Do You Know Where You Are? Series

How many of you know what this is? (hold up a paper/fold out road map). We use to navigate all of the country with these. Now we have our smart phones with GPS (Global Positioning System) GPS systems have become very cost efficient and everyone , it seems, has access to one. The satellite system that is used with GPS is made up of a total of 27 satellites, of which 24 are in use and 3 remain as back-ups in case of satellite failure. These satellites are in precise orbits 1,200 miles up, sending signals back to earth and our GPS units need to pick up signals from 3 to 4 of these satellites. They calculate the time it takes for that signal to arrive from each of them. Based on that information, the GPS can tell you where you are within 1 foot.

We know where we are here on planet earth within 1 foot, but do we know where we are with God. Where do you stand in relationship to Almighty God? For that we have to go to God, God's Positioning System.

Genesis 3:8–13 (NKJV)

With the advent of GPS over the last 25 plus years, it hasn’t taken long for people to devised many different useful applications. One specialized form of GPS works in tandem with an RFID or a "Radio Frequency Identification Tag". RFIDs can be as simple as the bar codes that are used in Grocery stores. But the military has found a way to combine the GPS and RFID to form a device that can be placed inside a shipping container. The U.S. military then use those GPS units to track supplies resources for our troops overseas in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. At any given time, the military can know exactly where that container is. And those shipments are NEVER lost. Their location is ALWAYS known. Many commercial firms track trucks and other shipment around the globe in much the same way.

The question this morning is: "Do you know your exact location? When God asked Adam, “Where are you?” it was not matter of God not knowing. God knew exactly where Adam and Eve were. Nothing is hidden from God. The question is whether Adam knew where he was. Here is the problem, Adam thought he knew, but in actuality, he had no clue.

Let’s start at the beginning of the story. We have heard this story about Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit since childhood. The serpent tricked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. Make no mistake, Adam was there and witness the whole event. Then Eve gave Adam the fruit and he ate.

1 Timothy 2:14 (NKJV) And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.

Adam knew exactly what he was doing. He did nothing, allowing Eve to be deceived then he sinned willfully with his eyes wide open. And so this set the pattern for sin through the ages. Adam knew the rule and he rebelled against God.

Notice the progression of the sin: From the Serpent – To the Woman, to the Man. But when God came, He first held Adam accountable, then the woman, then the serpent, in reverse order. So just what is sin?

Sin is:

1. First of all, sin is disobedience to God. We either know what God requires and we willfully choose not to it, or we know what He wants us not to do, and we do it anyway.

2. Discontent. We are not satisfied with what God provides, and we seek to satisfy ourselves.

3. Self-Deceit. We think we know better than God. We believe being free is being without all restraints. But the Bible tells us: “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:36). But we deceive ourselves thinking god just doesn't understand and we know better and we do it our way.

4. Pride. God is not good enough, we believe we can do better than God.

5. Rebellion. Above all else, sin is rebellion. It is a hostile takeover, God out, self in. We usurping God’s role. It is essentially kicking God to the curb.

Here is the problem with sin. We get found out. Adam and Eve knew that they had sinned as soon as they ate the forbidden fruit. What did God tell Adam?

Genesis 2:17 (NKJV) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

And right then and there they died, spiritually. Death in Biblical terms is not a cessation of existence, but a lost of a connection to God. And they did later die a physical death. But right then and there when they took that bite, they were dead, they just didn’t know it.