Scripture: Genesis 3:1-24 (cf. v. 1-7); Psalm 51
Theme: Surviving Spiritual Explosions
Title: Living East of Eden
This sermon shares with us 1. Things we should not do after we realize we have sinned against the LORD. 2. Things we should do when we realize we have sinned against the LORD.
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Messiah, Savior and LORD!
This morning I want to talk to you about what we can do after we find ourselves alongside Adam and Eve chomping on forbidden fruit.
What do we do when we find ourselves taking our hearts and minds off of God and going down the wrong path? What do we do when we wake up to the reality that we have been yielding to the temptations of Satan and find ourselves estranged from the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and enslaved in sin? What do we do when we give in to one crazy selfish desire, look away from the light and find everything around us in ruins?
It's the story of humanity - both past and present. It is the story that each and every one of us here this morning not only understands but has experienced. Our story, our collected story is one filled with brokenness. Our individual story is one filled with brokenness.
One year for Christmas, Rebekah bought me one of those ancestry kits that you send off a part of your DNA and have it analyzed. It is suppose to give you what they call "an unparalleled view into your genealogy and origins." The idea is that once you have this knowledge you will continue to look at your ancestry tree and uncover people from your past, find fascinating facts in historical records that either confirm or debunk family legends.
For my tribe according to the records the majority of Arnold's came from either England and/or Scotland. Most of them worked in the coal fields of jolly old England. However, when they came to America they put away their picks and lanterns and became land owners and farmers.
It's entertaining to look back over your history tree. At times it can be a lot of fun and at other times a little unsettling. Fun in that you find that some of your relatives lived some wonderful lives. Unsettling in that you find out that part of your family were rather strange while others had multitude problems with the law enforcement.
But nearly every family's past (at least here in the United States) has bits that are checkered. There are very few families that can boast that for generations all they have been produced have been fine upstanding citizens. Even those who do their best to promote that they are the descendants of those who came over on the Mayflower or who are the sons and daughters of American Revolutionary heroes usually have someone in their family tree that wasn't so wonderful.
Truth be told every family has its share of heroes, villains, amusing people, heartbreaking stories and of course tall tales. We like to focus in on those who either put us in the best of lights or who at least give us something to brag about even if it means in the end that our "famous" relative was either shot, hung or imprisoned for life. We would rather be a relative of a "Joan of Arc" if that is possible but if not then a "Jesse James" ancestral link will do just fine.
Our story this morning puts us in the deep thick of things. It is one of the first stories we read in the Bible. The bad news is our story shares with us how Adam and Eve lost Paradise. The good news it also tells us about God's amazing grace. It reminds us that our choices have ensuing consequences. It lets us know the story of how two people who had the best opportunity to live life to its fullest made a horrible choice that ended up in them being thrown out of the Garden of Eden.
It is a story that teaches us what not to do and then what to do when we find ourselves munching on the fruit of the forbidden tree. It is the story about what is the right thing to do when we find ourselves guilty of following the advice of Satan over the holiness of the Good God of Creation - the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It teaches us what to do when we find ourselves at odds with God because we have chosen the path of selfishness, pride and/or rebellion.
Let's see what Adam and Eve can teach us:
I. There are some things that we should not do once we realize that we have rebelled against God - when we have sinned
A. Don't try to hide
Adam and Eve did their best to hide from God. They believed that somehow they could just find a place to go and hide away from the LORD.
Now, of course, that is impossible. None of us can hide from God. The Bible tells us that it is impossible:
Hebrews 4:13-15 (NLV)
13 No one can hide from God. His eyes see everything we do. We must give an answer to God for what we have done.
Still, there are times when God comes knocking we find ourselves trying to hide from Him. Jonah the Prophet tried to do the very same thing. Jonah thought that if he just quit his job and moved away to a foreign country that God would not be able to find him. So, he booked passage on a ship opposite the direction that the LORD told him to go.
Of course, his attempt was rather silly. The God who formed us in our mother's womb is not somehow blinded because we try to hide ourselves. God found Jonah, God found Adam and Eve and God will find us as well. Hiding from the LORD is not an option.
B. Don't try to cover it up
Adam and Eve thought that they could just cover up their sin. They tried to mask it. They thought that they could just sew some fig leaves together that somehow they could cover up their sin and make it all go away.
King David had similar thoughts after he sinned against Bathsheba. He thought that if he just somehow cover up the whole sordid affair that somehow he could get by with it. He thought that no one would be the wiser and things would just along as normal.
But as the Bible shows David's plan did not go as expected. He tried a couple of different ways to cover up his sin. However, he got so tangled up that he thought that the only way out was to kill Bathsheba's husband and as an act of make-believe kindness take her as his own wife.
David thought he had the perfect plan to cover up his immorality. He thought then he could quickly marry Bathsheba and trick people into thinking that all he was doing was honoring the life of a dedicated war hero. After all, what better way to honor a soldier killed in battle than for the King to decide to receive his family as his own? Especially a war hero whose wife supposedly was carrying the dead hero's child.
Cover-ups don't work. They didn't work for David and they didn't work for Adam and Eve. In the end everyone in David's Kingdom found out about David's sin. Cover-ups just don't work with God.
C. Don't play the victim card
When Adam and Eve found themselves standing in front of God they decided they would try to play the victim card. They would display some anger and hopefully deflect God's attention by placing the blame on someone else. They put their integrity, their love for one another and their unity on the back burner.
At first Adam blames both God and Eve. He blames God for making Eve in the first place and then blames Eve on leading him down the path of sin.
Eve doesn't miss a beat in her reply to God. She attempts to deflect the blame by placing it on the serpent. She is not the one to blame. If God had not made this particular serpent then she would not have sinned in the first place. It is all the serpent's fault. It is a little amazing that the serpent doesn't try to shift the blame but then again there is no one for him to blame.
Adam and Eve thought that if they could shift the blame to someone else that it would somehow free them from their sin and burden of guilt. They thought they could deflect God's commands and punishment by playing the victim card. Blame Shifting sounded like a great idea not only back then it is in full use today.
Today, we still hear people try to shift the blame of their sin onto others. We hear people saying things like:
-It is in our genes to sin - God made us this way - We can't help being who we are - Surely God will not blame us when after all it is His fault.
-We grew up in a bad environment - we are the product of bad nurturing. It is society's fault. It's our parent's fault. If we had more money, better schools, more entertainment and less sin around us we wouldn't have made such bad choices.
-It is all the Devil's fault - plain and simple - It is the Devil's fault
While we may in fact grow up in a bad environment the reality of the matter is sin is not automatic. Sin is a choice. Choosing to sin against God is not automatic. Sin is always a choice. We all have free will. We have no one to blame except ourselves.
When it comes to the day of Judgment we will not be able to shift the blame any more than Adam and Eve were able to shift the blame that day in the Garden of Eden. The Devil can tempt us but he cannot make us sin.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)
13 "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."
+D. You cannot "Fix" Yourself
Sometimes people believe that they can accept the blame and then begin the process of fixing themselves or at least of adopting a way of fixing themselves.
-They make all kind of resolutions to do better - The believe in - The Power of Self-motivation - The Power of Self-will - The Power of the Mind
-They decide that all the need is more information and knowledge - the more they know the better they can live a holy life - Knowledge is the Key
-They decide that they will draw a line in the sand and using their own will-power they will never cross that line ever again
-They believe that if they can come up with the right plan then they will always be able to either avoid temptation or always say no to temptation
The Pharisees lived their lived on these theories. They thought if they could come up with enough rules and the right plan then they could live holy lives. It didn't work for them and it will not work for us,
Back in the 4th Century some of the Early Church's most dedicated people decided that the best way to avoid sin was to go away and live a solitary life in the desert, on a mountain top or in a cave. They believed if they could just get away from everyone and everything that they would never have to face temptation or even the possibility to sin and displease the LORD.
What they found was quite the opposite. The Devil doesn't need for us to be surrounded by evil to tempt our hearts and minds. He can bring temptation to anyone whether they live in an urban area or all alone on a mountain top. We must remember that Jesus faced some of His greatest temptations in the wilderness away from everyone and everything.
None of these ways are able to take care of the sin problem in our lives.
-We can't hide our sins -We can't cover our sins
-We can blame away our sins -We can isolate ourselves from sin
So, what are we to do? How can we deal with sin in the 21st Century?
II. We can turn to the LORD
The very best thing we can do when we realize that we have sinned is to turn to the LOD GOD ALMIGHTY. This is what Adam and Eve did after their little talk with the LORD.
There are plenty of farfetched legends about what happened to Adam and Eve after they left the Garden of Eden. Thankfully, none of them made it into the Old Testament. There are whole books dedicated to Adam and Eve and while they are not bizarre they also were not respected enough to past the test to be a part of Holy Scripture.
Some of the stories have a ring of truth in them. For example:
+One of the stories tells us that Adam and Eve mourned for months following their Fall. They could not cope with the loss of the Garden and struggled to survive mentally and emotionally.
+ There are stories that the couple refused to eat anything for over 80 days thinking that God would see their desperation and their piety and decide to re-open the gates to Paradise again. Seeing that was not going to happen they started eating again.
+There are stories of Adam becoming so depressed that one day he decided to throw himself over a cliff hoping to end it all.
+And there are stories of Eve begging God to take her so that Adam can return safe and sound back to the Garden of Eden and start all over again.
Are the stories true? Did any of those things happen? We don't know. What we do know is that God's Holy Spirit did not impress upon those who formed the Old Testament to include any of those stories.
While we don't know exactly what happened each and every day of their lives following the Fall the Bible does reveal to us some very special things that happen that allow us to know what we need to do when we have messed up. Let's look at what the Bible tells us that Adam and Eve did:
A. They decided to live life
Adam and Eve decided that the best course of action was not to kill one another or to take their own life. They didn't even try to kill the serpent. They came to realize that they could no longer live in the Garden of Eden. That was no longer an option. So, together they decided that they would make the best of living in the world that the LORD had provided for them post-Fall.
This sounds small but in reality it is huge. Adam and Eve could have given up. They could have separated. They could have decided that one should go one way while the other go the opposite direction. That way they could make sure that they would be the last human beings ever to live on planet earth. That if God wanted humans on the earth then He would have to start all over again after they died. But they decided to stay together and to face an imperfect world together. They decided to believe in God's promises and start a family fulfilling God's original plans.
Centuries later when the Apostle Paul came to his senses on the Road to Damascus he too could have committed suicide or decided to go into isolation. After all, it was revealed to him that all the men, women and children that he had imprisoned and led to their death was not an act of holy righteousness but an act of evil. You can imagine the guilt and the pain Paul experienced.
Would it have surprised us if he had either done himself in or gone away to hide somewhere on the back side of a desert? Instead, he decides that he will live. He will live with the pain of what he had done. He will live with the sorrow that now filled his heart. He will go on with the LORD no matter what comes his way.
This morning, we can't give up after we have been knocked down. Even when we have been knocked down by our own sinfulness. We can't give up when we realize we sinned against the LORD or another human being. We can't go away and hide and hope all things will be better. Like King David we need to confess our sins, repent and then get back to living each and every day for the LORD.
B. They decided to accept God's Covering
Again this sounds small but it is very important. Adam and Eve's sin had exposed them. It had left them covered only with the stains of rebellion and selfishness. They were in desperate need of some type of covering.
Down through the centuries many Jewish scholars believed that originally Adam and Eve had been clothed in light and glory. They had worn clothing that emanated and reflected the Shekinah glory of the LORD. They believed that Adam and Eve were clothed in the same glory that the Israelites saw on the face of Moses after he had been on the mountain with the LORD.
But once they sinned they lost that clothing of light and glory. They lost the Shekinah glory of the LORD that emanated from them. They lost their ability to shine and be God's light in the world. They felt the need to cover themselves. Looking around the Garden they tried to cover themselves with creation - with fig leaves but fig leaves were unable to do the job.
The Bible then tells us that Adam and Eve graciously accepted the Lord's clothing. That is to say, they allowed the God to pour out His grace upon them. They knew that they were powerless to cover themselves. So, in obedience they allowed the LORD to provide for them a covering that would enable them to live in their New World.
This is no small matter. Losing Paradise is one thing. Losing God is quite another. When God provided their clothing and when they accepted that clothing it was a major sign of God's Presence. God's amazing love and grace. Sin may have caused a break, but God was reaching out to bring new life, new clothing and a new relationship.
I don't think it is by accident that when Peter, James and John saw Jesus and Moses and Elijah that they saw them clothed in garments of light. I don't think it is by accident that John writes over and over again in the Book of Revelation about garments of white.
C. They resisted the Devil
We don't know how many times the Devil tried to tempt Adam and Eve to disobey God after the fall. The Bible is silent on the subject. We do know that Adam lived for another 930 years so I think we can safely assume that both he and Eve had to face quite a number of different temptations.
But I also think we can safely assume that more than not they successfully resisted the Devil. I believe we can assume that both Adam and Eve understood far too well that the Devil is in fact - "The Father of All Lies", that the Devil is a "Murderer" and that the Devil is a "Thief" that is out to get everyone's everlasting joy, peace, love and life.
Now, I don't think Adam nor Eve lived a perfect life after the Fall. But I do believe reading the stories about Abel and Seth that they did their best to teach their children how to pray, how to worship and how to listen and obey the LORD. I believe that they learned how to resist the Devil and tell him to flee.
This morning, we many never live a perfect life but that does not mean that we have to live a defeated life. We were not created to live a defeated life. Even after the Fall the LORD made it possible for us to live a victorious life. Enoch is a perfect example of a fallen human being living a victorious spiritual life. Enoch was born 622 years after Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden of Eden and yet the Bible tells us that he lived such a holy life that the LORD invited him to come to Heaven to live with Him by passing death.
Another example of course is the man called Job. Most Bible scholars tell us that it is highly likely that Job lived sometime between time of Abraham and the time of Moses. And if you have read the book of Job then you know how a victorious life Job lived. Not perfect by any means but one that was high up on the holiness scale.
This morning, we may make mistakes but we don't have to be enslaved to the wishes and demands of the Devil. We don't have to live defeated. The Bible tells us that we can surrender ourselves to the LORD, resist the Devil and he will leave us alone. (James 4:7).
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Finally,
+Adam and Eve built an Altar Life - a life full built on Hope and Wholeness
One of the things that we quickly see in the life of Adam and Eve is that they knew what it meant to build an ALTAR LIFE with the LORD. We see that in the way that both Cain and Abel knew what it meant to bring an offering before the LORD.
Who taught them to do this? Adam and Eve of course.
Even though they no longer lived in the Garden, they realized that they could still communicate with God. Maybe it would not be in the fullness and richness that they had experienced in the Garden but that didn't matter. Adam and Eve knew that they could still have fellowship with God. They could still have a place where they could meet with God.
Instead of it being in the cool of the evening in the Garden it would be at an altar. For that is what the concept of the word "altar" means - a place where human beings and God meet. Not merely for confession and repentance. Not merely for guidance and direction. Not merely for anointing and blessing. But for a time of fellowship, worship, gratitude and communication.
The concept of an altar reveals not only grace but hope. Adam and Eve understood that the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY had not abandoned them. Their sin had taken away Paradise but it had not taken away God. God's love and mercy was greater than their sin. All of this gave them Hope - Hope of a better day. Hope for the future. Hope for salvation and reconciliation.
God's Clothing, God's continued presence and guidance allowed them to know that there was hope. We see that in Genesis 3;15 - 16 and in the birth of their son Seth.
One might have thought that when Cain killed Abel that mankind's existence would be wiped out forever. After all, if the first man born becomes a killer then what will happen to the rest of humanity?
But while Cain has to receive the consequences of his sin there is still hope. God does not kill Cain nor does He leave Adam and Eve without the hope of more children. Children who will follow the will of the LORD. The Bible tells us that God graciously allows Adam and Eve to have another son who they call Seth. Seth's name means both "anointed" and "foundation". It will be through Seth that the Messiah will come who will take away both the penalty of sin and the power of sin.
This morning Adam and Eve have a lot to teach us as their children. Many people today believe that there is no hope for mankind. Many believe that they have made too many mistakes. That they can never hope for a break, for any more of God's mercy and love. Many believe that what Adam and Eve did condemned mankind forever.
But that is not true. God was not finished with Adam and Eve nor even with Cain. God is not finished with us. God made a way for every human being to be reconciled back to Him through His Son Jesus Christ - God in Flesh. God made a way for all of us to be reborn - spiritually reborn - reborn in such a way that through the infilling presence of God's Holy Spirit we can once again be one of God's "lights" in our world. Reborn in such a way that Paul tells us that we can take off the clothing of evil and put on the Clothing of the Holy Spirit - joy, peace, kindness, patience etc...
This morning, no matter what we have done - we live not only in the Age of the Holy Spirit we live in the age of Grace, Mercy and Love. We live in the Age of Possibilities, Miracles, Blessing and Favor.
We may not be able to live in Eden at the moment but Jesus tells us that in Him we can have an Abundant Life - a Life of Victory. This is not Pie in the Sky foolishness but real life. We today can live a life like Job, Enoch, Daniel, Mary and Joseph.
As we close this morning - let us always remember when we realize that we have displeased the LORD, when we have rebelled against the LORD or when we have sinned against the LORD we cannot:
+Hide from God +Cover Up our Sin
+Play the Blame Game +Isolate ourselves from Temptation
We can:
+ Get up - Turn to the LORD - confess and repent
+Allow the LORD to cover us with His Grace and Mercy
+Decide that we are going to live an Altar Life - One that we enjoy fellowship with God, we pray to God, we worship God, we allow God to have our hearts, minds and souls.
It worked for our first parents - Adam and Eve and it will work for us today!
Let us close this morning by singing -
More contemporary - Create in me a clean heart oh God by Maranatha Singers
More Traditional - Victory in Jesus
