Living East Of Eden

Scripture: Genesis 3:1-24 (cf. v. 1-7); Psalm 51

Theme: Surviving Spiritual Explosions

Title: Living East of Eden

This sermon shares with us 1. Things we should not do after we realize we have sinned against the LORD. 2. Things we should do when we realize we have sinned against the LORD.

INTRO:

Grace and peace from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Messiah, Savior and LORD!

This morning I want to talk to you about what we can do after we find ourselves alongside Adam and Eve chomping on forbidden fruit.

What do we do when we find ourselves taking our hearts and minds off of God and going down the wrong path? What do we do when we wake up to the reality that we have been yielding to the temptations of Satan and find ourselves estranged from the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and enslaved in sin? What do we do when we give in to one crazy selfish desire, look away from the light and find everything around us in ruins?

It's the story of humanity - both past and present. It is the story that each and every one of us here this morning not only understands but has experienced. Our story, our collected story is one filled with brokenness. Our individual story is one filled with brokenness.

One year for Christmas, Rebekah bought me one of those ancestry kits that you send off a part of your DNA and have it analyzed. It is suppose to give you what they call "an unparalleled view into your genealogy and origins." The idea is that once you have this knowledge you will continue to look at your ancestry tree and uncover people from your past, find fascinating facts in historical records that either confirm or debunk family legends.

For my tribe according to the records the majority of Arnold's came from either England and/or Scotland. Most of them worked in the coal fields of jolly old England. However, when they came to America they put away their picks and lanterns and became land owners and farmers.

It's entertaining to look back over your history tree. At times it can be a lot of fun and at other times a little unsettling. Fun in that you find that some of your relatives lived some wonderful lives. Unsettling in that you find out that part of your family were rather strange while others had multitude problems with the law enforcement.

But nearly every family's past (at least here in the United States) has bits that are checkered. There are very few families that can boast that for generations all they have been produced have been fine upstanding citizens. Even those who do their best to promote that they are the descendants of those who came over on the Mayflower or who are the sons and daughters of American Revolutionary heroes usually have someone in their family tree that wasn't so wonderful.

Truth be told every family has its share of heroes, villains, amusing people, heartbreaking stories and of course tall tales. We like to focus in on those who either put us in the best of lights or who at least give us something to brag about even if it means in the end that our "famous" relative was either shot, hung or imprisoned for life. We would rather be a relative of a "Joan of Arc" if that is possible but if not then a "Jesse James" ancestral link will do just fine.

Our story this morning puts us in the deep thick of things. It is one of the first stories we read in the Bible. The bad news is our story shares with us how Adam and Eve lost Paradise. The good news it also tells us about God's amazing grace. It reminds us that our choices have ensuing consequences. It lets us know the story of how two people who had the best opportunity to live life to its fullest made a horrible choice that ended up in them being thrown out of the Garden of Eden.

It is a story that teaches us what not to do and then what to do when we find ourselves munching on the fruit of the forbidden tree. It is the story about what is the right thing to do when we find ourselves guilty of following the advice of Satan over the holiness of the Good God of Creation - the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It teaches us what to do when we find ourselves at odds with God because we have chosen the path of selfishness, pride and/or rebellion.

Let's see what Adam and Eve can teach us:

I. There are some things that we should not do once we realize that we have rebelled against God - when we have sinned