Adam & Eve

Speaker 3: Take your rivals if you have, and turn to Genesis chapter number three. Genesis chapter number three is where we're going to be tonight. And I hope you forgive me for not wearing a tie. I really didn't want to button that thing. And so normally I wear one. But tonight surely you'll understand. You're not giving me any feedback, so I'm not quite sure what to think. Look, I want this sermon to go quick, so I need you guys to be on board with me throughout the whole thing. All right, so no falling asleep. I'm up here. You can pay attention. All right, so I was too excited about this message to miss it. Not that I didn't think Brother Matt would do a good job. And then when I heard William 12 is here, I thought, Oh, that's great. I'll just send him a text, tell him he's preaching and I'll leave. But anything that would be fair to him. But, you know, it's just a chapter, the verse. And if you're there, I want you join me in standing in honor of reading God's Word. We're going to begin reading in verse number eight. The Bible says, and they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden. In the cool of the day, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God. Among the trees of the garden. The Lord God called into Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? He said, I heard thy voice in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. He said, who told me that I was naked as thou eating of the tree whereof I commanded the that thou should us not eat. Man said woman who now gave us to be with me. She gave me of the tree and I did eat. Lord God said under the woman. What is this? Thou hast done? The woman said the serpent beguiled me and I did eat. Lord God sent them to the serpent. Kozo has done this. Thou art cursed above all cattle. Above every beast of the field. On thy belly. Shout, thou go. The shot that we eat. All the days of my life, I will put in the tea between me and the woman. To in the seat. In her seat, it shall bruise thy head. Thou shalt bruise his heel. Under the woman. He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception in sorrow Thou shall bring forth children. Thy desire shall be to die, husband. He shall rule over the. And then to Adam, he said, because thou has hearkened under the voice of thy wife. It has the eating of the tree of which I commanded thee saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Curse is the ground for thy sake in sorrow. Shout out, eat of it. All the days of day life. Thorns also. And thistles shall it bring forth to thee. Thou shall eat the herb of the field. Sweat and I face shut thou bread till I return under the ground Proud of it was thou taken thus thou art and hunt. Thus thou shalt return. Adam called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living. Adam and Adam also into his wife to the Lord, make coats of skins and clothe them. Or God said, behold. Mann has become, as one of us know, good and evil. And now less. You put forth his hand and take also the tree of life and eat live forever. Therefore, the Lord God sent Him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from whence He was taken. So he drove out the man he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden, turbans and a flaming sword, which turn every way. Keep the way of the tree of life spray. Well, I ask that you help us tonight as we look into your word. You give me the word. You have me to say. You know, the folks that are here to listen, apply, to hear to their lives in Jesus name, I ask these things. Amen. You may be seated. So as you saw in the title screen earlier, we are going to begin a a series of messages titled Refreshing Stories from the Bible. We define the word refresh at the beginning of the year to mean rest relief. Reenergize or to give care to. Stories of people in the Bible that we want to look at are going to be people who experienced. Perhaps the same refreshment from God that we can experience. We want to emphasize the work that God does in people's lives and the impact that the Gospel has had on people from the Old and the New Testaments. If you look at this story, it doesn't seem to be very refreshing, does it? This is three. Ball of man. They think it may be one of the most depressing moments to think about in human history. Every pain and evil that we despise about this world stems from what took place in this chapter. God had placed his new or his. Is the pinnacle of his creation in a perfect environment. Man was created positively. Wholly. He wasn't just innocent. He tended towards good. For man to sin, he would have to act against the good nature that God had given him. Unfortunately, we know that that is exactly what happened. Mandates in. Paul gives us commentary of what happened in the garden. First, Timothy two, 14, says. And Adam was not deceived. The woman being deceived was in the transgression. The Eve was deceived by the temptation of Satan. He was convinced to believe a lie. Adam, however, was not to see. He chose to disobey God for a very simple reason. The reason was that he loved his wife more than he loved God. Neither of them trusted the Lord. Eve didn't trust God that he knew best. For her in withholding the fruit of the tree. Adam didn't trust God and didn't trust that he was enough for him. Should he lose his wife or her her sin? So when you read Genesis Chapter three, human failure abounds throughout this story. But in verse number eight, when we started reading, we see that after man's sin God enters into the garden. We know how Adam and Eve try to hide themselves. They try to hide their nakedness. They try to conceal their location from their offended creator. And it is here as God enters the garden that we get our first taste of refreshment. Don't we all know that God is all knowing? Don't we all know that while Satan was tempting the evil. God was there. Don't we know that when he took the fruit, gave it to Adam? God was there. You not only saw their actions, but we also saw their hearts and minds. He heard their thoughts of doubt and suspicion of him and his motives. He had only ever done good to them. And yet they sinned against him. Despite knowing all that had occurred that day. God still manifested his presence in the garden. There are an infinite number of ways that God could have reacted to Adam and Nemes rebellion. The very extreme. He could have melted the planet as soon as Adam took a bite and sealed man's fate. He could have slowly scattered their molecules into the emptiness of space, like maybe you've seen in a superhero movie recently. Go to just abandon them. Never revealed himself to mankind again. But he didn't do any of those things. Genesis three eight says they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. God came down to the garden just as he had hundreds or even thousands of times before to visit with his most special creation. Even though God knew what Adam had done, God upheld his end of the relationship. God was the offended party. It was not God that hid himself from man. It was, in fact, the other way around. While Adam and Eve tried to hide from God. See that God pursued them. First number nine says in the Lord, God called on to Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? What kind of tone do you think God took with his creation? The angry. Their malice. Is there sadness? Tenderness. He called out to Adam. God knew where Adam was, didn't he? I've played hide and seek with my kids, and some of them are better at hiding than others. Some of them, I know exactly where they are because you can hear them talking, laughing. Sometimes I'll still kind of go around and be like, Where are you? Where are you? Even though I know where they are. God knew where Adam was. Gave Adam an opportunity to respond to him. Of course, Adam did respond. The conversation ensued verses ten through 19. We watched the back and forth that occurs between God and his rebellious creation. We're familiar with the excuses that were offered by the man in the woman in verse 12 and again in verse number 13. Adam not only blames blames Eve. He also, if we're honest about it, he blames God, doesn't he? God then speaks to Eve and he says, What is it that thou hast done? Eve goes on to blame the serpent. As God enters into an explanation for the consequences of their actions, we see that there is cause for comfort, even as God doles out judgment. Humanities Big Tyler, the deceiver is addressed first. Satan is informed in verse number 14. Of his eventual inevitable destruction. Hasn't quite come to complete fruition. That doesn't mean Satan's defeat isn't very inevitable. It is a blessing that mankind fell due to the temptation of an outside source. Sin did not originate in the hearts of men. The way that pride originated in the heart of Satan. Because of this, it opens up the possibility for redemption. This is certainly what God is referring to in the first prophecy of a coming savior. When He tells the serpent this there will be in the t between thy seed. In her seed, it shall bruise thy head. Thou shall bruise his heel. Satan had targeted. Humanity for corruption. His hatred for God was so intense that he sought out God's most special creation. Sought to turn us against our creator. Satan knows he has no power over God. So we went after the one being that God created to carry his image on the earth. Think about that. Satan cannot touch God. He knew he could try and touch those who bore God's image. On the earth. Despite his best efforts and temporary semblance of success, God pronounces his certain destruction. Isn't that refreshing? The one that started the whole problem. Will one day meet his final judgment. There will be a state where God's people, those that have accepted the redemption we spoke of a moment ago, where they will live in complete freedom from the wiles and the temptations of the devil. This is refreshing. For all lovers of justice. Don't you like when justice is served? Doesn't it bother you to see and witness injustices committed in the world? You know, I don't get political. That often. But I'm not feeling good. So forgive me. But abortion is an injustice. Can you imagine? All those babies. They didn't get a chance at life. You imagine? If. What has been talked about. Comes to fruition. And states like Oklahoma become a haven. For unborn children. It's encouraging. It's refreshing. It doesn't seem like we we see two too many victories in this kind of situation, does it? Justice. Bothers us, and it should. God is here telling Satan that justice will be served because he reached out. And tried to corrupt. God's most precious creation. Then God turns his attention to his creation begins with Eve, and then He moves on to Adam. As Adam and Eve receive their punishments, we must not overlook the mercies that are displayed by God because even in judgment, God is merciful to Adam and Eve. First, you may recall God's words back in chapter number two. In verse 17, God told Adam that the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Thou shalt not eat of it for the day that the sweetest thereof Thou shalt surely die. I remember when I'd get in trouble. And. We got spankings and my dad would say, All right, Gary. You need to go to your room. You're going to get a spanking. This didn't happen that often. Micah brother that was here on Sunday all the time. Me Not so much. Unless Mica got me in trouble. You know, if you discipline your children, that at first there is the temptation for them. When you say come here and they know they've done wrong, what do they want to do? Run away. They want to run away. So I see a little bit of that in Adam here. He knows he's done wrong. He senses God's presence. And so he hides himself. There is a good possibility that Adam assumed. God was there to kill him. As in verse number 17, God had told him in the day that the sweetest thereof Thou shalt surely die. There is a depth to this statement, this idea of the death that occurred and began to occur when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit. I'd be happy to discuss it with anyone at a later time. It's too deep for us to get into right now. I believe the death that God spoke of in chapter two was two fold. It was both instant and gradual. Spiritually. They died instantaneously. Physically. Their sin began a process that would eventually result in their death. You see, I didn't plan on saying anything about the injustice of abortion. I did put this next statement in my in my notes. We firmly assert that we believe that all life has value. Don't we? And even as we read about the difficulties that would now characterize the human existence, we see a refreshing truth here as God speaks to Adam and He. You see, even though they didn't deserve it. God allowed Adam and Eve to continue living in the world that he created. And isn't God's created world a beautiful, beautiful creation? And it's been corrupted for thousands of years by the effects of sin. Can you imagine what it was like in the Garden of Eden? Beautiful beyond our imagination. Harmonious, said harmony, just by itself. Then I erected a harmonious. Peaceful. There was work to do for sure, but it was satisfying work. It wasn't toil. There was no exhaustion. Hey, you think back to when you were in really good shape. We have to think a far ways back. Think back to when you were in really good shape. You'd play a game of baseball or basketball or football, and your body was in its prime and you would exert energy and you would work your muscles. Maybe you're like my son Titus. By the end of it, you would think he'd be worn out. But he's not. He's just, like, more wired than he was before. Like the Energizer Bunny. I think that's a small taste of what it was like for Adam working in the garden. He's working. He's working hard, but he's not exhausted when it's over. All he's left with is the satisfaction of what he was able to accomplish. So you got allowed them to continue living, even if it would be in a fallen world. Look at what we've. Is told, God told Eve that childbirth would now be difficult. But notice. Humanity still gets to experience the joy of new life. It's going to be hard now. But you still get to hold that little baby. That's Mercy. The work would now be toilsome. Humanity would still get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. The satisfaction of a job well done. You see, it's refreshing to see that even in judgment, God is merciful and good to us. How many of you have sinned against your creator? How many of us stand in it if justice were to be served in need of judgment? You're a child of God here this morning. You are this one, whatever it is. And eight. You know that God corrects his children. Yet even in correction, there is mercy. Finally. See God's concern for the protection and provision for fallen man. God provided for Adam and Eve. Verse number 21. Then to Adam, also to his wife. Did the Lord God make. Coats of skins and clothes them. Those are their sin. God went and killed multiple other created beings. We are the pinnacle of God's creation. God made all living things. Because of what Adam and Eve had done, God had to go and take to other living, breathing creatures. And in their lives. Blood was spilled so that God could make a covering for Adam and Eve to cover their shame and the nakedness that they were now painfully aware of. It's interesting to me that it's just them to. And yet all of a sudden, the nakedness between the husband and wife has become a problem. Is to created is animals. Their blood was sacrificed to provide a covering for Adam and Eve. This is a refreshing reminder of God's provision. Not only for the. Temporal. Clothes that they received. Or for his ability, willingness and readiness to provide his own sacrifice. The God was also concerned for Adam and aims protection. Not only for their provision for their protection. Just why God, in verse number 23 sins. Adam and Eve out of the garden expels them from their home. Is that I don't understand. How is this a means of protecting them? But if you look at first there 22. The Lord God said, Behold the man who has become as one of us. Trinity. So no good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand. Take also the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore, Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden. In the garden wasn't just the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There's also the tree of Life. God did not want humans to be able to eat of the tree of life in their fallen condition. They are now corrupted by sin. They cannot be allowed to partake of the tree of life or else they would live forever. Some commentators believe that had this happened. Mann would have been locked forever, locked into his fallen state. Essentially it would have made them unredeemable. God was not willing to allow this to be a possibility. I thought for a second in my office. What if God had let them stay in the garden and had just told them? Not to eat the tree of life. You think that might have worked? I mean, now they have a sin nature, although they do tend towards evil. Guys that are you can stay. This time. I really mean it. Don't eat of that tree. I don't think that would have worked out very well. God had to evict them for their own safety. Even placed. Tara beams. And a flaming sword. Keep them from coming back. Story. A man's fall. Punishment is one of the darkest moments of history. Even in the worst of moments. There are refreshing aspects to which we can point. Is not found in man's actions. It's not found in his attempts to cover himself or hide from God. Is not found in his failure to accept responsibility. By shifting the blame. I know you all are probably freezing. It's my turn that air down a little bit. Instead every source of refreshment that we see in this story. Emanates from God. Coming to the garden. It's gone. Seeking out Adam. Was God. Promising to provide a solution to the mess that Adam had made. It was God. Exercising mercy. Even in judgment.

Speaker 1: God.

Speaker 3: Demonstrating his ongoing protection and provision for Adam and Eve after the fall. Was all God. We all agreed a moment ago that we stand in need of judgment. Correction. From time to time in our lives. Even when you and I. Act and identify with Adam and Eve through our behavior. It's refreshing to know that God doesn't change. The same merciful, loving God that we see in Genesis three. The merciful, loving God that you and I serve. You fail him? I fail him. Disappoint him. You break his law. He's always there. Seeking us. Seeking to draw us closer to himself. If you're not saved, he's there waiting to redeem you. Promising that justice would be served. This evening. I hope you find refreshment. Encouragement and maybe a fresh look at Genesis three. It's not all doom and gloom. There are some key points here that should refresh our souls. Let's break. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. Thank you for helping us through this time. All I ask you top all of us to be refreshed tonight. The message that we see here in Genesis three. Thank you for the fact that even when we fail you, you are so good to us. Thank you for the mercy and the long suffering and the love that you have shown to each of us. When we fail you, Lord, we can come back to you. You'll be there waiting for us with open arms. I pray that she'd help us now as we prepare to dismiss, go our separate ways. In Jesus name, they ask these things. Amen

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