Recovery Series

Bob Beasley, a pastor in Ontario, Canada, talks about the time when Rena, a three-year-old, sat with her parents during a baptismal service. It was a new experience for her, so she exclaimed, “Why he pushed that guy in the water? Why, Dad, why?" Her mom tried to explain briefly and quietly, but Rena just wouldn't be satisfied. Later that night, her parents tried to provide an answer that a child's mind could comprehend. They talked about sin and told Rena that when people decide to live for Jesus and “do good” they want everyone to know. They then explained that water symbolizes Jesus' washing people from sin; when they come out “clean,” they are going to try to be “good.” A moment later, they realized they’d have to work on their explanation a bit. Rena had immediately responded, “Why didn't Pastor Bob just spank him?” (Bob Beasley, pastor of Gregory Drive Alliance Church, West Chatham, Ontario, Canada, www.PreachingToday.com).

If only getting clean from sin was so easy, but when sin has ruined you, no amount of water or spanking can clean up the mess. Baptism is a beautiful symbol of new life in Christ, but that new life requires real transformation before baptism has any real meaning.

The question is: How does that transformation happen? How do you get clean after sin has ruined you? How do you recover from a fall? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Genesis 3, Genesis 3, where we see how God invites the first human beings to recover from their fall. Their original sin brought ruin to themselves and to the entire human family, but God offers hope for recovery, not only for them, but for all their descendants, even for you and me!

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden (ESV).

They had sinned against God and now they are scared.

Genesis 3:9-11 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (ESV)

Tell me: Do you think God asks these questions because He doesn’t know the answer? No, of course not! God knows exactly where Adam is. God knows exactly what Adam did. Why then does He ask? It’s because God wants Adam to openly confess his sin. Does Adam do it?

Genesis 3:12-13 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (ESV).

Do they openly confess their sin? No. They both play the blame game. In fact, Adam has the audacity to blame God Himself. In verse 12 he says, “The woman whom YOU gave to be with me” – she did it to me. Then Eve blames the serpent.

Now, that is NOT the way to handle it when you mess up! Yet that is what a lot of people do. They blame others for their failures, or they make excuses. Don’t do that when you fail. Instead just...

CONFESS YOUR OWN SIN.

Admit what you did wrong, and take responsibility for your own actions.

This goes beyond just an apology, which is an expression of regret: “I am sorry.” A confession is an admission of fault: “I am sorry because I did wrong. I sinned.” Susan Wise Bauer says, “Apology addresses an audience. Confession implies an inner change... that will be manifested in outward action” (Susan Wise Bauer, The Art of the Public Grovel; www.PreachingToday.com).

In his book Less is More, pastor Kai Nilsen tells the story of the day he and two friends were on their way to a youth Bible Study. They stopped at a local drug store to pick up a few items to use as a prank in the Bible Study. They gathered some cap guns, tiny fake-metal bearings to toss like grenades across the table at unsuspecting classmates (probably girls), and other (what he calls) “small weaponry of chaos.” The problem was they had no money to pay. No problem, they thought. A drug store with all this merchandise won’t miss a few insignificant knick-knacks. The store manager, who met them at the door, had other ideas, including calling the local police who chauffeured them to the police station, filed their report, and called their parents.