Wwjd

“WWJD? His Job!

Scripture: Genesis 1:26; 2:8,15-17; 3:1,6; Luke 4:18-19; 9:1-2, 6

James 5:14-15

Introduction

When I was a child, we had chores. The main chores were cleaning our rooms and taking turns washing the dishes. It was not uncommon for one of us to try and get someone else to do what we were supposed to be doing and hearing the phrase “It’s not my turn you’re supposed to do it.” As an adult, I have had similar experiences when former co-workers would ask me to do things they were supposed to be doing “in the spirit of teamwork.” At some point in time, each of us must come to the conclusion that if we have been given the responsibility for doing something it is up to us to get it done. And getting it done means doing it right the first time so as not to have to be asked to repeat it. Sometimes when you do something wrong the first time you do not get a second chance so we should be in the habit of doing it right every time. This morning I want to encourage you to understand and accept the fact that the things you are supposed to be doing, god is not going to come down and do it for you. He has said it is our jobs so if we do not do our jobs, then God will not do it for us.

I. In The beginning

I want to walk you through a few verses in Genesis to establish the foundation for what I want to share with you this morning. Please turn to the following verses (your bibles may read a little different from mine depending on your translation.)

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Gen. 1:26

In this verse we see that after God completed creating, He decided to make man. In man’s creation, he was created in the likeness of the God head. Man was created in God’s image and he had intellect. In this image there was no sin for Adam (and Eve) had a perfect relationship with God. Now jump down to the 2nd chapter.

“Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there He put the man He had formed….The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:8, 15-17

After God created Adam, He planted a garden and placed Adam in the garden. Now God had already given Adam the rule over the earth, but the garden was special, it was to be his home. God placed Adam in the garden to work it and “take care” of it. In other words Adam was to “guard” the garden that he was in charge of. The one stipulation that God gave Adam was not to eat of the tree of knowledge or good and evil. He stated that if they did, they would surely die. Move down to chapter three.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the lord god had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’….When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it and he ate it.” (Genesis 3:1, 6)

Adam, and now Eve, is in the Garden of Eden. Remember God had told Adam to work it and to guard it. It was Adam’s job to take care of the garden and not allow anything in it that would harm it or them. When Eve began her conversation with Satan, it is possible that she shared these conversations with Adam. The scripture said he was here with her. Had Eve remembered what God had told them and the authority she had, she would have rebuked the snake immediately and banished it from the garden – she had the authority. When Adam found out that the serpent was trying to talk Eve into doing something that god had commanded them not to do, he should have taken control of the situation and cast the snake out of the garden. He had the authority. This did not happen and the result is that they both ate and sinned against God. God gave them responsibility over the Garden of Eden to take care of it. They had the responsibility and the authority. They could have gotten the snake out long before the temptation got to where it did. They were in a perfect relationship with God and made in His image. They had intellect and they did not need anything more. Yet Satan deceived them into thinking they would be more like God if they ate of the tree. Instead, they became more unlike God because of sin. God did not come down from Eden and stop the snake from tempting them. He did not come down from heaven and cast the snake out Himself because He had given that authority to Adam and Eve.