MAN’S WOEFUL GIFT OF REJECTION:
GENESIS 3:1-6; ROMANS 5:12-17; EXODUS 34:7
When we are flat on our backs there is no way to look but up. Roger W. Babson
ILLUSTRATION: One year, WTOP asked "What’s the worst Christmas present you’ve ever received?" Here are some of your answers.
My ex-wife gave me a Washington Redskins sweat shirt. I’m a KC Chiefs fan: always have been. Looking the shirt over, I notice a name written on the collar. When I asked her about it she told me it belonged to a friend’s uncle who had recently died, and she thought it was to nice to throw away. Even today I wear it and it is become to be known as my Dead Man sweat shirt.
The first year I was married, my mother-in-law gave me a bathroom scale for Christmas!
My boyfriend’s mother once gave me 10 cans of hairspray -- Aquanet.
When I was 10 years old, my parents gave me and my 6 brothers and sisters matching plastic laundry hampers for Christmas. 4 Blue (for the boys) and 3 pink (for the girls). Worst of all: there were no toys inside. I was devastated!
For our first Christmas, my husband asked me what I wanted. I told him I NEEDED a vacuum cleaner. He gave me a vacuum cleaner. For our first anniversary a week later (on New Year’s Day), he gave me the attachments.
A gorilla toy that did the "Macarena" when you clap your hands!
A small picture frame surrounded by plastic deer antlers.
A share of a goat (my mother donated money to, Heifer International, and gave me a card that indicated that I had a share of a goat.)
Now, I am sure that we have all gotten gifts that we did not expect. And that happens all the time, but as we look at the Scripture this morning, what we see is something quite different. You see, in what happened in the garden of Eden, man giving to God something far worse then a bad gift. It was a gift of rejection. Rejecting God.
The world is full of people who have rejected God. Some have done it outwardly, others in ignorance. The Scripture not only tells us about this gift of rejection, but also how to rectify what has been done.
This morning, we are going to look not only at the rejection, but the result, and the consequences of rejection, finally then seeing what God’s Word has to say about turning it all around!
I THE BEGINNING OF MAN’S REJECTION
A Listening To The Wrong Advice
1 In the Bible there are three words associated with sin
a Hata – miss the mark, falling short of a standard
b Pesa – rebellion or transgression, a revolt against a standard
c Awon – iniquity or guilt, twisting a standard or deviating from it
2 Satan’s plan was to get Man to succumb to the same sin he did
Isaiah 14:13-14 You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. 14I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."
3 Satan enacted an elaborate strategy to accomplish his desire
B Doubting The Right Person (here is how he did it!)
1 Satan got Eve alone – isolation
a No longer had the strength of her husband
b No longer had the wisdom of his experience with God
You and I need to understand that the best time to be tempted is when we are alone with our temptation. We cannot put ourselves in a place where we are exposed to what tempts us. In the Old Testament we see this clearly portrayed in the life of Joseph. His temptation was the wife of his master. Daniel was a slave in charge of his masters affairs, and his masters wife sought Joseph. To his credit, Joseph realized the temptation and at first kept himself away from the situation, or ran from it when it came upon him.
Satan had Eve in close proximity to what was tempting her
2 Satan got Eve through innocence
a The questions seemed innocent
b The questions raised doubt
c The questions brought uncertainty
d The questions brought a feeling of unreasonableness
Temptations seem innocent. We live in a world of fluctuating values. The Bible gives us concrete values, values that do not change over time. In fact, it is biblical teaching an belief that always seems to be at the root of controversy, when it comes to values.
ü The Bible declares a right and a wrong
ü The Bible declares a good and a bad
ü The Bible can do this because it comes from the mind of God. A god who knows right and wrong, can declare right and wrong!
We need to exercise discretion, that when something dos not square with the principles of the Word of God, that we are moving into VERY dangerous territory
C Believing The Infomercial
1 Eve believed that something that looked so good could not possibly be bad for you
2 Eve accepted what Satan said – You will be like God, You will know good and evil.
a After all, how could being more like God be bad?
b Forgot that in order to do this she had to first disobey God! How could that be good?
II THE RESULT OF MAN’S REJECTION
Romans 5:12-14 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- 13for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
A Realization Of Sin
1 Adams act of disobedience made sin a reality in the world
a Every person descended from Adam
b Every person receives the nature of Adam
2 Like a plague, everyone was affected
3 The actions of people declared the presence of sin in their lives
B Realization Of Death
The Teacher’s Commentary says this, “It is important to realize that much more than the end of physical life is involved in the biblical concept of death. Death in Scripture involves not only a return of the body to dust, but also a terrible distortion of the divine order. Death involves a warping of the human personality, a twisting of relationships, and alienation from God and from God’s ways.”
C Unobtainable Immunization
Death was something that everybody got. We all sit here today having been infected by sin and death. First by the fact that we have our lineage back to Adam, and second that we individually sin.
There is no vaccine available to eradicate sin from our lives. The only cure is perfection.
Peter 1:15-16 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
III THE CONSEQUENCES OF MAN’S REJECTION
Exodus 34:7 …. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."
A Rejection Brings Punishment
1 God’s justice demands that God punish those who are guilty
2 The guilty are those who are unable to be holy and perfect
3 Guess what – your guilty
B Rejection Flows Downhill
1 Man’s passes sin onto his children
2 Man passes his attitude on to his children
C Rejection Infects Our Children
1 God is zealous concerning our devotion for Him
Exodus 20:4-6 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
2 God’s uniqueness requires unique devotion
3 Absence of devotion in one generation has its effects on future generations
a Someone has once said that what we do as an exception, our children will do in earnest.
b So, when we treat God casually, our children will treat Him with reluctance, and their children will treat Him with disdain
IV THE CURE FOR MAN’S REJECTION
Romans 5:15-17 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
A The Cure Must Deal With Man’s Sin Of Rejection
1 God provided a means of dealing with our rejection of God
2 God’s provision was the gift of Jesus
3 A gift set in place at Christmas.
B The Cure Must Satisfy God’s Desire For Justice
1 Only holiness and perfection would satisfy God’s demands
2 The life of Christ was a righteous life
a One without sin
b One that satisfied God’s justice
C The Cure Must Restore Man’s Position In God’s Family
1 Would you look with me at Romans 5:6:11?
Romans 5:6-11 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
ü God came at just the right time
ü God came with just the right remedy
ü God acted apart from our ability and desire
ü The death of Christ is the most important event in human history
o It provides the means of correcting our rejection of God
o It satisfies the justice of God
o It restores us to the family of God
o It removes death and gives eternal life
And all this is yours today for the amazing sum of $0.00
All you have to do is ask……..
Now, for some of you here today, you may have made a decision for Christ. You may have gone through all the motions, learned all the stuff. I want to ask you did you mean it?
Now you have two possible answers…….
1 Nope I did not mean it. If that is your answer God still waits to deal with your rejection. Jesus still died for you – and He did it while you were in the state you are now.
2 Yes, I did mean it then, but I am not living it now. Here is what God says to you …….
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
You see, if you said it, meant, it, but are not living it – you cannot change the way you started, but today, you can change the way you will finish.
Lets prayer!
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