Sermon Tone Analysis

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.

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

Move down to Psalm 139:16

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

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.