How many of you know what this is? (hold up a paper/fold out road map). We use to navigate all of the country with these. Now we have our smart phones with GPS (Global Positioning System) GPS systems have become very cost efficient and everyone , it seems, has access to one. The satellite system that is used with GPS is made up of a total of 27 satellites, of which 24 are in use and 3 remain as back-ups in case of satellite failure. These satellites are in precise orbits 1,200 miles up, sending signals back to earth and our GPS units need to pick up signals from 3 to 4 of these satellites. They calculate the time it takes for that signal to arrive from each of them. Based on that information, the GPS can tell you where you are within 1 foot.
We know where we are here on planet earth within 1 foot, but do we know where we are with God. Where do you stand in relationship to Almighty God? For that we have to go to God, God's Positioning System.
Genesis 3:8–13 (NKJV)
With the advent of GPS over the last 25 plus years, it hasn’t taken long for people to devised many different useful applications. One specialized form of GPS works in tandem with an RFID or a "Radio Frequency Identification Tag". RFIDs can be as simple as the bar codes that are used in Grocery stores. But the military has found a way to combine the GPS and RFID to form a device that can be placed inside a shipping container. The U.S. military then use those GPS units to track supplies resources for our troops overseas in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. At any given time, the military can know exactly where that container is. And those shipments are NEVER lost. Their location is ALWAYS known. Many commercial firms track trucks and other shipment around the globe in much the same way.
The question this morning is: "Do you know your exact location? When God asked Adam, “Where are you?” it was not matter of God not knowing. God knew exactly where Adam and Eve were. Nothing is hidden from God. The question is whether Adam knew where he was. Here is the problem, Adam thought he knew, but in actuality, he had no clue.
Let’s start at the beginning of the story. We have heard this story about Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit since childhood. The serpent tricked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. Make no mistake, Adam was there and witness the whole event. Then Eve gave Adam the fruit and he ate.
1 Timothy 2:14 (NKJV) And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
Adam knew exactly what he was doing. He did nothing, allowing Eve to be deceived then he sinned willfully with his eyes wide open. And so this set the pattern for sin through the ages. Adam knew the rule and he rebelled against God.
Notice the progression of the sin: From the Serpent – To the Woman, to the Man. But when God came, He first held Adam accountable, then the woman, then the serpent, in reverse order. So just what is sin?
Sin is:
1. First of all, sin is disobedience to God. We either know what God requires and we willfully choose not to it, or we know what He wants us not to do, and we do it anyway.
2. Discontent. We are not satisfied with what God provides, and we seek to satisfy ourselves.
3. Self-Deceit. We think we know better than God. We believe being free is being without all restraints. But the Bible tells us: “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:36). But we deceive ourselves thinking god just doesn't understand and we know better and we do it our way.
4. Pride. God is not good enough, we believe we can do better than God.
5. Rebellion. Above all else, sin is rebellion. It is a hostile takeover, God out, self in. We usurping God’s role. It is essentially kicking God to the curb.
Here is the problem with sin. We get found out. Adam and Eve knew that they had sinned as soon as they ate the forbidden fruit. What did God tell Adam?
Genesis 2:17 (NKJV) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
And right then and there they died, spiritually. Death in Biblical terms is not a cessation of existence, but a lost of a connection to God. And they did later die a physical death. But right then and there when they took that bite, they were dead, they just didn’t know it.
Romans 5:12 (NKJV) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
They were also lost. They just did didn’t know it. They lost their privilege position with God. It is the same today, people are lost. They just don’t know it.
And what do dead and lost people do. They try to cover up their sin. When their eyes were opened and they knew good and evil, what did they see? They saw their nakedness and shame.
Genesis 3:7 (NKJV) 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.
This why we wear clothes today. To hide our nakedness and shame. They tried to cover their sin themselves. This is the first attempt of man trying to save himself.
Genesis 3:8 (NKJV) 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.
They hid. Obviously, the fig leaves as a covering was not going to cut it. Now they were to attempt the impossible. To hide from God.
Psalm 139:7–8 (NKJV) Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
Since the Garden, no one seeks out God. All flee from God. The mindset of man apart from God:
Romans 3:10–11 (NKJV) (Quoting from Psalms 14) 10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.
Can you begin to sense the hopelessness here. Man is lost. He has no clue where he is. Adam was not only was he not seeking God, he is attempting to flee from Him.
But it is God who take the initiative. It is God to who comes seeking.
Genesis 3:9 (NKJV) Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
The question is rhetorical. God knew where the man was. God always knew. There was not a bit of doubt. God asks the question for Adam’s sake. God comes asking, not as a judge to a convicted criminal, but as a broken hearted Father to a wayward child. "Where are you? What have you done?" God, from the beginning, has taken the initiative in the work of salvation. Man was lost. Hiding from God. But God so loved the world . . . This the why of Jesus coming into the world.
Luke 19:10 (NKJV) for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
So God draws Adam and Eve from hiding. So what does Adam say when he is confronted by God?
Genesis 3:10–11 (NKJV) So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
Adam condemns himself with his response. Shame arose because of Adam’s willful disobedience to God. Adam sinned and he feared God. That is one thing that is lacking today, a healthy fear of God. Why should we fear God?
Romans 6:23a (NKJV) For the wages of sin is death . . .
Jesus tells us not to fear the one that can only kill the body and after that, there is nothing more that can be done. He said to fear the one that can cast the soul into hell. (Luke 12:4-5) But now Adams does what men have done since the garden. Adam does not own up to his sin, rather he blames others.
Genesis 3:12 (NKJV) Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
These are the words of a Spiritually dead man. The dead man point fingers. Not only does Adam point the finger at the woman, Adam is holding God responsible for his own sin. He is sayin, “You gave her to me, It’s Your fault.” We hear this today. I sin and its all God’s fault, He made me this way. He gave me these desires and urges.
James 1:13 (NKJV) Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
Do you remember the sermon two weeks ago. The Tax Collector and the Pharisee. Only the Tax Collector’s prayer was heard. He didn’t make excuses. He knew it was him and only him. He knew had fallen short of the glory of God. It was no else’s fault but his own, and his prayer was simple and to the point, the true and unambiguous sinner’s prayer:
Luke 18:13 (NKJV) And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’
But not Adam. He was the first to claim victimhood. No confession here, no remorse, just excuses. And the Eve followed suite.
Genesis 3:13 (NKJV) And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
We say the same thing today, “The Devil, made me do it.” Excuses, excuses. Our willful disobedience puts us out of touch with God. We become lost, we lose our way and we do not know where we are. Our smart phone GPS will not help.
Can we see what sin does to us. We lose our way. We become blinded. We no compass, we have no map, we do not know where we are. We attempt a cover up. We sew together fig leaves, but fig leaves are so inadequate. We cannot save ourselves. We do not possess the ability to find God.
But it is God who finds us. It is God who comes looking. It is God that calls out to us, “Where are you?”
Then God covers the sins of Adam and Eve.
Genesis 3:21 (NKJV) Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
This is the first blood sacrifice. Some animal had to die to cover the nakedness and shame and the sin of the man and his wife.
Hebrews 9:22 (NKJV) And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
Death is the penalty for sin, and that is why blood is required. But God so loved the world . .
Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Jesus shed His own blood for us. “I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.” Where do you stand today. Do you know where you are? Is God calling and asking “Where are you?” We need to answer that call today. Today is the day of Salvation.
Hebrews 4:7 (NKJV) again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”
Scripture does not guarantee that God will always be calling. God may not hold that door open indefinitely. Do not harden your heart if He is calling you.
Where does your GPS say you are?
