The Gifts Of God

Good evening everyone. I hope that tonight has found you well. In America, we have a constant war between what is right and what is wrong. We as Christians need to draw the line in the sand. We are not perfect but God has called us to be Holy as He is Holy. We are under constant attack and sometimes we can find ourselves questioning where God is in all of this. We feel pressed, we feel broken, we feel set aside by culture and upcoming generations, but the scriptures show us a picture of who we are and who we are to become.

2 Corinthians 4:6-9

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

We are earthen vessels carrying a heavenly message, a message of the cross and of the resurrection. For without the cross our sins could not be washed away and without the resurrection, we would have no hope of a future, beyond the here and now. Jesus came and gave us a future, a bright future. God has had a bright future for us since the beginning of time. When this Earth was started, Adam had no need to worry about shelter, he had no need to worry about clothes, he had no need to worry about anything, for the only thing that he needed to sustain his life was food.

Genesis 1:29

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

God gave Adam the needed supply for the needed time. Adam had a need for food and God supplied that food. We all know what happened after this time. Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, which he had been commanded not to do, and the results of this broken law entered into this world.

Romans 5:12-13

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Or in the NIV it is stated in 13,

To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law.

We see here that even though Adam had everything he needed, he created a situation in which he needed something more than what he had. God had supplied him with food, but now he was destined to die in sin and away from God.

Genesis 3:7

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Genesis tells us that Adam and Eve realized that they were both naked and in need of more than what they had. Now in Genesis 2 we see that they had always been naked and before eating of the fruit, they had not been ashamed. The tree has been interpreted as many things, but I believe that God is very specific when He says certain things. The tree opened the eyes of Adam and Eve, but not to life. The tree opened their eyes to the Law. They had one rule to follow to begin with, but now they had a multitude. In their shame they covered their nakedness with fig leaves, but God always has better plans for us than we have for ourselves.

Genesis 3:21

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

I have heard it said that this is the first blood sacrifice to cover sin. It was not brought about by man, but by a loving God who wanted to see the best for His creation, but the blood sacrifice of animals could never be the ultimate sacrifice given. God is a God that looks after the thoughts and intents of the heart. He looks for more than just a sacrifice of our material possessions. It is easy to ask forgiveness of someone by simply giving them a gift. It attaches no mental repentance to our actions, it is only an outward cleansing.