Labor Pain Transmittigator

I. INTRODUCTION

A. In The Garden, Adam & Eve Lived In Simple Dependence Upon God

1. God was their supplier, protector, and . . . their definer of good & evil

2. Why wasn’t that enough – God is our definer of good & evil – why shouldn’t that be enough

a. no – people want to add to it or subtract form it

b. must be stuff about good & evil God hasn’t told us

c. we got to expand on God’s plan, his precepts

d. in so doing, we are no different from Adam & Eve

B. For Adam & Eve, They Were On A “Need To Know Basis”

1. A lot they knew, but some knowledge was off limits (tree of knowledge…)

2. Yet the hunger to know more, be more grew insatiable

3. Their eyes opened but got more than they bargained for

4. You can get what you want, but you may not want what you get

II. LOOK AT TWO (2) THINGS CHANGED W/ EYES OPENED – THEIR AWARNESS

A. New Awareness Of How Exposed They Really Were

1. Adam and Eve first lived in total intimacy and openness and transparency and vulnerability with God and with one another

2. First thing they saw with opened eyes – themselves – NAKED

3. God had shielded them – He knew they didn’t need to know how naked they were, how exposed, nude, raw, stripped down

4. He knew they would recoil, scramble, and hide – intimacy compromised

5. Beyond physical nakedness – awareness of spiritual nakedness stripped down, no buffer, unaided, vulnerable, unshielded

6. Upon their discovery of how vulnerable – tried in futility to make covering

a. fig leaves - problem

- barely cover anything

- wither, crack, shelf-life, expiration date, replaced

b. spiritually people resorting to sewing together fig leaves

c. self-made coverings for their condition (self-righteousness)

- which barely cover anything

- which wither, crack, & have to be replaced constantly

- it’s never enough – conscientious Christians frustrated with futility of self-made righteousness

7. Look what God did - God made the very first sacrifice – to fashion the very first “covering”

8. Today we live in a world where our eyes are “opened” – we see & experience so much more than God ever intended

a. we sometimes feel naked, helpless, vulnerable, afraid

b. God has made a covering for you - called the blood of Jesus

9. (1 John 4:10) In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (i.e., covering) for our sins.

B. New Awareness Of How Bad Labor Pain Really Was

1. God knew they didn’t need to know how bad the pair really was She was on a “Need To Know Basis”

a. it was an act of grace that God spared Eve of that Pain

b. some sort of spiritual anesthesia

c. she wouldn’t notice, wouldn’t mind

d. populating the world

2. Oh, but she had to know everything – aren’t you glad she made that discovery – now you can know it too!

3. She just had to know, to have her eyes opened – to knows everything

a. and boy did her eyes get opened

b. she got what she wanted, but didn’t want what she got

4. Labor pain! – Story Of A Married Couple

Went to the hospital to have their baby delivered. Upon their arrival, the doctor said he had invented a new machine LABOR PAIN TRANSMITTIGATOR that would transfer a portion of the mother’s labor pain to the father. He asked if they were willing to try it out. They were both very much in favor of it.

The doctor set the pain transfer dial to 10% for starters, explaining that even 10% was probably more pain than the father had ever experienced before. But as the labor progressed, the husband felt fine and asked the doctor to go ahead and bump it up a notch. The doctor then adjusted the machine to 20% pain transfer. The husband was still feeling fine. The doctor checked the husband’s blood pressure and was amazed at how well he was doing. At this point they decided to try for 50%. The husband continued to feel quite well. Since it was obviously helping out his wife considerably, the husband encouraged the doctor to transfer ALL the pain to him. The wife delivered a healthy baby with virtually no pain. She and her husband were ecstatic.

When they got home, the mailman was lying dead on their porch.

5. Read 2 Corinthians 5:19

God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them,

a. Good News = 2000 years ago, God did a new work