Did God Really Say…?
From the time we are old enough to communicate, we have questions.
• I think every little kid goes through the, “but why?” phase.
• Questions are a very important way of learning.
• A good teacher will even ask questions to get students thinking and talking out the solution.
Today we will be starting a series that God has laid on my heart where we will be looking over the next few weeks at some famous questions asked in the Bible.
This week, I want us to look at the first two questions of the Bible. The answers to these two questions, truly pertain to most of the questions of life.
Questions can also be used as a way to deceive.
One of the very first questions of the Bible was this kind of question.
Genesis 3:1-4 (NIV)
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.
In this passage we find a trick question that Satan is still asking and using very effectively today to deceive and lure people towards life destroying sin.
“Did God really say…?”
Did God Really Say…?
Satan is a master deceiver
• Notice the sly, smooth, nonaggressive way that he moves in on someone and isolates them and tries to cast doubt about what God had clearly said.
• He simply asks Eve a question.
• Eve knew the answer, but her knowledge quite possibly was second hand since she was created after God made the command to Adam to avoid the tree of knowledge.
• Satan starts with a question that he knew she wasn’t there to hear the original answer.
• She had heard about the tree so she told the devil what she THOUGHT was the WORD OF GOD.
Satan wants us to answer what we think we know about God’s word
• He knows what is says
• He is just looking for holes in our knowledge (or our faith in that knowledge)
• His whole purpose is to kill, steal and destroy (after all we are created in His image)
• Satan desires to cast doubt about the goodness of God and his good intentions for us.
(Serpent Slide)
You see – if Satan can get us to question God’s Word – to begin to doubt what God has already said – or to ask ourselves did God really mean what He said, then he has the door wide open to make our minds his playground.
• We then entertain the wrong idea and finally put God’s word to the test.
• Then when God doesn’t instantly bring judgment, Satan convinces us that it is okay to continue in it! (You won’t surly die)
• Then that road leads to disaster!
James 1:13-15 (NIV)
When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Satan is a master at this…
After all he has a huge percentage of the world believing he doesn’t even exist…
That is why we need God’s Word in our lives. We need to peach it, to teach it, to devour it, and to do what David said in Psalm 119.
Psalm 119:11 (NIV)
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Notice David didn’t say, in his head…?
The question today is…? “What part of God’s word does Satan have you questioning?”
• Did God really say… that He is the only God … there are no other gods before Him?
• Did God really say… that Jesus was born of a virgin?
• Did Jesus really… come back to life in His resurrected body
• Did God really say… that the wages of sin is “death”, both physical and spiritual?
• Did God really say… that Jesus is the only way to find eternal life?
• Did God really say… that if a man dies in his sin that he will be eternally separated from God in a place called Hell?
• Did God really say… that a man is to bring of “his first fruits”; “Tithe” and give those back to God in Worship and honor?
When we can answer those questions in full faith, Satan’s lies become powerless. But when we can’t, this leaves room for him to work his deception.
• We can’t rely on second hand knowledge
• Truly know first-hand what God really said and meant
• That comes from relationship and knowledge
• Then you are on the road from Satan’s trickery to God’s Truth!
This brings us to the second question…
Genesis 3:8-9 (NIV)
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?"
Where Are You?
This question God asked of Adam, was not because God needed the information.
Any time you see a question by God in scripture it is always a question to get to the truth, for us not Him!
• He knows the answer
• He wants us to admit the true answer to where we are.
• Not where we have convinced ourselves and others to ease our conscience
God asked Adam “where are you?”, because Adam needed to see himself where he was:
• Hiding in the bushes instead of walking free in the Garden God created for him.
• He used to walk with God in that Garden.
• Now they are hiding in shame, and it all started with entertaining the question, “Did God really say…?”
We want to criticize their decision
• They had it made
• One rule to follow
Yet, if we are honest, we fall for the same trick with the same results
• Letting that question grow in our hearts until we give in
• Then hiding his sin instead of running to Jesus and asking forgiveness.
• Thinking up excuses for our failures
• Doing anything we can to keep from admitting we have done wrong…
I started to do a sermon next week focusing only on the shame of sin based on the next question…
Genesis 3:10-11 (NIV)
He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
“Who told you that you were naked?”
• That is what sin does – it separates us from our walk with God.
• Then the shame that comes with it, keeps us from asking forgiveness
• Even our excuses, denials and justifications, have their roots in shame mixed with pride!
The question for all of us is not “have I sinned” since “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God …”
And the question is not “are there consequences for my sin” because God has already given us that answer “The wages of sin is death …”
The question that begins the whole process of reconciliation is honestly answering “Where am I?” and “What can I do about my shame and sin?”
• You see, all of your eternity hinges on the answer to that question:
• Either you have accepted God’s provision for your sin…
• Or you are still in your sin and hiding from God.
• Still questioning what God has said.
• Still looking for some other way out
(Illustration) very sick lawyer was dying and a preacher came to visit him, and was surprised to find him reading his bible. After asking what he was doing, the preacher got the following response…
• “I’m doing two things”
• “I’m cramming for my finals”
• “And I’m looking for some loopholes.”
There are no loopholes in God’s plan, so we had better know how to identify and avoid deceit!
Three ways to Avoid Deceit.
• Stay away from temptation.
o How much better off would Adam and Eve been had they simply avoided the tree all together? (Barricade that area off)
o It all started when Eve got too close to the tree and started admiring the fruit.
o When we start admiring the forbidden, that is exactly the moment Satan is waiting for…
o “Did God really say…?”; “You will not surely die!”
• Know what God says.
o Eve was debating Satan over what God had said.
o Satan knows Scripture because he even quoted scripture to Jesus.
o Know what the Word says for yourself, not what you think or have been told it said.
o Don’t show up to the debate for your eternity unarmed!
• Don’t hide yourself or your sin from God.
o God knows where we are and wants us to see where we are.
o God even made clothes for Adam and Eve (The very first, sin sacrifice)
o After they got past all their excuses of who caused the failure.
1 John 1:8-10 (NIV)
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
Close:
Where are you,
Are you making excuses,
Are you in the Bushes hiding?
Or in the presence of God saying, “forgive me”?
Isaiah 6:5-8 (NIV)
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Here was Isaiah standing in the Throne Room of God, having an encounter with a Holy, Awesome God.
• Once in God’s presence, he clearly knew just how unworthy he was
• But his sin was atoned for and his lips cleansed
• Then God asked, “who shall I send?”
• No other human in the place!
• Isaiah gets a revelation, so he said “Send ME”
Did god really mean what He said?
He said the gates of hell will not prevail!!!
Mark 16:15 (NIV)
He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
