the fruit.

Eve DECIDED to eat the fruit.

Eve DECIDED to give some to Adam.

Adam DECIDED to receive the fruit from Eve.

Adam DECIDED to conform with the situation. He too did all of the above.

Ultimately, they DECIDED to go against God’s instruction and in that decision, they gave birth to sin.

Their free will allowed for them to step into a sin reality that God hoped they would never experience. But did this experience surprise God?

God knows what each of us will do with our free will. He has NOT predestined our choices, but He knows the choices we will make.

This doesn’t mean we are predictable… it simply means that God is all-knowing. God exists outside of time as we know it.

God Knows What We Will Do…

If God knows… doesn’t that mean that God is controlling our decisions and our future?

God is in CONTROL… but we still have a choice to SURRENDER to His will or to go our own DIRECTION.

Because God exists outside of time as we know it, He can see our past, present, and future all at once. He can see our choices before we ever make them.

God is omniscient meaning… He knows EVERYTHING! His wisdom, His knowledge, His understanding is far beyond anything we could possibly comprehend. And such truth is expressed by the Psalmist in Psalm 139:1-6

Psalm 139:1–6 NIV

1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Move down to Psalm 139:16

Psalm 139:16 NIV

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

So… If God knows who will choose to love Him and who will choose to walk away from Him… why create those who would choose the latter?

Because of His love for us. God loves EVERY soul that has walked this earth. God desires for each soul to make the choice. His desire is for all to come into fellowship with Him… but we know there are many who will say… no.

What is love if that choice is not made a possibility? What would it say of God if He denied existence to those who would choose to walk away from Him? That would make His love - conditional. “I will give you life so long as you love me.” That is NOT how God works.

I take comfort in knowing that God… KNOWS ME! And despite my mistakes, God sent His Son to die for me! And He did that long before I ever said yes to Him!

Free will sets the stage for our love for God to be authentic and genuine! Free will allows us to be able to say to God, “I choose You over the things of this world.”

And in that choice, our love must be more than words. Our love must be accompanied with action that demonstrates our love for Him.

What happened in Eden was a demonstration of mankind’s rebellion.

Loving God is More Than Words...

Genuine LOVE for God leads to a genuine EXPRESSION of His ways.

Let’s look at Jesus’ words in John 14:15-17

John 14:15–17 NIV

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

IF you love me - if that is your claim, if that is your decision, if that is the true position of your heart… that love will lead naturally to the next part...

Keep my commands - another choice. BECAUSE we love Jesus we should also be in love with His ways! his commands lead to life and spiritual liberty… what else could we possibly want?

How about someone who will help us accomplish this? For those who love and keep is given a gift - and advocate, a helper who is the Spirit of truth! He lives within you!

Our love for God MUST be more than mere words… it must be lived out from day to day.

The two greatest commandments given by Jesus are centered on love - and they serve as our mission statement at HWC - Loving God. Loving People.

If we claim to love the God who is love, then His love will be evident within our hearts.

It will shine through in EVERY DECISION we make. And the thought of keeping Christ at the center of the 35,000 decisions we make each day seems daunting… until you remember that the Spirit of God - the promised gift of the Holy Spirit - now dwells in you!

When we choose to love God, such a choice places the Spirit of God at the center of our free will.

Again, He does NOT control our decisions but He speaks to us and guides us according to His ways and truth. We still make the choice - will we listen or not? And the direction we go will demonstrate if our love for God is the main driving force in our lives.

Such a statement might seem absolute. “You mean if I sin such a decision reflects poorly on my love for God?” Sin is REBELLION against God. Sin is deliberately turning your back on God.

The results of sin… are absolute. But so is power of God’s grace. So is the power of the blood.

NO SIN can stand against the power of Jesus’ blood. Jesus made the choice to be about the Father’s business while He was here on earth. And because of that choice, we can choose to come out from under the weight of our rebellion and back into the presence of God.

Make the Decision

So tonight I encourage you to make the decision. And this is not a one time decision… this is a daily choice. I am going to love God with everything I am - may every word and action bring glory to His name.

Will you use your free will to love God as He loves you… or will you use your free will to go your own direction… a direction that leads you away from His ways and His truth?

The choice is yours. And you will have to live with the results of your choice for all eternity.

Jesus CHOSE to die for you. Will you CHOOSE to live for Him?