Intro: Saved
1. Imagine, that your on the top of a building and your trying to cross from one building to another one which is a 500 feet away. Lets say it is 500 thousand feet down to the pavement below.
You have, however, a one inch thick piece of rope which is capable of holding up several tons. There is a problem though, for you have only 50 feet of rope.
I say, "Don't worry! I have 500 feet of thread. We can tie my thread to your rope and then throw it to the other building and tie it down, and then you can go across."
Would you take my offer? No way! I ask, "What is the matter? Do you not trust the rope?" "Yes," you say, "I trust the rope but I do not trust the thread."
Ok then let’s change the story and make it 450 feet of rope and only 50 feet of thread. Any takers? Then suppose we make it 495 feet of rope and only 1 foot of thread. Or just 1 inch of thread?
You see, if you have just 1 inch of thread, you will be just as dead when you hit the pavement below.
The rope represents what Christ has done to save us, and the thread represents what we have done. We must trust in Christ alone. One inch of our works to the work of Christ is a death sentence.
As Charles Spurgeon put it, "If we have to put one stitch into the garment of our salvation, we shall ruin the whole thing."
2. We have seen that they were Searched, Sentenced, and now...
3. They were Saved.
Trans: Gen. 3:20-24
I. FIRST, SALVATION INVOLVES HUMAN FAITH.
And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living - v. 20
A. First, Adam's first Pronouncement.
"And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." Genesis 2:23 (NKJV)
Adam originally named his wife - woman! It means "out of" and is related to the fact that she was "taken out of" man's side.
Trans:Reminds me of the movie Big Jake, where John Wayne had a dog. The dog's name was - dog!
B. Then, we have the Proclamation of faith.
In our passage he changes her name to Eve - "the mother of all living."
Strange? God had said that they were now spiritually dead and would eventually died physically, their bodies going back to dust. It looks like she was the mother of the dead!
Why? Why call her Eve the mother of all living? The only thing that changed between 2:23 and 3:20 is 3:15!
He changed her name because he believed the Promise of the coming seed who would crush the serpents head and bring deliverance. THAT NAME CHANGE DEMONSTRATED FAITH IN GODS PROMISE.
Trans: Faith is the only human requirement - and requirement is a gift not a work. Faith is not a work, it is trusting in the work of another.
"12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12-13 (NKJV)
"28 Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." John 6:27-29 (NKJV)
"and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses." Acts 13:39 (NKJV)
"5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:" Romans 4:5-6 (NKJV)
If I stand on the ground floor of a 27 floor building and press the button for an elevator, I am confident (I have faith) that the elevator will arrive. Indeed, it does, and the door opens.
I am now presented with a vehicle that, I am confident (I have faith), will take me to the top of that building, provided I step into it. When I do, my faith in that elevator takes the form of personal trust.
I step into it, and it does the rest. My faith in the elevator does not empower the elevator, it trusts in the elevators power to take me to the floor I want to go to.
Faith is simple stepping into Christ, trusting in His power to save me.
F.A.I.T.H. = Forsaking All I Trust Him!
II. FINALLY, SALVATION IS BY DIVINE FAVOR [GRACE]. 21-24
What makes Christianity different from all the other religions of the world? Years ago that very question was discussed at a conference. Some of the participants argued that Christianity is unique in teaching that God became man. But someone objected, saying that other religions teach similar doctrines. What about the resurrection? No, it was argued, other faiths believe that the dead rise again. The discussion grew heated.
C. S. Lewis, came in late, sat down, and asked, "What’s the rumpus about?" When he learned that it was a debate about the uniqueness of Christianity, he immediately commented, ":Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace."
A. The Rejection of man's works.
"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." Genesis 3:7 (NKJV)
The fig leaves were the works of their own hand - and that work was rejected! God always rejects a works salvation.
"8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV)
George Whitefiled, "I began to fast twice a week for thirty-six hours together, prayed many times a day and received the sacrament every Lord’s Day. I fasted myself almost to death all the forty days of Lent, during which I made it a point of duty never to go less than three times a day to public worship, besides seven times a day to my private prayers. Yet I knew no more that I was to be born a new creature in Christ Jesus than if I had never been born at all."
Desperately seeking to please God by his fig leaves, he increased his self-affliction to such an extent that his weakness brought him near to death. At last, he read a book by Henry Scougal, which gave the gospel of grace.
He said, "God was pleased to remove the heavy load, to enable me to lay hold of His dear Son by a living faith, and by giving me the Spirit of adoption, to seal me even to the day of everlasting redemption."
"5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit," Titus 3:5 (NKJV)
Samuel Storms, "The first and possibly most fundamental characteristic of divine grace is that it presupposes sin and guilt. Grace has meaning only when men are seen as fallen, unworthy of salvation, and liable to eternal wrath. Grace does not contemplate sinners as merely undeserving but as ill-deserving. It is not simple that we do not deserve grace; we deserve hell."
B. The Reception of God's gift.
1. Brings Forgiveness...they were Covered.
God removed their fig leaves and covered their nakedness with an animal skin. That innocent animal had to be killed - blood was shed, a death took place to provide them with these skins.
That is a picture of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world! Jn. 1:29
"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29
The word Atonement means "to cover." Later God would instruct Israel to build the Ark of the Covenant - it was a wooden box with a gold lid called the Mercy Seat.
In that box God told them to put 3 idems:
"2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; 3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, 4 which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were (1) the golden pot that had the manna, (2)Aaron's rod that budded, (3)and the tablets of the covenant;" Hebrews 9:2-4
These were symbols of man's total rejection of God - they rejected God's Free Lunch [manna]; His Leadership [Aarons rod]; and God's Law [broken tablets].
"and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail." Hebrews 9:5
The cherub are always associated with God holiness - above this ark were two cherub, one represented God's Righteousness and the other God's just wrath. THEY WERE LOOKING DOWN AT THE MERCY SEAT WITH ITS SYMBOL MAN'S SIN AND THUS IT WAS A PLACE OF WRATH!
But the High Priest on the Day of Atonement would enter into the Holy of Holies with the blood of a lamb, that blood was put on the mercy seat - the mercy seat being covered with blood, so God saw the blood not man's sin. God was propitiated, lit. mercy seated! Satisfied with the substitutionary death.
Jesus Christ became the fulfillment of that shed blood - being both the High Priest and the sacrifice! That blood atoned or covered our sin.
"11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Hebrews 9:11-14 (NKJV)
Martin Luther wrote: "All the prophets did foresee in Spirit that Christ should become the greatest transgressor, murderer, adulterer, thief, rebel, blasphemer, etc., that ever was or could be in all the world. For he, being made a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world is not now an innocent person and without sins…but a sinner...Our most merciful Father…sent his only Son into the world and laid upon him…the sins of all men saying: Be thou Peter that denier; Paul that persecutor, blasphemer and cruel oppressor; David that adulterer; that sinner which did eat the apple in Paradise; that thief which hanged upon the cross; and briefly be thou the person which hath committed the sins of all men; see therefore that thou pay and satisfy for them. Here now comes the law and saith: I find him a sinner…therefore let him die upon the cross. And so he setteth upon him and killeth him. By this means the whole world is purged and cleansed from all sins."
It is only the shed blood of Christ that brings forgiveness!
Oswald Chambers, "We trample the blood of the Son of God if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only explanation for the forgiveness of God and for the unfathomable depth of His forgetting is the death of Jesus Christ.
Our repentance is merely the outcome of our personal realization of the atonement which He has worked out for us. It does not matter who or what we are; there is absolute reinstatement into God by the death of Jesus Christ and by no other way, not because Jesus Christ pleads, but because He died.
It is not earned, but accepted. All the pleading which deliberately refuses to recognize the Cross is of no avail; it is battering at a door other than the one that Jesus has opened. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement is a propitiation whereby God, through the death of Jesus, makes an unholy man holy."
During the Civil War, a company of irregulars known as "bushwhackers" was arrested by the Union soldiers. Because they were guerrilla fighters and not in uniform, they were sentenced to be shot.
A courageous young boy in the Union Army touched his commanding officer on the arm and pleaded, "Won't you allow me to take the place of one of the men you have just condemned? I know him well—he has a large family who needs him badly. My parents are dead and I have few friends. No one will miss me. Please let me take his punishment!" The officer hesitated, but finally gave his consent. Pulling the husband and father to one side, the young man filled his position in the death line. On the stone that marks his grave in a little southern town are these words: "Sacred to the memory of Willy Lear. He took my place."1333
In Decision, Karen R. Morerod writes:
I was in a store shopping for a sweater. The cost needed to be minimal, so I went to the clearance rack to start looking. As I flipped through the sweaters, one caught my eye. It was the right color and the right size, and best of all, the price tag was marked $8.00. Without much more thought, I made my purchase.
At home I slipped on the sweater. Its texture was like silk. I had made my purchase so quickly that I hadn't noticed how smooth and elegant the sweater was. Then I saw the original price tag: $124.00!
I gasped. I had never owned any clothing of that value. I had come home with what I thought was a "cheap buy," but the original price was quite high. I had been oblivious to its value.
Just as with my sweater, I have often treated the power of Jesus' blood like a "cheap purchase." His grace, though free to me, carried a high price tag—the life of his very own Son.
2. Brings Righteousness...they were Clothed.
Not only was their nakedness covered but they were clothed which is a picture of the imputed righteousness of Christ!
"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." Isaiah 61:10
This gift of imputed righteousness is give by simple faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
"21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;" Romans 3:21-22 (NKJV)
"For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Romans 4:3 (NKJV)
"1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." Romans 10:1-4 (NKJV)
"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)
"8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;" Philippians 3:8-9 (NKJV)
This is truth that has put a song in the heart and mouths of the saints throughout the church age:
We sing "And Can it Be"
"No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown through Christ my own."
My favorite, "The Solid Rock"
"My hope is built on nothing less,
Then Jesus blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus name.
When he shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh my I then in Him be found,
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
They hymn, "Thy Works, Not mine, O Christ."
Thy righteousness, O Christ,
Alone can cover me:
No righteousness avails
Save that which is of thee."
Hymn, "I will Glory in my Redeemer"
"I will glory in my redeemer
Who crushed the power of sin and death;
My only Savior before the holy Judge,
The Lamb who is my righteousness."
And many many others....
Imagine if you told your son to clean up his room or he would not be able to go and watch a game after school. But he leaves for school without cleaning his room.
You go into his bed room and discover it's a mess and so you clean his room. Your son comes home and realizes that he did not clean his room. He is sorry but the consequences is no game.
But you say to him, "Son, I am going to credit the clean room [which you cleaned] to your account because you are apologetic. I said this morning you must have a clean room or you cannot go to the game - well, your room is clean, so you can go to the game!"
God credits to our account a righteousness, that Jesus Christ alone produced, so we can go to heaven! Keep in mind that apology is not the clean room...you cleaned. IN THE SAME WAY OUR FAITH IS NOT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS, GOD HAS PROVIDED THAT!
Piper notes, "Paul uses the phrase "faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness (Rom.4:9). But what follows shows that Paul does not mean "righteousness consists of faith." Imputed righteousness is not "righteousness that consists in our faith," but rather "righteousness credited to us because of our faith." IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NOT RELATED TO SOMETHING IN US, OR FAITH...But related to something given to us, from outside of us by God...
Leon Morris, "The righteousness we have is not our own, it comes as God's good gift in Christ...Notice that this means more than being pardoned. The pardone criminal bears no penalty, but he bears a stigma. He is a criminal and he is known as a criminal, albeit an unpunished one.
The justified sinner not only bears no penalty; he is righteous. He is not a man with his sins still about him."
John Bunyan, who wrote Pilgrim's Progress, wrestled with uncertainty about his standing with God. Why? Because he like us realizes we our daily lives we still sin!
He speaks for all of us believers as he gives this testimony:
"One day as I was passing into the field...this sentence fell upon my soul. Thy righteousness is in heaven. And methought, withal I saw with the eyes of my sould Jesus Christ at God's right hand; there, I say, was my righteousness; so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say of me, "he lacks my righteousness" for that was just [in front of] Him.
I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse, for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, "The same yesterday, today, and forever."
Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed. I was loosed from my afflictions and irons; my temptations also fled away;...now went I home rejoicing for the grace and love of God."
If your are a believer in Christ - I hope your chains of doubt, anxiety, and lack of assurance will fall off!
C. The Restriction that made salvation possible.
22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:22-24
1. The Trinity - become like one of Us.
2. The Difficulty. How?
Steadman, "God acknowledges that man has fallen into self-centeredness. He says, "The man has now become like one of us." Man knows good and evil by relating it to himself. That is the basic problem with mankind.
We have no right to know good and evil by relating it to ourselves. It is recorded in Judges 17:6, "Everyman did what was right in his own eyes." That is the formula for anarchy. It means we judge everything by the way it appears to us. This is the way God does it, for He is the measure of all things; but it is wrong for man to judge this way.
3. The Mercy.
Driving them out of the garden - why? Because if they would have partaken of the tree of life, they would have lived for ever! And if there could be no death, there could be no coming Savior to die for our sins.
Con:
1. Salvation - not by fig leaves but by Jesus Christ alone.
2. The following drama was originally reported by Peter Michel-more in the October, 1987, Reader’s Digest:
Normally the flight from Nass-au to Miami took Walter Wyatt, Jr., only 65 minutes. But on December 5, 1986, he attempted it after thieves had looted the navigational equipment in his Beech-craft.
With only a compass and a hand-held radio, Walter flew into skies blackened by storm clouds. When his compass began to gyrate, Walter concluded he was headed in the wrong direction.
He flew his plane below the clouds, hoping to spot something, but soon he knew he was lost. He put out a mayday call, which brought a Coast Guard Falcon search plane to lead him to an emergency landing strip only six miles away.
Suddenly Wyatt’s right engine coughed its last and died. The fuel tank had run dry. Around 8 p.m., Wyatt could do little more than glide the plane into the water.
Wyatt survived the crash, but his plane disappeared quickly, leaving him bobbing on the water in a leaky life vest. With blood on his forehead, Wyatt floated on his back.
Suddenly he felt a hard bump against his body. A shark had found him. Wyatt kicked the intruder and wondered if he would survive the night. He managed to stay afloat for the next 10 hours.
In the morning, Wyatt saw no airplanes, but in the water a dorsal fin was headed for him. Twisting, he felt the hide of a shark brush against him. In a moment, two more bull sharks sliced through the water toward him. Again he kicked the sharks, and they veered away, but he was nearing exhaustion.
Then he heard the sound of a distant aircraft. When it was within a half mile, he waved his orange vest. The pilot radioed the Cape York, which was twelve minutes away: "Get moving, cutter! There’s a shark targeting this guy!"
As the Cape York pulled alongside Wyatt, a ladder was dropped and Wyatt was pulled to safety. He’d been saved. But it required nothing less than outside intervention.
Since the Fall every single human being is like that - totally hopeless of saving themselves! With Divine outside intervension through Jesus Christ salvation is absolutely impossible.
Johnny Palmer Jr
StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
