WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.400 I'm aware that we had probably given each sum of Genesis 3 to you recently, but he focused 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:12.120 ! especially on the Gospel message that you get in verse 15. Today we're going to look 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:16.879 ! especially the first part of this chapter and considering man's fall is what our 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:23.920 ! catechism calls the state of sin and misery. And so in many ways you're going to feel like 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:28.240 we're taking quite a bit of time this morning staring into an ugly pit. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.439 But the point of doing that will be to see that as Corrie ten Boom used to say, no pit 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:42.880 is so deep that he is not deep as still. So let's pray again to ask for your help as we 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:51.439 come to hear his word. God of grace, our heavenly Father, in whom alone dwells all the fullness 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:59.439 of light and wisdom, illumine our thoughts we pray by your Holy Spirit with true understanding 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:05.879 of your word. Give us your grace that we may receive it with reverence and sincere 00:01:05.879 --> 00:01:12.959 humility. May that lead us to place all our trust in you alone so that we would honour and 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:19.959 serve you, bring honour to your Holy Name and edify our neighbours by your good example. And 00:01:19.959 --> 00:01:33.479 we pray that we are in the name of our Father and our Lord. And we ask in the name of our 00:01:33.479 --> 00:01:36.399 Master and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:45.640 The church I'm proven to serve at in Paris, the Chapelle d'Elle. The minister I work with, 00:01:45.640 --> 00:01:50.360 Samuel, the senior minister there, every now and then will lead a membership class for those 00:01:50.360 --> 00:01:56.280 interested in finding out more about the church and potentially joining as members. And he 00:01:56.280 --> 00:02:12.520 will always get his Bible out and he will open it to Genesis 1 and he will pick up that page 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:17.439 and say that's how long the Bible spends talking about creation. And then he will turn it and 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:22.599 pick up the other page and say that's how long the Bible spends talking about the fall. And 00:02:22.599 --> 00:02:29.599 then the rest of the Bible all together, that's how much is spent on God's grace and our salvation 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:35.599 in Jesus. It's a generalisation of course, and I'll tell you passages later on that expand 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:41.599 what happens earlier. And we give fuller explanations on creation and the fall. But we can at least 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:48.599 say that as we get to know the Bible, one of the basic things we learn is that most of it 00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:55.599 deals with this amazing news about God's promise and accomplishment of salvation in Jesus. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:00.599 And if you've been in church, whether this church or another church for any length of 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:05.599 time, I hope it will be clear to you, and if that's not the case yet, I hope it will be 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:11.599 clear at least from this morning for you, that the good news in the Bible, what Christians 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:18.599 all around the world believe is that Jesus Christ is our Saviour. The Apostle Paul sums 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:24.599 it up in this way for example, in 1 Timothy 1.15, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of 00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:32.599 full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Was it possible that 00:03:32.599 --> 00:03:37.599 that's totally new for some of you here, whether it's your first time in church or whether that just 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:43.599 hadn't clicked for you before? But wherever you may have been up to until now, but let's be clear on this, 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:51.599 the simple basic part of our faith and our hope is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 00:03:51.599 --> 00:04:01.599 But there might be some people, there will pretty much always be some people in the church who worry. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:08.599 And you say, well, okay, he may have come to save sinners. I see that in the Bible. 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:16.600 But not a sinner like me. Surely not a sinner as bad as me. 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:22.600 I'm allowed to spend some time to contemplate Genesis 3 as we look at this moment of man's 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:29.600 fall and rebellion. So it may be that some of us look at Adam's sin and we tell ourselves, 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:38.600 maybe without even noticing, he ate a piece of fruit. So maybe Jesus came for sinners like Adam and Eve, 00:04:38.600 --> 00:04:44.600 people who pinched some fruit. But he can't possibly have come for a sinner as serious as me. 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:51.600 I've got real sins. You can't have come for real sinners, surely. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:56.600 Though maybe some of you, especially if this is a fairly new story for you, you would read this and say, 00:04:56.600 --> 00:05:03.600 I'm not sure I'm interested in a God who gets so angry about that kind of thing. 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:10.600 About ten years or so ago, the late R.C. Sproul, who was a theologian and teacher in the United States, 00:05:10.600 --> 00:05:14.600 he was speaking at a huge conference that the ministry he'd set up and organized. 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:20.600 And they'd often do a Q&A panel. And he got a question during this session asking, 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:29.600 Since God is so full of love, why was the punishment for sin so severe? Death. It's severe. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:35.600 And the clip of his answer got pretty widely shared online. I'm not sure you could class it as viral, 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:41.600 but by the world standards, but probably as close as you can get to violent and reformed Christian worlds. 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:48.600 But Sproul spent some time considering what his question was. How could God be angry at this little creature 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:53.600 who dared to defy his maker? And then he just shouted, 00:05:53.600 --> 00:06:01.600 What's wrong with you people? And he often started to laugh, but he was deadly serious. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:10.600 For him that question was a serious question that revealed that we don't really understand who God is or who we are. 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:21.600 And he was surely right in seeing that. But it may also be that we could be really helped by a better understanding of what Adam did here in Genesis 3. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:28.600 It seems to me that we can often think of Adam here as sort of a, sort of naive and unwise in what he did. 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:36.600 But there's actually quite a lot going on here. We are dealing here with one of the great mysteries of our faith. 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:44.600 In biblical terms, a mystery is not so much something we don't know, but something that is beyond our understanding. 00:06:44.600 --> 00:06:49.600 And yet, and we wouldn't have known it if God hadn't told us that it's truth. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:54.600 But we affirm it, and we have to affirm it because the Bible has revealed it to be true. 00:06:54.600 --> 00:07:02.600 So for example, the mystery of the Trinity is beyond us. How can someone be one God and three persons? 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:08.600 The mystery of the incarnation, the teaching that Jesus is one person and two natures, it's beyond us. 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:12.600 But we affirm these things to be true because the Bible teaches them. 00:07:12.600 --> 00:07:28.600 But here too, how can a man who was free and not even neutral, but positively righteous and holy and good, who lived in happy communion with God, how could he choose to sin against God? 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:33.600 But we just can't know. It's beyond us. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:39.600 And that's before we even get into the relationship between his free choice and God's sovereign hand. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:42.600 We are really dealing with some deep mysteries here. 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:48.600 But let's allow the text to teach us, and persuade us, and even encourage us. 00:07:48.600 --> 00:08:03.600 As it shows us that when the Bible speaks about sin and sinners, and especially when the Bible tells us that Jesus came to save sinners, the Bible knows full well what it's talking about. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:10.600 Boys and girls here, I don't know what it's been like for you, growing up in a Christian home, growing up in a church. 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:14.600 But when I was little, my parents took me to church as well. 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:25.600 And I remember probably when I was maybe even just four, going to Sunday school, and the Sunday school teacher explained to us that we were all sinners. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:31.600 And I remember thinking, they found me out. They caught me. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:35.600 Because I knew I could do bad things as a little boy. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:39.600 And I could say bad things and I could think bad things. 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:48.600 But because I knew lots of really nice grown-ups, especially in my church, and I had really nice parents, I thought, well maybe I'll just get better as I get older. 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:49.600 As I grow up. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:56.600 Maybe then I could really belong, really fit in, in this church, and just fit in with all these nice people. 00:08:56.600 --> 00:09:07.600 But boys and girls, what happens is, as we get bigger, we just find more ways of sinning, and bigger ways of sinning against God. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:16.600 But the good news is that Jesus tells us that it's not, once you're older, once you're better, I'll accept you. 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:26.600 So all of us grown-ups here, you may not realise it, maybe some of you do realise it, but all of us grown-ups here are terrible sinners as well. 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:37.600 But the good news is that Jesus knows about our sin, and has seen our sin, keeping, protecting this sanctuary. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:43.600 Of course it's possible, there was no apparent or obvious threat when the serpent came in. 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:46.600 It's just something to keep an eye on though. 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:48.600 Should we be here? 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:52.600 And then we see the snake talking, so that's unusual. 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:54.600 He's talking to the woman. 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:57.600 So now there's a competing voice in the temple. 00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:00.600 You have to wonder, where's the prophet? 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:02.600 Did they claim God's word? 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:08.600 And not only is it a competing voice, but it's a challenge to God's authority in what he says. 00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:14.600 If you look at what he says, did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:17.600 Now that question has a clear and simple answer. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:19.600 No, God said no such thing. 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:30.600 But the serpent is subtly sowing in the woman's mind the suggestion that, if he had said that, it would be pretty unfair, wouldn't it? 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:33.600 It would be a bit rubbish if he'd said that. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:43.600 And yet, even if God had said that, he had every right to do so, without in any way compromising his goodness and his love and his generosity. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:46.600 All things belong to him. 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:57.600 And yet, here's a suggestion from the beginning that God's word can be treated as just one hypothesis among others, that one option was a claim for us to consider. 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:00.600 A word that we could judge for ourselves. 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:06.600 The subtle dig at the absolute authority of our good God. 00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:13.600 So where is the king whose job it is to represent this absolute and good authority? 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:18.600 She needs Adam with her to help her to stand up to this. 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:20.600 Where is he? 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:25.600 And as we keep reading in verses 2 and 3, we might wonder what's going on in the woman's answer as well. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:31.600 We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God did say you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:35.600 Neither shall you touch it lest you die. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:40.600 But when you look back at the commandment given to Adam, there's no mention of not touching the fruit. 00:11:40.600 --> 00:11:47.600 And there's some debate over whether this is just a good biblical understanding of God's commandments. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:52.600 Certainly in Leviticus, the command not to eat certain foods also means not touching them. 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:57.600 So maybe the woman here is just a good interpreter of God's word, maybe. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:01.600 And if you're wondering why I'm just referring to her as the woman, 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:05.600 it's because we do know her name, but she hasn't got the name yet. 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:10.600 If she hasn't been given the name, that's going to come later at the end of this chapter. 00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:14.600 It could well be that everything's fine in her understanding of the law, 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:21.600 but it could well be that Adam and his wife decided between them, out of wisdom even, not to touch the fruit. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:28.600 But if that's the case, she seems to be confusing what they've decided to do and what God has commanded. 00:12:28.600 --> 00:12:30.600 Could that be happening? 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:39.600 Might it be that she's starting to bribe the serpent's suggestion that God is deep down in his heart, just a bit of a killjoy, 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:42.600 so he really piles on the law? 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:49.600 Might it even be possible that Adam has in some way dropped the ball in faith in teaching God's ball and representing him? 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:51.600 We haven't been told anything like that, we don't know. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:54.600 It's just something to keep an eye on. 00:12:54.600 --> 00:13:02.600 It could well be that everything has been ever bought, but it at least leaves us asking, where is Adam? 00:13:02.600 --> 00:13:06.600 So we can clear it up. Is everything okay here? 00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:12.600 And then verse 4, the serpent goes on the offensive and openly contradicts God's word. 00:13:12.600 --> 00:13:15.600 You will not surely die. 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:22.600 God's just jealous. He doesn't want you to be like him. So God lied to you. 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:27.600 When you eat the fruit he was saying to her, you'll know good and evil. 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:30.600 That is, you'll get to decide what's good and evil. 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:34.600 You don't have to submit to the rules of this killjoy God. 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:36.600 You can do what you want. 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:41.600 Now here she really, really needs Adam. 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:46.600 She needs a priest to purify the temple, to check out this serpent. 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:50.600 She needs a prophet to declare God's word faithfully to her, to correct the error. 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:54.600 She needs a king to reaffirm God's good authority and reign. 00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:57.600 Execute judgement on this rebellious creature. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:00.600 Where is Adam? 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:07.600 This woman is being duked, she's being tricked by a crafty snake. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:15.600 And as she's looking at this tree, she's noticing how delightful these fruits look. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.600 They look really good. 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:20.600 And she wants this knowledge. 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:24.600 She'd quite like to decide for herself what's good and evil. 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:27.600 It all sounds so appealing. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:29.600 Where is Adam? 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:34.600 We need him to help because now she's starting to reach out her hands. 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:37.600 She's about to touch her own fruits. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.600 She's about to take it. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:43.600 And that hand is too late, she's eating it now. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:45.600 She's already done it. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:51.600 Surely now more than ever, she needs Adam. 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:58.600 Because could it be, could it just maybe be the case that she might still have a little bit of help? 00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:08.600 Could it be that if her husband, her priest stood before God and said to him, 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:10.600 My wife was deceived by the snake. 00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:12.600 She has done what you've commanded us not to do. 00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:14.600 She's eaten the fruit. 00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:24.600 And while I did not keep or protect the sanctuary from this snake, would you at least now let me serve? 00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:25.600 She deserves death. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:26.600 I understand. 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:28.600 Would you take my life for hers? 00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:34.600 Could it be that maybe God might just be willing to accept that kind of sacrifice of love? 00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:38.600 Could Adam at least try? 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:39.600 Where is he? 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:41.600 Where is he? 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:48.600 Well at this first time of asking this big question we have, we find our answer at the end of verse 6, don't we? 00:15:48.600 --> 00:15:52.600 She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:53.600 There was Adam. 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:55.600 Right there, next to her. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:16:05.600 And here I'm going to put myself in a dangerous position of disagreeing with the brilliant John Calvin. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:15.600 The commenting on this verse, it says that some have conjectured through these words that Adam was present when his wife was tempted and persuaded by the serpent. 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:17.600 This is not at all believable. 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:27.600 And it is true that the text doesn't tell us whether Adam was there from the beginning of this conversation or whether he had just arrived in verse 6. 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:37.600 But it does seem that those who believe that he arrived at that very final moment after it was all done, they're the ones who would be forced into the lecturing of those. 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:45.600 And indeed when you look at the commentaries, you get plenty of theories about how the woman managed to persuade Adam to eat the fruit at that point. 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:47.600 Was it through some kind of seduction? 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:49.600 Was it through some crafty scheming? 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:50.600 All kinds of theories. 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:52.600 But the text doesn't say anything about persuasion. 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:54.600 He just gave you the fruit and he ate. 00:16:54.600 --> 00:17:03.600 And in fact, in the rest of the Bible, the key moment here is particularly the moment of Adam's sin. 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:10.599 Paul would write in Romans 5, sin came into the world through one man and death through sin. 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:16.599 Paul even gives an indication that there's a difference in the sin of Adam and the sin of the woman. 00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:21.599 1 Timothy 2.14, he writes, Adam was not deceived. 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:25.599 But the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:30.599 Or you could read it, the woman entered into transgression having been deceived. 00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:31.599 The woman transgressed having been duped. 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:32.599 That wasn't the case for Adam. 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:46.599 Adam did it with full awareness of what he was doing. 00:17:46.599 --> 00:17:49.599 Adam took the fruit in cold blood. 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:54.599 And we can agree with Calvin is really incredible. 00:17:54.599 --> 00:17:57.599 But it does seem actually possible. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:00.599 As we look at the text that he was there all along. 00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:08.599 In verse 6, Moses, who wrote Genesis, presents this standfall amazingly fast. 00:18:08.599 --> 00:18:13.599 It is quite appropriate for us to call it a fall. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:16.599 We hear about Adam's presence there with Eve. 00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:17.599 Then about his sin. 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:20.599 And this is just really sudden surprise out of nowhere. 00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:25.599 And the Hebrew is actually a far more succinct language even than English. 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:32.599 And so here at the end of verse 6, what the ESV gives you as 15 words is actually just 5 words. 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:34.599 It's just 4 accent beats. 00:18:34.599 --> 00:18:38.599 It's just 1, 2, 3, 4. 00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:44.599 Before you know it, mankind has fallen from innocence to sin and misery. 00:18:44.599 --> 00:18:53.599 In just that moment, he's forfeited all claims on a promise of glory and eternal life. 00:18:53.599 --> 00:19:03.599 That final phrase of verse 6, those four simple beats, is one of the most tragic twists in all of literature and especially in all of world history. 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:13.599 All that time, as we saw that she really needed Adam to be there, telling herself that if only he was there, he could sort things out. 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:15.599 I mean, he was there all along. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:22.599 And he let his wife hear these lies and reach out and touch and eat. 00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:26.599 He knowingly let her chew to death. 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:34.599 It's like those moments in a film or a novel where everything just turns on its head in a moment. 00:19:34.599 --> 00:19:39.599 I'm not an expert in Lord of the Rings, but I've at least seen the films. 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:44.599 And that bit where Gandalf goes to seek the help of his master Saruman, thinking, oh, he'll help. 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:51.599 And then in a moment, he realizes that his master has joined the enemy. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:53.599 It's shocking. 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:56.599 And what we have here is even worse. 00:19:56.599 --> 00:19:59.599 This is real life. 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:02.599 He could have done something all that time. 00:20:02.599 --> 00:20:04.599 He could have said something. 00:20:04.599 --> 00:20:07.599 But he chose to stand by and let it happen. 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:10.599 He let his wife be tricked by this snake. 00:20:10.599 --> 00:20:14.599 He let her sin and die under God's curse. 00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:18.599 And then takes the food for himself. 00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:23.599 Not only that, but he had the goal later on to blame his wife for it all. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:26.599 And even blame God for creating her. 00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:33.599 Not only did Adam lose the food, but he did it in such a way that he could blame everybody else for it. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:39.599 We're not dealing here with a naive, unwise young man. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:47.599 Somehow, mysteriously, we find we're dealing with a man who has become truly despicable. 00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:50.599 We don't know how. 00:20:50.599 --> 00:20:56.599 Maybe thinking about it, calling it the fall is not quite strong enough. 00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:59.599 Maybe we should call it the jump. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:02.599 Adam jumped into his sin. 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:05.599 And instead, he ran away from God. 00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:09.599 But having asked this question once, let's ask it another two times. 00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:12.599 And we will go a lot more quickly now. 00:21:12.599 --> 00:21:16.599 The first time we asked where is Adam, our answer was right by her side. 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:18.599 And here, let's ask it a second time. 00:21:18.599 --> 00:21:20.599 And here, God himself is asking it with us. 00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:22.599 Verse 9, where are you, Adam? 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:27.599 And Adam is doing all he can to hide and come back himself up. 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:31.599 They make aprons or loincloths out of fig leaves. 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:34.599 They now have a knowledge of good and evil. 00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:38.599 He now has the experience of having committed evil. 00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:45.599 But especially, he has grasped for himself the role of deciding what he will do, a role that doesn't belong to him. 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:49.599 And they both know now that choosing evil only leads to shame and danger. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:50.599 So they need to hide. 00:21:50.599 --> 00:21:52.599 And they want to cover themselves up. 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:55.599 The Lord God is walking in the garden. 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:57.599 He is there to have fellowship with his people. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:03.599 That phrase walking is echoed in the way God's presence is described in the temple later on. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:06.599 But Adam wants to hide in the bushes. 00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:13.599 He is grasping at anything and everything that his newly evil heart can find to cover himself up. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:17.599 He gets some leaves that he stitches together. 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:18.599 He gets a bush. 00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:23.599 More than that, he reaches for this bunch of accusations against his wife and against God. 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:29.599 Verse 12, the woman who you gave to me, she gave me the fruit. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:35.599 Have you noticed that he doesn't blame the prime candidate if you were to blame someone? 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:37.599 He doesn't blame the snake. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:42.599 Eve does, but Adam is faithful to his new friend and master. 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:45.599 And turns on everybody else. 00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:50.599 So we find that when we take time to think about what Adam did, 00:22:50.599 --> 00:22:58.599 how he chose to plunge himself and his wife and all his descendants and all of creation into death and rebellion. 00:22:58.599 --> 00:23:05.599 To see that it's actually hard, to see how any punishment could possibly be too severe, 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:08.599 it was truly despicable. 00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:12.599 We see him standing at his wife's side. 00:23:12.599 --> 00:23:14.599 We see him hiding in the bush. 00:23:14.599 --> 00:23:17.599 Now let's ask our question a third time, where is Adam? 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:19.599 Especially at the end of the chapter. 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:25.599 And amazingly, we find that he is not six feet under. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:28.599 Adam is still alive. 00:23:28.599 --> 00:23:32.599 Yes, he is cast out of the garden. 00:23:32.599 --> 00:23:37.599 There is a flaming sword keeping him out of this garden sanctuary. 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:40.599 And he is out in the desert. 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:43.599 But he is out there having received some amazing promises. 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:45.599 And he is still alive. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:50.599 He is there with his wife and he is now named Eve. 00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:52.599 Mother of the living. 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:57.599 And that is Adam's profession of faith in God's gracious promise. 00:23:57.599 --> 00:24:01.599 God will look at life through the seed of the woman. 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:05.599 Therefore my wife will be called the mother of the living. 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:09.599 He is out there in the desert waiting. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:13.599 Waiting for the seed of the woman that promised Saviour. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:18.599 If you want to look more into that, I do recommend Johnny Gibson's sermon from a few weeks ago. 00:24:18.599 --> 00:24:24.599 He is no longer wearing his rubbish fig leaf clothes that he stitched together. 00:24:24.599 --> 00:24:28.599 He now has animal skin to clothe himself. 00:24:28.599 --> 00:24:33.599 This God of mercy and grace has made a sacrifice for them. 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:36.599 An animal has died now for them. 00:24:36.599 --> 00:24:40.599 And now clothes them and covers their shame. 00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:43.599 So we have asked our question three times. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:44.599 Where is Adam? 00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:47.599 First with his wife in willful rebellion. 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:52.599 Then in a bush in shame and spite. 00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:55.599 And then in the desert waiting in hope. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:59.599 And they are waiting for another man. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:04.599 The man who in the Bible will sometimes call the second Adam. 00:25:04.599 --> 00:25:06.599 The last man. 00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:10.599 And so as I mentioned earlier, we are going to have to ask our question three more times. 00:25:10.599 --> 00:25:11.599 Where is Adam? 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:16.599 But that is to say, where is Jesus the second Adam? 00:25:16.599 --> 00:25:23.599 And as we look ahead and look into the Gospel, we find him where we left the first Adam. 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:25.599 We find him in the desert. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:30.599 And Mark tells us that Jesus was driven into the desert to be tempted. 00:25:30.599 --> 00:25:34.599 He actually uses the same word that we get in the Greek translation of Genesis here. 00:25:34.599 --> 00:25:37.599 To say that Adam was cast out of the garden. 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:40.599 Jesus is cast out there to face the enemy. 00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:42.599 This same enemy, Satan. 00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:43.599 In the same test. 00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:47.599 Not in the safety of the sanctuary, but out in the desert. 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:48.599 Out in the wilderness. 00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:51.599 Facing the test that the first Adam failed. 00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:54.599 But here he wins the battle. 00:25:54.599 --> 00:26:02.599 But for him, passing the test, offering his obedience, doesn't mean he can go straight through to the Holy Holys. 00:26:02.599 --> 00:26:05.599 To the dwelling place of God to secure that forever. 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:10.599 Before he can do that, he needs to face the flaming sword. 00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:20.599 He knows that he must surely die for his people if he's to get himself and his people to that place of glory that was promised. 00:26:20.599 --> 00:26:25.599 So on this second time round, at our first time of asking, where is our second Adam? 00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:26.599 He's out in the desert. 00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:29.599 Winning the battle and passing the test. 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:33.599 Where is he when we ask a second time? 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:38.599 Not in a bush, but hanging on a tree. 00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:42.599 Bowing his head to the flaming sword. 00:26:42.599 --> 00:26:45.599 So he can get into God's dwelling place. 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:47.599 With all his people with him. 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:49.599 Hanging there. 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:51.599 Not to teach us how to stitch our own purgings. 00:26:52.599 --> 00:26:54.599 But to clothe us with himself. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:56.599 And all his benefits. 00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:00.599 As he surrenders to this tree of death. 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:04.599 Jesus becomes to us the fruit of the tree of life. 00:27:06.599 --> 00:27:08.599 And so what if we ask him one more time? 00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:09.599 Where is Adam? 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:11.599 Where is this second Adam? 00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:12.599 Adam. 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:15.599 Now he's finally entered into the Holy of Holies. 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:17.599 The dwelling place of God. 00:27:18.599 --> 00:27:20.599 Raised up in glory. 00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:26.599 He's been given the Holy Spirit and the throne of glory that the first Adam rejected. 00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:29.599 And he sits there in resurrection power. 00:27:30.599 --> 00:27:32.599 Being a tree of life for us. 00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:34.599 Being a river of life for us. 00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:36.599 Being our spiritual food. 00:27:36.599 --> 00:27:37.599 Being our spiritual life. 00:27:38.599 --> 00:27:40.599 Being our royal robe for us. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:42.599 Being our spiritual life for us. 00:27:42.599 --> 00:27:45.599 And by the power of that spirit who became his reward. 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:48.599 He doesn't just stand at his bride's side. 00:27:49.599 --> 00:27:51.599 He dwells personally in each of us. 00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:55.599 He knows us and communes with us within our hearts. 00:27:55.599 --> 00:27:56.599 He lives in us as our victorious king. 00:27:56.599 --> 00:27:56.599 00:27:56.599 --> 00:27:57.599 And as our faithful prophet. 00:27:57.599 --> 00:27:58.599 He's crushed the snake's head. 00:27:58.599 --> 00:27:59.599 Satan is in his death throes. 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:00.599 But that means he's been raging against us. 00:28:00.599 --> 00:28:01.599 He's the accuser. 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:02.599 He's going to do all he can to distort the meaning of God's word. 00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:02.599 00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:02.599 00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:02.599 00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:03.599 So you believe Jesus came to save sinners. 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:04.599 They're not for serious sinners like you. 00:28:04.599 --> 00:28:05.599 And as our faithful prophet. 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:06.599 And as our faithful prophet. 00:28:06.599 --> 00:28:07.599 He's crushed the snake's head. 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:10.599 Satan is in his death throes. 00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:15.599 But that means he's been raging against us. 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:16.599 He's the accuser. 00:28:16.599 --> 00:28:20.599 And he's going to do all he can to distort the meaning of God's word. 00:28:20.599 --> 00:28:21.599 Including in this passage. 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:24.599 So that he can fill you with accusations and doubts. 00:28:24.599 --> 00:28:25.599 Okay. 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:29.599 So you believe Jesus came to save sinners. 00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:32.599 They're not for serious sinners like you. 00:28:32.599 --> 00:28:36.599 So Adam was a serious sinner. 00:28:36.599 --> 00:28:42.599 And yet even he believed in the promises of God's grace. 00:28:42.599 --> 00:28:45.599 He said your wife will be the mother of all living. 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:47.599 The hope will come through her. 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:48.599 Mother of living. 00:28:48.599 --> 00:28:50.599 That's a profession of faithful. 00:28:50.599 --> 00:28:53.599 So when the Bible calls us sinners. 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:57.599 And tells us that we are there for the kind of people that Jesus came to save. 00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:00.599 God really knows what he's talking about. 00:29:00.599 --> 00:29:03.599 No one who comes to Jesus for salvation. 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:06.599 Will surprise him with how sinful they've been. 00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:09.599 He knows better than we know ourselves. 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:13.599 There's another serious sinner we come across in the Bible. 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:17.599 Paul who wrote the verse I quoted earlier in the sermon. 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:19.599 Though actually didn't finish the whole sentence. 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:22.599 How does 1 Timothy 1.15 end? 00:29:22.599 --> 00:29:32.599 The same is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. 00:29:32.599 --> 00:29:34.599 Who I am chief. 00:29:34.599 --> 00:29:35.599 Your translation. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:41.599 And he's not saying that as an invitation for us to wallow into self-pity and to go deeper than him. 00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:43.599 Oh no, Paul, I am the foremost. 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:48.599 Paul is making the point that he was a truly awful man. 00:29:48.599 --> 00:29:52.599 He persecuted the church of Jesus Christ. 00:29:52.599 --> 00:29:55.599 That is really despicable and serious. 00:29:55.599 --> 00:30:00.599 And yet Paul can say, he came for the likes of me. 00:30:00.599 --> 00:30:02.599 He died for me. 00:30:02.599 --> 00:30:03.599 He saved me. 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:04.599 Me. 00:30:04.599 --> 00:30:13.599 But even if anyone here were the second in line for that type of chief of sinners. 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:17.599 What you see here is that if you cry out to Jesus. 00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:19.599 Put your trust in him. 00:30:19.599 --> 00:30:21.599 Put all your hope in him. 00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:26.599 There is no chance you are too far for him to reach you. 00:30:26.599 --> 00:30:31.599 There is no chance that you are too sinful for him to save you. 00:30:31.599 --> 00:30:34.599 I quoted earlier from the Quarantine. 00:30:34.599 --> 00:30:37.599 Who, no pit is so deep that he is not deeper still. 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:42.599 So I appeal to you. 00:30:42.599 --> 00:30:49.599 If you are not in Jesus Christ, you are attached to this despicable Adam. 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:52.599 I appeal to you and let go of him. 00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:57.599 Turn away from this despicable man and all that he stands for. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:00.599 In his sin and stubborn rebellion. 00:31:00.599 --> 00:31:05.599 Abandon this desire to define the terms of your life yourself. 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:07.599 To decide for yourself what will be good and evil. 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:11.599 Let go of that knowledge of good and evil. 00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:15.599 And grab hold of this second Adam. 00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:18.599 Who got back in and beyond. 00:31:18.599 --> 00:31:21.599 Grab hold of Jesus Christ. 00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:23.599 Who came to save you. 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:26.599 Let him give you his life. 00:31:26.599 --> 00:31:28.599 Clothe you. 00:31:28.599 --> 00:31:29.599 Feed you. 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:32.599 All at the cost of his own life. 00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:35.599 Let him love you. 00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:38.599 Let him transform you. 00:31:38.599 --> 00:31:42.599 Discover the joy of submitting to him. 00:31:42.599 --> 00:31:44.599 Living under his kingly reign. 00:31:44.599 --> 00:31:49.599 Of having this priest minister to you and pray for you. 00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:53.599 And the joy of listening to his words each day. 00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:55.599 Let's pray.