INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Have you ever done something to someone that you really wish you had not done?
• Have you let someone down, caused them pain, hurt them in some way, or tore them down.
• Maybe what happened was a quick flash of the temper, maybe that the time you were doing it, you were ok with it because maybe you were hurt so returning evil for evil did not seem like a bad idea.
• But what happens once we realize what we have done and we are sorry for it?
• What do we want from the one we have wronged?
• Do we want them to return evil for evil or are we looking for something different?
• What about when we realize what our own sin does regarding our relationship with God?
• Our first sin separates us from God, just one, so what would we love to receive from God, what we deserve, eternal separation, or would we want what we do not deserve, His love and forgiveness
• Today Jerry and I are going to begin a new series entitled Amazing Grace.
• In this series, we will examine some of the various aspects of grace along with how the wonderful gift impacts our life and how it we should use it to impact the lives of others!
• Grace is a wonderful gift from which forgiveness, blessings, and salvation flow.
• In the Biblical sense, grace is defined as UNMERITED FAVOR.
• In other words, it is getting something special that we do not deserve and cannot earn.
• SLIDE #2
• Ephesians 2:8 (CSB) For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—
• Today we will begin our journey through amazing grace by looking at the Genesis of Grace!
• So, if you want to follow along, we will be in Genesis 3 this morning. But let us begin our journey this morning by first examining…
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. The problem.
• One of the most obvious times that we need grace is when there is a problem, when we have messed up in some way.
• Genesis 3 is one of those moments.
• In Genesis 1 and 2, we have the creation of all things.
• When God created everything, He said it was good, when He created man, he said it was not good for man to be alone because he would not know when he was wrong ? and He created woman. ?
• All was good, Adam and Eve living the dream in paradise! Probably in Venice. ?
• God gave them charge over everything, but He had one command.
• SLIDE #4
• Genesis 2:17 (CSB) but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
• God gave them everything except on thing, that one tree.
• Some question why did God put that tree in the garden in the first place.
• To understand why, you have to understand that God created us so we could love Him; however, true love requires free-will, it requires one to have the choice whether to love or not to love.
• God is a holy perfect God. God is without sin.
• Sin means to MISS THE MARK. God set the mark for Adam and Eve in simple terms, there was nothing complex about it, stay away from the TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL.
• God did not even give them 10 Commandments, but rather just one.
• This takes us to the problem. Satan enters the scene in Genesis 3.
• Satan starts working on Eve.
• He asks her what God said concerning the eating from any tree, Eve replies that God said they could eat of any tree in the garden except the one in the middle of the garden.
• She said they could not even touch it, lest they die!
• So, ignorance of God’s wishes was not the issue, Eve KNEW what was expected of her from God.
• What she will do will be done willfully.
• Satan tells her…
• SLIDE #5
• Genesis 3:4–5 (CSB) “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
• Before the New Testament was written, Satan knew something that Eve was not aware of.
• He knew she could fall prey to temptation.
• SLIDE #6
• 1 John 2:16 (CSB) For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world.
• Satan knew that Eve could be tempted but the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of one’s possessions.
• Here is how it plays out for Eve.
• SLIDE #7
• Genesis 3:6 (CSB) The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
• LOOK AT THE PROGRESSION IN EVE’S MIND.
• Think about 1 John 2:16
• First, she SAW that it was good for food!
• This was an appeal to the physical and bodily appetites, the lust of the flesh.
• Then saw it was delightful to look at. This was an appeal to the emotions and esthetic senses, the lust of the eyes.
• Then it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, the appeal to the mind and the spirit, the pride of life, wanting to be like God.
• Then Eve did what we do when we sin, she involved her husband and he ate.
• This was sin, Eve put her appetites and desires ahead of what God told her to do.
• Adam, put his love for his wife above his love for God.
• For the first time, sin entered the world. As with ANY sin we commit, there are consequences.
• SLIDE #8
II. The consequences.
• Oh my, this one decision changes the course of history as well as the path of the human race and the world.
• Once sin entered the picture it changed everything.
• First and foremost, it damaged the relationship between mankind and God.
• Genesis 3:8 tells us that God was walking in the garden, this seemed like it was common, the bond between Adam, Eve and God was tight; however, once they ate of the tree, they realized they were naked and when they heard God in the garden, they HID!
• I love what Adam says, I heard you, I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.
• God knows something is wrong.
• The next consequence was the relationship between Adam and Eve was fractured.
• Adam blames Eve in verse 12 for his failure as well as blaming God.
• SLIDE #9
• Genesis 3:12 (CSB) The man replied, “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”
• God, you made her hot, I had to do what she said! ?
• Eve blames the serpent in verse 13.
• The serpent was cursed along with the animal world.
• Because of Eve’s sin, childbirth was going to be painful.
• Her desire would be for her husband, he would rule over her. IS THAT A PROBLEM? ?
• The man was cursed, he would work be the sweat of his brow, the earth would be cursed, it would produce thorns and thistles, and there would be no roundup ready beans to combat that issue.
• AND, DEATH could come. There was no death until sin entered the picture.
• SLIDE #10
• Genesis 3:19 (CSB) You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”
• SLIDE #11
• 1 Corinthians 15:21–22 (CSB) — 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
• One sin, all these bad things, there seems to be nothing left; however, let us turn to verse 15!
• SLIDE #12
• Genesis 3:15 (CSB) I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.
• SLIDE #13
III. The Genesis of grace. The solution.
• In the midst of all this disappointment, pain, and consequences we find a ray of hope.
• Did Adam and Eve deserve hope after what they did?
• Does your child deserve hope after they hurt you or disappointed you? Does your spouse deserve hope after they sinned against you? You parents?
• This is the beauty of GRACE, it is UNMERITED FAVOR!
• Verse 15 has been come to be known as the PROTO-EVANGELIUM, or first gospel. A promise of a redeemer. Or the First Good News!
• Verse 15 reads the hostility will be between his seed (the devil) and her seed.
• The word SEED is usually used in the context of a male; however, in this passage it is used of the woman.
• The "seed of the woman" is an allusion to a future descendant of Eve who would have no human father. Biologically, a woman produces no seed, and except in this case Biblical usage always speaks only of the seed of men. This promised Seed would, therefore, have to be miraculously implanted in the womb.
• SLIDE #14
• Galatians 4:4 (CSB) When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
• In Genesis 3:15, we see that Satan would bruise the heel of the seed of woman, most likely the crucifixion; however, the seed of woman would strike him on the head!
• Paul uses a reference in Romans 16:20 about the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
CONCLUSION
• In the midst of failure, hurt, and desire, God, instead of wiping Adam and Eve out, along with all mankind, opted to show them and the human race grace.
• All God wants is for us to love Him, and He wants us to love Him so much that He gave His Only Son so that through Him, we can have eternal life.
• WE are saved by Grace through faith at Baptism. Without God’s grace, we would at the least have no hope, or we would not even exist.
• Love demands a choice, but love also demands a way of redemption for those who betray that love.
• As we continue looking at grace, we will look in more detail at why we need grace.
• We will examine how to offer up grace to others, how we receive grace, the expiration date of grace.
• We will finish by looking at the depth of grace.
• Grace is something that we all need, and once we grasp the meaning and importance of grace, it will cause us to do something that Adam did not do when he was when caught sin.
• Instead of praising God for His goodness, Adam blamed God for his troubles. When we understand grace, we will praise God that we can receive it from Him!
• Amazing Grace, are you ready to receive His grace today. The grace that forgives you, the grace that loves you, the grace that saved you, and the grace that changes you!
