August 14, 2016
Morning Worship
Text: Genesis 3:1-8
Subject: The Fall of Man
Title: Sowing Seeds of Destruction; The Seed Principle Part 1
Last week we finished our short series on Servanthood with “The Cost of Servanthood”. First of all, you cannot be a true servant of God unless you are born again. And if you are born again you cannot be a true servant of God unless you are willing to submit to Him and to His Word. But, if you are willing to be a servant, then you receive grace to act in the authority of your Master and you become what Paul described the body to be in Ephesians 1:23 … His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Isn’t that where we want to be in the Lord?
The death and resurrection of Jesus opened the door for all believers to become servants of God and what came 50 days later gave us the power to be true servants.
Isn’t that why Jesus came?
John 12:24 (NIV2011)
24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
You are the result of the seed of Jesus, planted in a tomb and raised to life in power. And as Jesus sowed the church is supposed to sow and reap a great harvest!
And we’ll talk later about how to sow and how to harvest. But I want you to look at something in the Bible. In Genesis chapter 3 we see the story of the fall of man. Now God knew this would happen before the earth was even created and He still chose to create man in His own image and that included the ability to make choices.
Before we get started would you hold your bibles up with me?
I believe this is God’s word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
And I will appropriate it to my life today…
In Jesus’ name! Amen!
This spiritual truth that Jesus spoke of is a truth that is still operating in the world today.
Let’s look at Genesis 3.
Genesis 3:1-8 (NKJV)
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' "
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
7 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.
8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
When God created man (and woman) in His image was there anything lacking in their lives? They had everything they needed.
Genesis 1:27-28 (NIV2011)
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
The word “subdue” in the NIV or “have dominion” in the KJV is the Hebrew
radah (raw-daw') v.
1. to tread down, i.e. subjugate
2. specifically, to crumble off
Being created in God’s image and likeness He has now given them total authority over all the earth and all things were to be subject to or be submissive to them.
But because they were given free will something else happened. 1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.
Did you ever wonder why, when satan rebelled, that the Lord cast him down to the earth? This is just a side note but it would appear that the earth is the focus of everything God wants to do in all of His creation. And it appears that satan had entered into the snake and was speaking through it.
The word “serpent” in the original Hebrew means, snake. The root of this word means to “whisper a magic spell”.
And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
Have you ever wondered why Eve didn’t freak out when a snake started talking to her? I have read that some theologians think that animals may have had the gift of speech before the fall of man, hence Eve was not surprised by it.
My guess is that because she walked with God in the garden and understanding His power and majesty, that when the serpent spoke she just thought God had given it the gift of speech. Remember this is all new to them.
2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' "
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. There it is. A seed planted in the mind of Eve… and there is every indication that Adam was close by listening to the conversation.
5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Can you see what is happening here? satan has twisted a truth to suit his agenda. And it sounded so good and so right. And he is still in the business of planting those kinds of seeds in the world today.
God intends for His servants to be like Him. Not like Him as the all powerful and all knowing God, but like Him in authority and power to see His will accomplished on the earth. Adam and Eve were to act as God’s representatives on the earth and the same is true today for those who are His servants.
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
7 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.
The Fall of man…
The reason the Son of God came to earth…
The seed of sin planted now in mankind and passed down through every generation.
And all you have to do is look back at the history of mankind to see how that seed grew and flourished.
Cain kills Abel…
Lamech – 4 generations removed from Cain – brags to his wives about how he has killed others.
Finally in Genesis 6:5 (NIV2011)
5 The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
Genesis 6:7 (NIV2011)
7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”
Let’s go back to the idea of the “seed principle”.
When seed is planted it grows. We don’t know how. But it grows and matures and is ready to harvest.
The sinful nature in a man naturally does everything it can to harvest the things of the world that lead to destruction. Mankind is actively involved in gathering in all the evil that has been planted in them through the fall – it’s what they do. There is nothing to stop them.
Oh but when Jesus came that all changed.
John 1:12-13 (NIV2011)
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
When one is born again a new seed is planted. You didn’t plant it but you received it from the Lord. It is by grace you are saved through faith.
I want you to look at the difference though between a harvest of sin and a harvest of righteousness.
Sin just naturally does what it does so the natural man naturally goes after sinful things. He harvests them. The world is in the condition it is in now because of that fact. For those who are unsaved there is no restraining force to keep them from reaping the harvest of the seed of sin in them.
But you, saints of God, you are different. You have the Spirit of the living God in you. You have everything that you need to be everything that God wants you to be.
But here is where the church often misses it. There is the seed of righteousness planted in us. And we go out and plant seeds of righteousness by sharing the good news, or supporting missionaries with financial seed, or seeds of faith for healing. But look at the difference. Sin harvests sin. But those who are righteous often wait for God to bring in the harvest. That’s like a farmer planting a crop and watching it grow and mature then wait for that crop to somehow miraculously show up in the barn or the bin. And it nevr happens. Someone has to gather in the harvest.
It ahs always been that way and it will always be until the Lord comes.
Genesis 8:22 (NIV2011)
22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
In the following weeks I will be sharing with you about the principle of sowing and reaping – the seed principle – and how you can be the gatherer that God intends you to be.
How to gather souls…
How to harvest your healing…
How to increase you blessings…
All these things are gifts from God, planted in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and available to every believer.
Jesus thought it was important. After He told His disciples that parable of the sower he made this remark. Mark 4:13 (NIV2011)
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
The parable of the sower…
The seed principle…
Are you ready to become a harvester?
