• Genesis 3-4 NIV (selected verses)
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked.
And so sin came into the human race. In the course of time Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Able. We see the effect of sin growing in their lives. Let’s continue to read together:
. . . 4:8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let’s go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
"I don’t know," he replied. "Am I my brother’s keeper?"
Sin continued to spread and grow within the hearts of men. In the course of time the family of Cain grew. Let’s continue to read together:
. . . 4:23 Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. 24 If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times."
Yet in the midst of fallen humanity, God had not forsaken man created in the image of God.
. . . 4:26 At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord.
INTRODUCTION:
Sin will take you further than you want to go! Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay! Sin will cost you more that you want to pay!
Let’s tell the truth: SIN CAN BE FUN! Well at least it is fun for a while. The reality is that sin always has consequences. And the consequences of sin are unpleasant.
The National Geographic reported in October 2005 that a 13-foot Burmese python had been found dead in the Florida’s Everglades National Park after eating its enemy, a 6 foot alligator. This pythons last supper proved to be lethal as it burst in two exposing the remains of the partially digested alligator. Exactly How it happened remains a mystery, but there have been several theories. What makes sense to me is that as the giant python began to wrap itself around its prey, the alligator put up a fight biting the python in its mid section. While the python won the battle and soon swallowed the dead alligator whole, the wound it received did not heal. Eventually it burst from the inside out due to the pressure caused by the digesting alligator within its stomach. At least that’s what I think might have happened.
(see: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/10/1006_051006_pythoneatsgator.html)
The reality is that this dead python is a picture of the consequences of sin within our lives. Sin is our enemy. Yet we naively think that we can master it—we can beat sin because we are stronger than it is. We enjoy the pleasures of sin. It looks as though we have won and beaten the consequences of sin. Unfortunately, sin soon destroys us from the inside out.
This morning we are going to continue our journey through Genesis—THE BEGINNINGS OF HOPE. We are going to take an honest look at the deadly consequences of sin. But we are also going to discover amidst this story of sin and death our God given hope to be set free from sin.
I. The Deadly Consequences of Sin.
1. Sin began with what seems like a seemingly innocent choice.
a) What’s the big deal? Adam and Eve were just trying to have some lunch and Eve chose something new at the grocery store. They were giving away free samples of the stuff. It smelled great and looked delicious. The only problem was that God had specifically instructed Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” that Satan had on special down at the corner market.
• Genesis 2:16-17 NIV
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
b) Nevertheless Adam and Eve took and ate what they were told not to eat. The simplicity of this wrong choice just shows how any one of us would have fallen for the same trick of the devil. How often have you been told, “Don’t touch that,” only to reach out and touch it when you thought no one was looking? We all try to get away with even little things that we have been specifically told not to do.
2. We all walk the same slippery slope that leads us into sin.
a) Have you ever wondered how temptation works? Let’s take a minute and see how Satan tempted Eve to partake of “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” Essentially all temptation can be broken down into these three parts or the three Ds of temptation.
i.) The root of temptation begins in our own DESIRES. Most folks overlook the obvious. The reason Eve started talking to a snake about “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” is because the fruit of the tree was desirable! “the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye” (Genesis 3:6 NIV). Every good fisherman knows that is you want to catch fish you need to use bait that the fish like.
ii) Temptation grows through DOUBT. Through doubt Satan causes us to question the word of God. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, ’You must not eat from any tree in the garden’" (Genesis 3:1 NIV)? Eve knew what God has said, but where God put a period, Satan puts a question mark. The more we question the Word of God the more temptation draws us further and further away from God and closer to sin and death.
iii) As doubt lingers temptation further leads us to sin through DECEPTION. The enemy not only causes us to doubt God’s word, but through his cunning deception he twists God’s Word so we begin to doubt the character of God. Satan convinces us to believe the lie that God is holding out on us and won’t keep His promises. "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen 3:4-5 NIV).
b) DESIRE, DOUBT and DECEPTION—temptation still works the same way in our lives today. And these three Ds lead to a fourth—DEATH.
• James 1:14-15 NIV
14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
c) When Adam and Eve ate of “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” they died just like God said they would. Theirs was not a physical death—that would come later. Adam and Eve died a spiritual death. How do we know Adam and Eve died?
i) Their eyes were opened and they saw that they were naked (see: Genesis 3:10-11). When they were spiritually alive they were pure and fully clothed in the righteousness of God. But with sin they died spiritually—their righteousness was taken away and they knew that they were naked.
ii) Their fellowship with God was broken. “The Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil’” (Genesis 3:22 NIV). How did man come to know the difference between good and evil? Everything that was good brought unbroken fellowship with God, but evil separated man from God. Suddenly man was left with an emptiness in his life that nothing in this world could fill. Man needed to be restored in his relationship with God.
iii) Their physical lives would eventually come to an end. “So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken” (Genesis 3:23 NIV). Sin produced death just like God said that it would—both spiritual and physical death.
3. If sin is not put to death, then sin always gains a stronghold and grows in our lives.
a) We learn how quickly sin grew and multiplied in the world by seeing what happened to Adam and Eve’s sons, Cain and Abel. Cain grew to hate his younger brother and eventually took him out in the field and murdered him.
b) I find it interesting to see how sin had hardened Cain’s heart not only towards his brother, but towards God. Two things stand out to illustrate how spiritual death separates us from God.
i) First, Cain ultimately murdered his brother because of his jealousy over God’s blessing in Abel’s life. Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it" (Genesis 4:6-7 NIV). Abel wanted to please God and therefore his worship was acceptable to God. Cain on the other hand had hardened his heart toward God. Cain chose to worship his way and not God’s. The Lord challenged Cain to do what he knew was right, but Cain refused and let sin master him by killing his brother.
ii) Second, Cain’s response to God after killing his brother is even colder and harder than that of his parents when they ate of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve did not deny that they had eaten of the forbidden fruit, but cast the blame on each other and the serpent. Cain on the other hand denies his actions saying, “I don’t know; am I my brother’s keeper” (Genesis 4:9).
c) Sin continued to grow and thrive in the hearts of men. It always happens that way because if you don’t put sin to death in you, then it will always produce a harvest of even more sin and death in our lives. We see this happen in the family of Cain. In only four generations we discover the second murder in the Bible. Cain’s great-great grandson Lamech killed another man for injuring him. We see how sin had gained an even greater foothold in his life than Cain’s as he boasts of his sin and then takes God’s place and pronounces judgment upon anyone who might seek to avenge the death of the man he had killed. (See Genesis 4:23-24).
4. The consequences of sin is death. But that’s not the end of the story!
a) In the midst of this story of sin and death we find a God given hope to be free from our sin.
b) Even as men were dead in their sins and transgressions—as sin grew and flourished in their lives, the scriptures tell us that “At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26 NIV).
II. Our God Given Hope to be Free from Sin.
We have a God given hope for freedom from sin and death. In the opening chapters of Genesis we find THE BEGINNINGS OF HOPE—a hope for freedom from sin.
1. We have a hope for freedom because God still hears our cry for help.
• Genesis 4:26 NIV
At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord.
a) God responds the call for help. God has not forsaken or abandon His creation. God will not ignore us because we have sinned. The Lord is attentive to our cry—He is listening to you.
• Psalms 130:1-4 MsgB
1 Help, God — the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master, hear my cry for help! 2 Listen hard! Open your ears! Listen to my cries for mercy. 3 If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? 4 As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that’s why you’re worshiped.
b) Perhaps you are like the psalmist and feel as thought the bottom has fallen out of your life. Satan would want you believe the lie that God doesn’t care anymore; that God won’t listen to your prayers. God’s habit is forgiveness. He is full of mercy and compassion and will hear your cry for help!
• Isaiah 30:19-20 NIV
How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
c) We have a sure hope to be set free from our sins because God listens to our cry.
2. We have a hope for freedom through the conviction and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
• Genesis 4:7 NIV
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
a) God didn’t just let Cain run into sin without a warning. The Lord came to Cain and showed him the way to escape the trap of sin that had been set for him. In the same way God’s Holy Spirit will speak into our lives to keep us free from sin.
• John 16:8 NLT
[The Spirit] will convict the world of its sin.
• Romans 8:1-2 NIV
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
b) You don’t have to try to make from day to day on your own. Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit just like He promised. The Holy Spirit is our COUNSELOR, our HEAVENLY FRIEND who will walk with us through out life’s journey. One thing the Sprit will do each and every day for us is to help us remain free from sin—to live a life of righteousness.
c) We have a God given hope to be free from our sins because God will listen to our cry, the Holy Spirit will be our guide, and:
3. We have hope for freedom through the seed of woman—the promised redeemer Jesus!
• Genesis 3:15 NIV
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
a) When Adam and Eve sinned, God pronounced His judgment upon both the man and woman for their sin. But God also judged the serpent, Satan for leading them into sin. God foretold of the ultimate victory that the seed of woman would have over the serpent. The serpent will strike at His heal, but he will crush the serpent’s head.
b) Jesus is the Seed of woman who fulfilled this prophecy. Satan dealt Jesus a deadly blow when Jesus was crucified on the cross. But Jesus destroyed the works of the devil through His resurrection from the dead. Jesus overcame death, hell and the grave.
• Colossians 2:15 NIV
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
c) Jesus so totally defeated Satan through the cross that he made a public spectacle—a laughing stock before the world. Satan was completely humiliated and undone through Jesus death and resurrection.
• 1 Peter 1:3 NIV
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
d) We have been born again into a living hope. Jesus has provided a sure hope through the cross that we can be free from the power of sin!
4. We have a hope for freedom through the word of God.
• Genesis 2:16-17 NIV
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
a) God gave Adam and Eve His Word. They were not living in the garden with no idea of what God expected of them. God’s Word was given to instruct them how to live a life of obedience.
b) Satan wants you to question God’s Word. Hold fast to the Word of God and you will overcome temptation!
• Psalms 119:11 NIV
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
• Psalms 119:105 NIV
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
c) Jesus showed us the example of how we can live our lives free from sin through the power of God’s Word! With each temptation Jesus overcame the enemy through the word of God saying, “It is written.”
CONCLUSION:
1) The consequences of sin are deadly. Satan wants to lead us into sin through the 3Ds of temptation: DESIRES, DOUBT and DECEPTION. When we give into sin it always leads to a fourth and final D—DEATH.
2) God has given us a sure and absolute hope that we can live in freedom from sin and death.
o God hears our cry for help.
o The Holy Spirit will convict us of sin and guide us in righteousness.
o Jesus, the seed of woman has triumphed over the enemy through the cross.
o God has given us His Word.
