Today we begin a new family series called This is US.
Here’s what we know – Everyone has a family and every family has a story.
What we want to get pressed deep within our hearts through this series is that God is an integral part in your Family Story.
We’re going to take a look at several Bible Families and see, first, that none of them were perfect and, second, that we can see our own Family Story reflected in these families.
Today we Meet the Adam’s Family (da-da-da-duh, snap, snap) – sorry wrong family – this is the original version found in Genesis at the beginning of Creation – the first family – and our Family of Origin if you will. We all have this in common – our family tree begins with Adam & Eve, and as we’ll see today, we all bear the resemblance well.
Each week we’ll have a Family Key Principles that we’ll work to unpack and apply to all of us – today’s key principles are this:
Every Family has Conflict.
Every Conflict begins with Sin from Within.
In our opening Scriptures we got to see a piece of the family picture and see that what started off so perfect turned into some major family issues.
Let’s pick up the story in Genesis 2 verse 18
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:15–25)
Talk about a picture-perfect wedding! In the Garden of Eden; God fashioned the woman; He brought her to the man.
Adam praises God saying ““This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She is like me but way better!
Adam’s joy turns into a bold declaration. He says to his wife I he will leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Adam’s loyalties and priorities change instantly. The union with his wife is so profound that he declares his first obligation and loyalties are to his wife. And they become one flesh—united in every way.
This leads me to my first principle for today.
1. God has a picture—perfect plan for your marriage.
Everything about Adam and Eve’s marriage is perfect. God creates Eve out of the side of Adam which is basis for her equality. She is not made out of his head to top him, not out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved. Eve was taken out of Adam so that he might embrace with great love a part of himself. God himself, like a father of the bride, leads the woman to the man.Eve was stunning. She was fresh out of the Creator’s hands. Every aspect of her was perfect. She was perfect in body and perfect in soul. She was perfectly sinless. I imagine her on the arm of her Father God, ready to see Adam for the first time. He sings praise to God because Eve is absolutely stunning in every way! Adam vowed to make Eve his TOP priority. They are naked and unashamed—meaning everything was PERFECT just as God intended. But there is trouble in paradise.
Genesis chapter 3 verse 1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Genesis 3:1–7)
It doesn’t take very long before everything God created comes under attack. That picture-perfect couple is attacked by the devil – not a “Hey, I’m the devil and I’m here to destroy your life and marriage and family!” – No. Way more subtle and strategic. He asked the Eve, “Did God really say….? Then he challenges God’s Word – “You won’t die!” And last but not least, he causes her to question the goodness of God – “God is holding out on you!” He knows if you eat you’ll become like Him and knowing both good & evil.”
This leads me to my next principle
2. Satan is in All-Out Attack mode against you and your family.
Satan will always cast God and his perfect plan in an ugly light. According to the serpent, the threat of death was nothing more than a scare tactic to keep Adam and Eve in their place. God was repressive, and obviously jealous. What an incredible attack in light of the fact that they stand in the finest garden on the planet, not to mention the gift of each other and their rulership of the earth as well. And all of it came from God.
Such a blatant slur on God’s character! But Eve was believing it. With Eve’s sin, the narrative quickens with a rapid sequence of verbs—“she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate” Here is a shocker: Adam passively watched everything. Adam sinned willfully, eyes wide-open, without hesitation. His sin was driven with sinful self-interest. He had watched Eve take the fruit, and nothing happened to her. He sinned willfully, assuming there would be no consequences. Everything was upside-down. Eve followed the snake, Adam followed Eve, and no one followed God.
This is US
We look, we listen, we doubt, we think God is holding out on us and we “bite!”
As soon as we bite, we are hooked and we know we shouldn’t have and we feel shame….and we immediately cover up! This “Cover Up” piece is such a big part of us, isn’t it? We spend so much of our lives “covering” ourselves and hiding who we really are – we cover ourselves with “toughness” – “I’m fine” “I’m not hurt” “I’m tough – you can’t get to me.” When the reality is we’re not tough, we’re scared but hold out a shield of toughness.
We cover ourselves with “Intelligence” or “busyness” to make us look and sound really smart and important and having it all together. We cover ourselves with “self-righteousness” and “religion” so that we appear spiritual and good when we know deep inside that if people really knew what I was thinking and what I’m really like, they would probably not like us at all. This is Satan’s Strategy – Jesus called him the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy – and he is in “ALL-OUT Attack mode on you and your family! He loves it when you fall into his trap and then get stuck in the mire of covering up…
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Pet.5:8)
But listen, again, Satan is not pounding on the door of your house shouting, “Let me in so I can destroy your marriage and family!” No. He is way more subtle than that. Strategic.
One of Satan’s favorite tools is “Discouragement.”
Howard Hendricks was one of the men who started Promise Keepers said
“Discouragement is the anesthetic the devil uses right before he carves out your heart.” Howard Hendricks
You want to know another favorite deadly tool of Satan?
Anger.
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. (Ephesians 4:26–27)
We are going to see this as a common theme throughout these Bible Families – anger. Not knowing how to handle anger and being controlled by it….giving the Devil an opportunity to attack your families. This all-out attack on Adam & Eve had some heavy consequences for them and for us…..
Verse 8
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:8–13)
They’ve already covered up but now they “hide from God” – the One who made them and brought them together and has given them everything to enjoy! Hiding from the One who loves them the most! Paul Tripp writes
“It started in the Garden of Eden and we have been committed to it ever since. We all point the finger of blame and we all work to convince ourselves that the party to blame is not us. Adam pointed his finger at Eve, and Eve pointed her finger at the Serpent; neither one of them accepted the blame. Yes, it is true: there have been generations and generations of finger pointers ever since. You see, when you’ve done something wrong, its not natural to look inside yourself for the cause. Sin makes us all shockingly self-righteous. It makes us all committed self-excusers. Somehow, some way, we all buy into the delusion that our biggest problems live outside us, not inside us. We all have very active inner lawyers who rise to our defense in the face of any accusation of wrong.” Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies, April 26.
BUT, this is where GRACE comes in! Notice, when they sinned, they hid from God and covered up and then blamed each other… …But God did the exact opposite – He didn’t hide His face from them, He came to them; He uncovered their sin and He didn’t blame, He redeemed.
This leads me to my next principle
3. Our Sin from within separates but God seeks and saves.
God could’ve rightly done what they had done – hide Himself, protect His holiness, and blamed them for not following His commands… And would have been perfectly just. BUT instead of GUILT, God brings GRACE!
Oh, there are consequences to their actions – and they are painful consequences – pain in childbirth; pain in working hard… But GRACE is the crucial ingredient when it comes to a relationship with the One who made us!
Verse 15
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Ge 3:15)
Here in Gen.3:15 we have the precursor to John 3:16 – This is the first prophecy of Jesus—the One who will come and destroy the destroyer, Jesus would come and steal death away from the thief who steals life.
This leads me to my next principle
4. God provides the Once-for-All cure for every conflict.
God’s response to Adam and Eve’s sin was the promise of Jesus who will come and not just “cover” our sin but would be the pay the penalty for sin once and for all. The bible says;
For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:14–18).
This is God’s answer for us! Just as the serpent came and deceived Eve, so the seed of the woman will produce a Man, God’s Man, and He will crush Satan’s head! When did this happen? At the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ! But even more specifically, Jesus, the One who is the peace-maker between God and Man is also the peace-maker between us – He is the Prince of Peace; He breaks down every wall of hostility; He replaces anger and bitterness and resentment with love and forgiveness! He is the cure for every conflict! When you make Jesus the Lord of your life this means you make Him the Lord over every conflict!
When Adam & Eve have children – Cain and Abel – we see the effects of the sin from within passed on to the children…These two brothers get older they bring an offering to God but God rejects one of the offerings – why? But God comes, like He usually does, to Cain and tells him how to make it right….Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. (Genesis 4:6–7)
The difference was that of heart attitude. Cain came to God on Cain’s own self-prescribed terms, but Abel came to God on God’s terms. Cain’s was not an offering from faith. He presumed to define what his sacrifice would be. He was the captain of his own heart. Adam and Eve’s Family is a lot like ours. The apple does not fall too far from the tree. We have the same sinful nature within us – This is US! – and we must deal with it. Not only by turning to Jesus as our Savior and being changed from the inside out. But also by dealing with it on a daily basis as we ask God to give us the strength to “rule over it”. The Apostle Paul writes;
“Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires” (Romans 6:12)
This leads me to my final principle
5. Every Family has Conflict. Every Conflict begins with Sin from Within – Every Conflict ends when Christ comes in.
The Bible (from the garden of Eden to the ultimate garden in the Holy City at the end) is a story of grace.
Jesus was fully obedient to the Father, is the source of life, and triumphs over Satan and death (Heb. 2:14–15).
His rule will end all conflict and opposition to God’s kingdom (1 Cor. 15:25; 1 John 3:8).
Through Jesus believers have access to the presence of God, his wisdom, and eternal life. We are united to Christ, who is called the second Adam, and where death once ruled there is now life. In Christ our families can be the way God originally designed, as we walk in faith—ruling over our sin—as as God’s image is renewed more and more each day.
…choose this day whom you will serve, …as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
PRAY
