Paradise Lost

God’s idea of paradise

Gen. 1:28-30 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." 29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

What did that look like?

Jesus authority over nature - calmed the wind and waves

Jesus authority over sickness and death - healed broken bodies

Jesus authority over evil - crucified sin in his own body

The Essence of sin

Not that we do terrible things but that we replace God - with lessor things

Revelation on our trip out West - sin of idols or making myself God (breaking the first two commands)

Trust in God or ourselves - we fall for it all the time

Telemarketer calls, magazine ads entice, commercials convince - God is not enough

You are incomplete you need more we fill the God shaped hole with something other than God.

Missing the mark - bullseye

Detours in life - Wait a minute thorn bush

Failure to be responsible - The blame game

Adam was walking past the garden of Eden with his two sons, Cain and Abel. A tall fence blocked their view. Adam said, "Come here boys, I want to show you something." He lifted each of them up. And they said, "Wow, Dad, it’s beautiful, its like a perfect paradise. Dad, what is it?" And Adam said, "Boys, that’s where we could be livin’ if your mom hadn’t eaten us out of house and home."

Consequences of sin

Hand over the keys Out of the pool - Bill Cosby

Shame Gen. 3:7-10 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" 10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

Lost authority no longer allowed to rule

Living under Curse now not with authority - why - how would man rule if he can’t obey?

Anatomy of Temptation

Satan’s temptation - what is your pleasure - what is your apple - bring another apple

Lure snare trap

Gen. 3:1 Really? - question God’s word - twist it at the same time LIES

Joe Wright before the Kansas Senate:

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your word says, ’Woe on those who call evil good’, but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that: We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism. We have worshiped other gods and called it multi-culturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternate lifestyle. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn children and called it a choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment."

3:3 or even touch it (who said that?) Because eve didn’t know God’s word first hand (Adam was supposed to teach it) she was ready to fall

3:6 woman was convinced (over time?) Kept looking at that tree (sin in the mind and heart long before the hands. Wall socket story revisited

The fruit looked so good (sin does that) until it’s over - notice Adam was with her

3:7 shame always causes us to hide and conceal

Was the tree bad? No - all of God’s creation was good

My sins are not as bad as yours so I don’t need to repent or to be as careful as you do - LIE