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#4 – Evil & Sin
BASIC MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE DIAGRAM: Catching you up to where we are today… Basic “salvation” diagram
In the beginning, God existed, holy and loving…
He made man in his own image…
To have a holy, loving relationship with him…
But the first man blew it and sinned…
Separating us from God…
And passed his sin on to every person since…
So we naturally sin and separate ourselves from God…
INTRO: Why study about sin? Why not study something encouraging?
What if I came running up to you and said, “I bring great news! The evil Shelob has been defeated, and you need not fear her any longer! You are free to continue to Mt. Doom, but beware of the evil Sauron.” (Paraphrased from “The Emerging Church” by Dan Kimball.)
Would you feel particularly excited about that news?
How would you feel?
Would you feel grateful? Relieved? Or just confused?
You would probably be just confused, unless your name was Frodo Baggins. If you knew the story line of Lord of the Rings, these names and terms would make sense to you. If you knew how scary the giant spider Shelob was, how she would eat you, if you knew how important the mission to Mt. Doom was, and if you knew how scary and powerful the great Eye of Sauron was… you would be excited, grateful, and relieved.
If you didn’t, you would NOT be excited, grateful, relieved… you’d just think I was nuts.
It’s the same when we talk up front about the blood of Jesus “SAVING” us from sin. “Great news! Satan has been defeated, by Jesus death on the cross! You can be forgiven of all your sin, and go to heaven if you follow Jesus!”
WHAT?!
If you don’t know what SIN is, where it came from, or what it can do to you – if you don’t know how awful it is, you can’t understand what it means to be saved!
If we don’t study sin, we can’t understand:
Why the Cross was necessary, or what happened there.
Why Jesus teaching was so radical.
Why we all have a sense of right and wrong.
Why we should be so grateful for what Jesus did for us.
The story is told of Calvin Coolidge:
“What did he say about it?”
“He was against it.”
THE STORY OF THE START OF SIN
Let’s look all the way back at the beginning, and see what happened to God’s perfect plan… what happened to this beautiful love story of a God who made plans to create men and women who would live forever, with no problems, no pain, loving and enjoying Him?
Ge 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
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."
Now, that’s pretty clear… I don’t think ONE restriction is too much, do you? Any tree except this one. Don’t eat from it. “You will die…” God didn’t mean physical death, he meant spiritual death. God made these people spiritually alive, and they would stay spiritually alive as long as they stayed connected with him.
Ge 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
This is ALWAYS the first thing that Satan does… call God’s law into question… “Come on – that’s old fashioned. No one actually believes that any more. Do you think God really meant in the 21st century?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
Satan’s next move is to contradict what God said. He says, “You can get away with it. The bad stuff won’t happen to YOU.”
5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Then Satan pulls out his next lie… “God is trying to keep you from fun. He’s trying to keep you in the dark, because you might find out what he’s keeping you from.”
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.
Satan had Eve fooled, but Adam knew what he was doing…
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Immediate consequence of sin: Shame. Almost as soon as it’s over, you know the feeling – I shouldn’t have done that.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
A second consequence of sin: Broken fellowship, separation from God. They didn’t feel like they could look God in the eye.
9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
God already knew the answer – a rhetorical question.
12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me-- she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
The natural thing we do to explain sin – blame someone else. This has been the thing people have done ever since Adam.
“It’s my genes…” My grandparents did it.
“It’s my raising…” My parents did it.
“It’s my acquaintances…” My friends did it.
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
It’s interesting to notice that this is not plural (neither is v. 9), like “where are you guys”… it’s singular. God knew already – he was calling out each of them INDIVIDUALLY to give an account. God will do this again someday, as we will all stand before him individually.
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity (hatred) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
This is amazing of God… he put the first promise of salvation just a few verses after the first sin. The Bible says he already knew what he was going to do about sin “before the foundation of the world.” He always has a plan to deal with the messes we make of our lives…
16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
Ladies, blame Adam and Eve next time you are in labor…
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
Note: Sin even damaged Creation. Wonder why there are tornadoes? Tsunamis? We live on a planet broken by sin. When we get to discussing Salvation & last things, we’ll see how God’s plan is to create a new heavens and new earth…
19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
So, physical death is also a consequence of sin…
This is the story of sin…. This is how it came to be, and every person since then has felt it’s pull, its effects. Like moths around the bug zapper, we circle, feeling the pull of temptation,
What is sin?
1. A Nature that is self-centered and rebellious.
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Psalm 51:5
“All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all.”
Isaiah 53:6
“... people are born sinners; even from birth they have lied and gone their own way.” Psalm 58:3
“For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.” Romans 8:7-8
This attitude is called the “sin nature” or “original sin.”
This is an attitude that steals from God the rightful place that is His.
How can I actively illustrate this?
The injustice of someone taking what is rightfully belongs to someone else?
How can I make them wrestle with this?
2. A deliberate violation of a known law of God.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
1 John 3:4
Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
James 4:17
Notice:
Sin is not an accident… it’s willful (that means deliberate)
Sin is not ignorance… it’s a known law.
You knew the right thing to do, and chose something else.
So a mistake is not a sin. . .
If you trip and fall, it’s not a sin. . .
If you give wrong directions, it’s not a sin…
If you fail a test, it’s not a sin. . .
If you are tempted, it’s not a sin. . .
If you are attracted to something wrong, it’s not a sin. . .
It’s ONLY a sin when you realize the right thing, and do something else.
That’s what sin IS…
Now, I want to look at the:
The THREE BIGGEST LIES THAT SATAN TELLS ABOUT SIN:
The Biggest Lie Satan tells people before they realize they are sinful:
You’re OK.
There are lots of variations on this:
“You can get away with it.”
“It’s meeting your needs.”
“You deserve this.”
“Everyone else does it.”
“It isn’t hurting anyone else.”
The truth is:
“The wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23
The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. Proverbs 5:22
SONG: Sin Will Take You Farther (by the Cathedral Quartet)
The 2 Biggest Lies that Satan tells people after they realize they’re sinful:
God could never forgive you.
Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Psalm 32:1-4
You can’t live without sin.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 1 John 3:4-9
“...wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong.” Isaiah 1:16
Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."
John 5:14
And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more." John 8:11
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” Romans 6:12
“Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning.”
1 Corinthians 15:34
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” 1 John 2:1
SO, what if I’ve become a Christian, and have been living right on the edge of sin… what if I never realized that victory was mine? What am I supposed to do?
Repent… (Attitude)
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30
Walk in the light… (Action)
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
1 John 1:7
Supplemental Illustrations…
Regarding sin, one observed:
Man calls it an accident, God calls it an abomination
Man calls it a blunder, God calls it a blindness
Man calls it a defect, God calls it a disease
Man calls it chance, God calls it a choice
Man calls it an error, God calls it enmity
Man calls it fascination, God calls it fatality
Man calls it an infirmity, God calls it iniquity
Man calls it luxury, God calls it leprosy
Man calls it liberty, God calls it lawlessness
Man calls it a trifle, God calls it a tragedy
Man calls it a mistake, God calls it madness
Man calls it a weakness, God calls it willfulness
Contributed by: Chris Hodges (on sermoncentral.com)
Why study about sin? Why not study something encouraging?
If we don’t know the _____________, we can’t know the _______________.
What is sin?
1. A ___________ that is _______-centered and _________________________.
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Psalm 51:5
“All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all.”
Isaiah 53:6
“... people are born sinners; even from birth they have lied and gone their own way.” Psalm 58:3
“For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.” Romans 8:7-8
2. A ________________ violation of a _______________ ________of God.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
1 John 3:4
Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
James 4:17
The THREE BIGGEST LIES THAT SATAN TELLS ABOUT SIN:
The Biggest Lie Satan tells people _______________ they realize they are sinful: You’re ____________. But The truth is:
“The wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23
The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. Proverbs 5:22
The 2 Biggest Lies that Satan tells people ______________ they realize they’re sinful:
1. God could _______________________.
Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Psalm 32:1-4
2. You can’t _____________________________.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 1 John 3:4-9
Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." John 5:14
And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more." John 8:11
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” Romans 6:12
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” 1 John 2:1
So, what if I’ve sinned? What should I do?
________________________… (Attitude)
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30
__________________ in the light… (Action)
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
1 John 1:7
THE STORY OF THE START OF SIN
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 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."
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"
"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."
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… and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
And [God] said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
The man said, "The woman you put here with me-- she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you… I will put enmity (hatred) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children…”
To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate… Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground… for dust you are and to dust you will return."
