Sermon Central
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In The Beginning (Part Ii) Series
Contributed by Eddie Snipes on Oct 18, 2000 (message contributor)
Summary: In this part we will examine the purpose of our creation, satan’s deception and the process of temptation. We can clearly observe that nothing has changed since the beginning. Will we learn from history or relive it?
Part II. Why did God create us?
Why does it matter whether God used evolution or creation to form man?
There are two major reasons this is a foundational issue. We are created in the image of God. Because we are the reflection of God, we have been created for the purpose of glorifying God. Unlike the beast of the field, we are stamped with the image of the Creator and given attributes of our Creator. If we are not in God’s image, then we are not accountable to God. A dog will not be judged for his choices, but we are all accountable to God. We were also created to have fellowship with God. Sin has created a breach between our Creator and us. Because God formed us by His image and created us for a purpose, He has the right to expect us to live within the glory He has created us to reflect. We are not gods, but we are the image of God. What we do reflects upon Him.
The other factor is the issue of sin. If all men did not descend from Adam, then we did not all inherit his sinful nature. Without sin, there is no need for a redeemer and Jesus did not have to die on the cross. Jesus referenced Adam and Eve as historical figures. He used God’s creation of male and female as the foundation of how God expected marriage to become a union. Without Adam and Eve, who has the right to say how marriage was to work? Jesus pointed back to God’s ordained union as the basis for marriage. Jesus pointed back to the first man and woman as the beginning of God’s plan through creation. If Jesus presented creation as the foundation of scriptural truth, how can we depart from that foundation and call it just a ‘moral story’?
The Original Sin
21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
It was Adam that introduced sin into the world. Lets look at the original sin given in Genesis 3.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, ’You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?"
2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ’You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ "
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.
5 "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"
10 So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."
11 And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?"
12 Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate."
13 And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
The original sin was not the fruit; it was what the fruit represented. All temptation works the same way. We are lured by the luster after the devil convinces us that there are no consequences to our actions. Absolutely nothing has changed since the first sin. The temptation process is the same and our reasoning is the same. Lets break down this passage and see how it is applicable today. There are three processes that we see in this passage. Satan’s deception, the process of temptation, and denying responsibility for sin.
