WEBVTT

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 We were built to live in this world, a complicated world that continues to grow, but to flourish, to have shalom, to have this wholeness.

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 And yet we can see every time we switch on our devices, every time we just look outside in the street, we do not see shalom.

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 These last few weeks, we've been going through the accounts of Genesis and Genesis one.

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 God creates everything that we see right now.

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 He puts everything in place for mankind to flourish.

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 And he said it was good.

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 And then he creates man and woman.

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 He says we were very good.

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 And then last week, I talked about the blueprint for humanity, the blueprint for human flourishing almost.

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 And you see just this shalom that constitutes healthy relationship between man and God because we were dust, but he breathed life into us.

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 This healthy relationship between man and work because he plonks Adam in the garden.

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 And then he says, work it, keep it, grow it.

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 Use it to glorify me.

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 Be fruitful and multiply.

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 Have dominion over creation.

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 And then he says the one good thing, the only good thing, the only thing that isn't good in creation right now, before the fall, is the fact that man is alone.

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 So he says it's not good for him to be alone.

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 He's pretty helpless when he's on his own.

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 So let's bring someone in to help him.

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 Not someone who is inferior, but someone who is a complementary fit, a complementary strength to him.

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 And so he makes woman.

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 And it's all going great because they are naked and unashamed.

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 They are happy.

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 They are going to continue with the cultural creation mandate of human flourishing.

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 And yet in one fell swoop, in one chapter, we see everything fall apart.

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 And today we're going to be going through Genesis chapter three.

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 We're going to see really what happened at the very beginning.

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 But before we read the scripture, whilst you open it, remember Genesis is the first book in the Bible.

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 So feel free to go there now.

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 As we look at this account, what I do ask that you do is as you're reading it, don't detach yourself from Adam and Eve.

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 Yes, Adam and Eve were the ones that committed this original sin, that triggered off the fall that is where we are, that really leads us to where we are now.

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 We really look and ask God, okay, well, what is there you have for me?

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 This story is pretty familiar to all of us, whether you are churched or unchurched.

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 But let's pray that the Lord really has something for us today.

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 It's to speak into the lack of shalom that we have right now.

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 And then to see what really he's doing.

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 I'm going to invite two fine young men to come and read the scripture for us.

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 Come on, Andy Jasper, can you join us?

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 The baggy jeans thing is a real thing now, hey?

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 Like the Backstreet Boys.

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 All right.

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 All right, so we're going to have the Backstreet Boys read to us today.

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 Can I invite you to stand for the word of the Lord?

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 Genesis chapter 3.

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 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

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 He said to the woman,

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 Did God actually say,

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 You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

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 And the woman said to the serpent,

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 We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden.

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 But God said,

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 You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden.

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 Neither shall you touch it,

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 lest you die.

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 But the serpent said to the woman,

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 You will not surely die.

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 For God knows that when you eat of it,

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 your eyes will be opened,

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 and you will be like God,

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 knowing good and evil.

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 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,

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 and that it was a delight to the eyes,

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 and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,

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 she took of its fruit and ate.

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 She also gave some to her husband,

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 was with her,

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 and he ate.

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 Then the eyes of both were opened,

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 and they knew that they were naked.

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 And they saw fig trees,

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 fig leaves together,

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 and made themselves loinclothes.

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 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden

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 in the cool of the day,

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 and the man and his wife hid themselves

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 from the presence of the Lord God

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 among the trees of the garden.

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 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him,

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 Where are you?

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 And he said,

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 I heard the sound of you in the garden,

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 and I was afraid because I was naked,

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 and I hid myself.

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 He said,

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 Who told you that you were naked?

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 Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?

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 The man said,

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 The woman whom you gave to be with me,

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 she gave me fruit of the tree,

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 and I ate.

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 Then the Lord God said to the woman,

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 What is this that you have done?

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 The woman said,

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 The serpent deceived me,

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 and I ate.

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 The Lord said to the serpent,

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 Because you have done this,

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 cursed are you above all livestock,

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 and above all beasts of the field.

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 On your belly you shall go,

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 and dust you shall eat,

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 all the days of your life.

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 I will put enmity between you and the woman,

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 and between your offspring and her offspring.

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 He shall bruise your head,

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 and you shall bruise his heel.

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 To the woman he said,

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 I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing.

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 In pain you shall bring forth children,

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 and your desire shall be contrary to your husband,

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 and he shall rule over you.

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 And to Adam he said,

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 Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,

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 and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,

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 you shall not eat of it.

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 Cursed is the ground because of you.

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 In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

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 Thorn and thistles it shall bring forth for you,

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 and you shall eat the plants of the field.

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 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,

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 till you return to the ground,

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 for out of it you were taken.

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 For you are dust,

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 and to dust you shall return.

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 The man called his wife name Eve,

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 because she was the mother of all things.

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 And the Lord God made for Adam,

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 and for his wife garments of skin,

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 and clothed them.

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 Then the Lord God said,

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 Behold, the man has become like one of us

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 in knowing good and evil.

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 Now lest he reach out his hand,

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 and take also of the tree of life,

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 and live forever.

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 Therefore the Lord God sent him out

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 from the garden of Eden,

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 to work the ground from which he was taken.

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 He drove out the man,

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 and at the east of the garden of Eden,

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 he placed the cherubim,

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 and a flaming sword that turned every way,

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 to guard the way of the tree of life.

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 This is the word of the Lord.

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 Please take a seat.

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 Thank you guys.

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 I realize I completely aged myself

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 by even saying the Backstreet Boys,

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 because that generation don't even know it.

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 So anyway, joke's on me.

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 Human flourishing.

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 Those three relationships are supposed to work

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 in just this wonderful, beautiful, mysterious way

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 where we are in relationship with him,

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 where we work the ground and keep it,

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 but we're also in relationship with each other.

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 But in one short interaction,

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 with a short conversation,

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 everything is undone.

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 The beauty is completely reversed,

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 and man's dominion is reversed as well.

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 And we're going to go through this today,

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 and we're going to talk about the topic of sin.

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 The topic of sin is one that's quite hard to talk about,

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 because it doesn't make us feel good.

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 We prefer to talk about hope.

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 We prefer to talk about purpose.

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 But to talk about sin is something that is disorienting.

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 It makes us uncomfortable to a degree.

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 But when we think about the word sin,

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 what are we thinking about?

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 What comes to mind?

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 Because until we understand what we actually have,

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 we might have to maybe just unravel a little bit of it

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 before we truly understand what sin is here.

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 What are we thinking about when we think about sin?

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 Sam, when you think about sin,

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 what do you think about?

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 Missing the mark.

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 Missing the mark.

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 Tell us more.

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 Expand on what that means.

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 There's a standard that we can't achieve.

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 There's a standard that we can't achieve.

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 Romans 3 talks about that in the sense that we fall short of the glory of God.

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 If Genesis 1.26, as we were made in his image,

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 to then be able to glorify him through what we do,

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 we miss the mark and therefore we fall short.

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 That is what sin is.

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 What else is there, Trevor?

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 What do you think about when you think about sin?

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 Archery.

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 Archery.

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 You're going to have to tell us more about what that means.

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 Sin is missing the bullseye.

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 Sin is missing the bullseye.

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 There we go.

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 It's missing what we were created for.

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 Paul, any thoughts?

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 I'd say just following my own way.

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 Following my own way.

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 Sin is when we choose.

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 When I ask you to think of a sin,

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 you think about the heinous crimes that maybe humanity has been guilty of committing,

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 generations of after generations,

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 but really it's this idea of just choosing self.

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 It's choosing your own way.

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 St. Augustine calls sin when the soul curves in on itself.

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 When your soul curves in on itself,

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 we weren't created just to curve in on ourselves.

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 We were created to point to God, point to others,

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 and yet we miss the mark and we curve in on ourselves,

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 and what we have is sin.

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 We're going to look at what sin is here today,

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 and we're just going to go through the passage.

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 So please go through with me as you read.

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 Actually, we went through this passage as a pastoral team this last week,

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 and we were like,

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 this is like a whole sermon series in itself.

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 There is so much here that we have to unpack,

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 not just intellectually,

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 but actually in our own hearts,

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 because as we look to this,

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 we saw so much of ourselves in Adam and Eve.

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 Chapter 3, verse 1,

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 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field

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 that the Lord God had made.

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 Wait a second.

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 God created the serpent.

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 The serpent, of course,

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 is just this neutral animal

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 that ends up getting used by the enemy himself

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 to cause really two things.

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 And he really only says two lines here,

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 and the two lines do two things.

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 It sows in doubt,

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 and the second then leaves deception for Eve

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 to completely take the bite, as we say here.

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 And we see, because of doubt,

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 because of deception,

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 we see the serpent has done his role.

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 But really, what we're talking about,

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 okay, this is a question that I used to ask myself.

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 Maybe when I was a fairly young man during university,

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 I asked my pastor this.

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 I was like, why did the tree have to be there in the first place?

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 Right?

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 Like, why did you leave it there in the first place, God?

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 Because, well, obviously that's going to cause us to slip.

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 And then what we really went into was just this concept of free will,

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 concept of choice, concept of love that requires freedom.

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 Ever since the beginning, when there was the ability to trust God,

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 there is also the potential to mistrust God.

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 That has to be there.

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 If I didn't have a TV at home,

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 and I head out and I leave my kids at home,

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 and I say, don't watch TV now,

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 but there's no TV there,

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 I can't really come home and say,

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 well done guys for not watching the television.

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 It just doesn't work.

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 There has to be that choice to make that decision to rebel against God.

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 It's really just called freedom.

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 And so actually, this is the original sin,

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 where sin enters into mankind, enters into humanity.

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 But what we also know is that actually,

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 the choice to trust and worship God has always been around,

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 even before he created man and woman,

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 because the angelic beings would do so.

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 And the writers believe that actually,

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 Lucifer, the fallen angel,

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 was the first one to basically say,

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 God, I don't really trust you.

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 I don't really trust you,

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 and I actually want to be you.

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 I think I,

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 who's ever looked at their boss and gone,

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 hmm, I think I could do a better job than you.

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 So you see Lucifer doing that,

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 and now you see him basically leading the same way.

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 And so if I was to describe what sin is for me,

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 I would just say a simple mistrust of God.

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 Think about your sin.

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 I'm just going to go in deep here,

00:11:45.439 --> 00:11:46.360
 and think about your sin.

00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:49.679
 If you keep peeling back and ask that question,

00:11:49.779 --> 00:11:51.819
 but why, but why, but why do you do that?

00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:52.559
 Oh, but why do you do,

00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:54.199
 if you keep going all the way back,

00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:55.379
 the answer is,

00:11:55.539 --> 00:11:57.000
 you don't actually trust God.

00:11:58.199 --> 00:11:59.100
 Sin, to me,

00:11:59.100 --> 00:12:01.879
 is just the mistrust of God.

00:12:02.259 --> 00:12:03.700
 And when you don't trust him,

00:12:03.740 --> 00:12:03.940
 you're like,

00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:04.600
 you know what, God,

00:12:04.700 --> 00:12:07.779
 I don't know if you actually know what's best.

00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:09.899
 I don't know if actually you love me.

00:12:10.200 --> 00:12:11.759
 I don't know if you're actually all powerful.

00:12:12.019 --> 00:12:12.639
 So you know what?

00:12:12.700 --> 00:12:14.800
 I think I'm just going to take control of my own life.

00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:16.379
 Jesus, give me the wheel back.

00:12:16.519 --> 00:12:17.540
 I'm going to do this myself,

00:12:17.540 --> 00:12:20.080
 because I know the direction of where I'm supposed to go.

00:12:20.560 --> 00:12:23.220
 All of it really comes down to a mistrust of God,

00:12:23.460 --> 00:12:25.300
 and wanting to be him.

00:12:25.299 --> 00:12:28.019
 But the cruel irony in all of this is,

00:12:28.079 --> 00:12:29.819
 we were made to be like God,

00:12:30.719 --> 00:12:32.139
 to be made in his image,

00:12:32.259 --> 00:12:33.019
 breathe his life,

00:12:33.079 --> 00:12:36.079
 yet we decide not that we would just be like him,

00:12:36.599 --> 00:12:37.939
 but that we would be him.

00:12:38.419 --> 00:12:40.299
 And we end up being these mini-gods

00:12:40.299 --> 00:12:44.719
 that we are basically trying to be in control of ourselves.

00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:47.399
 Man was created first,

00:12:47.740 --> 00:12:48.459
 and then he says,

00:12:49.099 --> 00:12:50.479
 you have dominion over creation,

00:12:50.599 --> 00:12:52.159
 and then from man he makes woman.

00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:54.120
 But in this one little interaction,

00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:55.399
 we see all of that reversed.

00:12:55.719 --> 00:12:58.639
 Instead of man telling the creatures what to do,

00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:01.379
 the creature essentially leads the man

00:13:01.379 --> 00:13:02.559
 to do what he's supposed to do.

00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:04.059
 And so we see here,

00:13:04.459 --> 00:13:06.439
 the serpent was more crafty,

00:13:06.679 --> 00:13:07.839
 and then he says to the woman,

00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:10.439
 did God actually say,

00:13:10.980 --> 00:13:13.740
 you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:15.360
 That was a,

00:13:15.980 --> 00:13:17.779
 hey, can you just verify what he actually said?

00:13:17.819 --> 00:13:18.459
 No, that wasn't it.

00:13:18.899 --> 00:13:21.679
 There's a hint of surprise shock.

00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:23.120
 There's a hint of sarcasm.

00:13:23.419 --> 00:13:24.039
 Ooh, really?

00:13:25.579 --> 00:13:28.120
 Did God really say that that's,

00:13:28.659 --> 00:13:30.500
 ooh, I can't believe he did that.

00:13:31.199 --> 00:13:32.439
 If you knew what I knew,

00:13:33.179 --> 00:13:33.939
 ooh, then you'd,

00:13:34.139 --> 00:13:36.379
 then you'd take a step back as well.

00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:38.419
 Eve, can you really trust God?

00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:40.039
 Is what he's saying here.

00:13:40.739 --> 00:13:42.399
 Did God actually say,

00:13:42.519 --> 00:13:43.599
 you shall not eat of the garden?

00:13:43.979 --> 00:13:44.859
 And here, okay,

00:13:45.179 --> 00:13:45.899
 until this point,

00:13:45.959 --> 00:13:46.219
 she's actually,

00:13:46.439 --> 00:13:47.979
 right now she's actually not even called Eve.

00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:48.779
 She's just called the woman,

00:13:48.899 --> 00:13:49.620
 just to note that, okay?

00:13:50.179 --> 00:13:51.019
 He said to the woman,

00:13:51.139 --> 00:13:52.000
 did God actually say,

00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:52.799
 you shall eat,

00:13:52.940 --> 00:13:54.379
 not eat of any of the tree in the garden?

00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:57.700
 And the woman falls into the trap,

00:13:57.840 --> 00:13:59.159
 and she responds to him.

00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:02.539
 We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,

00:14:02.860 --> 00:14:03.560
 but God said,

00:14:04.060 --> 00:14:05.919
 you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree

00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:07.039
 that is in the midst of the garden,

00:14:07.460 --> 00:14:08.620
 neither shall you touch it,

00:14:08.860 --> 00:14:09.940
 lest you die.

00:14:10.019 --> 00:14:10.899
 And here's my first point

00:14:10.899 --> 00:14:12.519
 when it comes to mistrust of God.

00:14:13.560 --> 00:14:14.379
 What we're doing here,

00:14:14.419 --> 00:14:15.539
 what we see her doing here

00:14:15.539 --> 00:14:17.159
 is that she mistrusts his word.

00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:18.939
 Note what she says

00:14:18.939 --> 00:14:21.360
 when she replies to his statement.

00:14:22.079 --> 00:14:23.620
 We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,

00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:24.159
 but God said,

00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:25.299
 you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree

00:14:25.299 --> 00:14:26.539
 that is in the midst of the garden,

00:14:26.659 --> 00:14:27.959
 neither shall you touch it,

00:14:28.019 --> 00:14:28.799
 lest you die.

00:14:29.219 --> 00:14:29.980
 Anyone notice,

00:14:30.179 --> 00:14:31.000
 spot the difference here?

00:14:31.819 --> 00:14:34.139
 Look back at chapter two,

00:14:34.779 --> 00:14:35.759
 verse 16,

00:14:36.439 --> 00:14:40.179
 when Adam actually receives the instructions.

00:14:41.939 --> 00:14:42.379
 He says,

00:14:42.379 --> 00:14:43.959
 you may surely eat of every tree of the garden,

00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:45.720
 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,

00:14:45.780 --> 00:14:46.400
 you shall not eat it,

00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:48.080
 for in the day that you eat of it,

00:14:48.139 --> 00:14:49.620
 you shall surely die.

00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:51.680
 The serpent sows doubt.

00:14:52.560 --> 00:14:53.060
 And actually,

00:14:53.660 --> 00:14:54.480
 the woman here

00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:57.660
 plays in right into that trap.

00:14:58.320 --> 00:14:59.379
 He doesn't say,

00:14:59.920 --> 00:15:00.740
 you shall not touch it.

00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:01.860
 She adds that herself.

00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:04.060
 What's happening here?

00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:05.639
 In some ways,

00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:08.139
 Eve takes the bait and says,

00:15:08.220 --> 00:15:08.940
 actually, you know what?

00:15:09.019 --> 00:15:10.180
 Yeah, God is strict.

00:15:10.620 --> 00:15:11.740
 He told us not to touch it.

00:15:11.740 --> 00:15:13.180
 God never said not to touch it.

00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:14.879
 So what she's doing,

00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:15.879
 she's overcorrecting,

00:15:15.940 --> 00:15:17.519
 and she's basically implying

00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:19.800
 and projecting this strictness onto God

00:15:19.800 --> 00:15:20.840
 that wasn't there before,

00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:21.639
 and she's saying,

00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:22.060
 actually,

00:15:22.420 --> 00:15:23.900
 let's magnify on that point.

00:15:23.980 --> 00:15:26.200
 Maybe he is withholding something from us.

00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:28.019
 Twisting God's word,

00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:28.440
 mistrust.

00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:30.340
 How many times have you heard someone say,

00:15:30.420 --> 00:15:30.540
 well,

00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:31.680
 I don't know if I can believe

00:15:31.680 --> 00:15:33.060
 in this Christianity stuff,

00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:33.620
 because you know what?

00:15:33.680 --> 00:15:35.620
 The Bible says all these horrible things.

00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:36.940
 Right?

00:15:37.400 --> 00:15:38.100
 And then you realize,

00:15:38.180 --> 00:15:38.460
 wait, actually,

00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:39.139
 have you read the Bible?

00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:39.700
 No, no, no.

00:15:39.780 --> 00:15:40.940
 We've just heard someone say,

00:15:40.940 --> 00:15:43.480
 and that's the beginning of that mistrust

00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:45.320
 is when actually you just basically twist the words

00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:45.700
 that he says.

00:15:45.780 --> 00:15:46.800
 You see Eve here says,

00:15:47.620 --> 00:15:47.760
 oh,

00:15:47.880 --> 00:15:48.580
 you shall not eat the free,

00:15:48.760 --> 00:15:50.300
 but neither shall you touch it lest you die.

00:15:50.380 --> 00:15:51.560
 God never says don't touch it.

00:15:53.220 --> 00:15:54.080
 She overcorrects.

00:15:54.260 --> 00:15:55.720
 She magnifies his strictness.

00:15:55.800 --> 00:15:57.520
 She adds to his word.

00:15:57.840 --> 00:15:58.860
 When we mistrust him,

00:15:58.920 --> 00:16:01.240
 we start mistrusting what he actually says,

00:16:01.280 --> 00:16:02.640
 and then she has this kind of anxiety

00:16:02.640 --> 00:16:05.480
 that actually we will die from it.

00:16:05.480 --> 00:16:07.300
 Not only does she mistrust his word,

00:16:07.420 --> 00:16:09.639
 she also mistrusts his heart,

00:16:09.820 --> 00:16:11.720
 because the devil implies,

00:16:11.940 --> 00:16:12.120
 what?

00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:13.240
 God really said that to you?

00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:15.180
 He is withholding good from you.

00:16:15.259 --> 00:16:17.779
 You know how good that fruit is going to be?

00:16:18.259 --> 00:16:19.580
 You know what will happen to you

00:16:19.580 --> 00:16:20.379
 when you have that fruit?

00:16:20.560 --> 00:16:21.639
 You will be like him.

00:16:21.700 --> 00:16:24.360
 You will be able to see good and evil.

00:16:24.539 --> 00:16:27.680
 You will be God yourself.

00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:31.159
 When in reality,

00:16:31.680 --> 00:16:32.980
 that's not the case.

00:16:32.980 --> 00:16:36.279
 God isn't withholding good from them.

00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:38.019
 God is withholding good for them,

00:16:38.139 --> 00:16:38.700
 for the future.

00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:40.120
 There's some things that you look at,

00:16:40.220 --> 00:16:40.500
 and you just,

00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:42.080
 I think Christina and I were talking this week,

00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:42.539
 and you know what,

00:16:42.580 --> 00:16:44.240
 sometimes some of the things you see,

00:16:45.379 --> 00:16:46.800
 ignorance is just truly bliss.

00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:48.740
 I talked about last week

00:16:48.740 --> 00:16:51.920
 how our son Micah just has his new hobby

00:16:51.920 --> 00:16:54.240
 of running around naked and unashamed.

00:16:54.899 --> 00:16:56.480
 And I saw him again this morning

00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:57.379
 doing the same thing.

00:16:57.700 --> 00:16:58.680
 And I was reminded again,

00:16:58.779 --> 00:17:01.960
 to be naked and unashamed

00:17:01.960 --> 00:17:03.540
 is so beautiful.

00:17:05.140 --> 00:17:05.759
 But yet,

00:17:05.960 --> 00:17:06.920
 what we see here

00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:09.819
 is that then Eve starts to take on

00:17:09.819 --> 00:17:10.759
 the role of God.

00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:11.579
 Verse six,

00:17:11.779 --> 00:17:13.180
 so when the woman saw that the tree

00:17:13.180 --> 00:17:14.160
 was good for food,

00:17:14.380 --> 00:17:15.600
 and that it was a delight to the eyes,

00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:17.039
 and that the tree was to be desired

00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:17.900
 to make one wise,

00:17:18.140 --> 00:17:19.259
 she took of its fruit and ate,

00:17:19.420 --> 00:17:20.900
 and she also gave some to her husband

00:17:20.900 --> 00:17:21.819
 who was with her,

00:17:22.059 --> 00:17:22.860
 and he ate.

00:17:23.059 --> 00:17:24.400
 Before we target the man

00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:25.700
 and talk about his stupidity,

00:17:26.579 --> 00:17:27.059
 let's look.

00:17:27.180 --> 00:17:27.620
 Verse six,

00:17:27.619 --> 00:17:29.259
 up until now,

00:17:29.299 --> 00:17:30.619
 only one person looks at something

00:17:30.619 --> 00:17:31.479
 and says that it was good.

00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:32.639
 God himself.

00:17:33.419 --> 00:17:35.179
 And now Eve looks at the fruit

00:17:35.179 --> 00:17:36.399
 and looks at the tree

00:17:36.399 --> 00:17:36.659
 and goes,

00:17:36.739 --> 00:17:36.899
 hmm,

00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:38.059
 that's good.

00:17:38.679 --> 00:17:39.199
 Of course,

00:17:39.479 --> 00:17:40.239
 a lot of that is happening

00:17:40.239 --> 00:17:41.019
 in chapter two,

00:17:41.199 --> 00:17:42.159
 where in verse nine,

00:17:42.399 --> 00:17:43.679
 God actually creates every tree

00:17:43.679 --> 00:17:44.639
 to be pleasant to the sight

00:17:44.639 --> 00:17:45.419
 and good for food.

00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:48.179
 And yet now Eve looks at it

00:17:48.179 --> 00:17:48.519
 and goes,

00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:48.719
 oh,

00:17:48.939 --> 00:17:49.679
 this is good.

00:17:49.979 --> 00:17:51.139
 This is a beautiful tree

00:17:51.139 --> 00:17:52.299
 with beautiful fruit.

00:17:52.419 --> 00:17:53.119
 And it looks like

00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:53.859
 it's going to be tasty.

00:17:53.939 --> 00:17:54.939
 So she makes the decision

00:17:54.939 --> 00:17:55.459
 for herself

00:17:55.459 --> 00:17:56.619
 that this is a good,

00:17:56.839 --> 00:17:57.899
 this happens to us

00:17:57.899 --> 00:17:59.240
 where we start to look at things

00:17:59.240 --> 00:17:59.579
 and go,

00:17:59.719 --> 00:17:59.879
 hmm,

00:18:00.139 --> 00:18:01.399
 maybe we are the good judge

00:18:01.399 --> 00:18:01.899
 of these things.

00:18:02.139 --> 00:18:03.179
 Maybe we shall decide

00:18:03.179 --> 00:18:03.639
 what is good

00:18:03.639 --> 00:18:04.240
 and what is not.

00:18:04.740 --> 00:18:05.479
 And then she adds

00:18:05.479 --> 00:18:06.959
 one extra line into this,

00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:08.659
 or the account does anyway,

00:18:08.919 --> 00:18:09.539
 and that the tree

00:18:09.539 --> 00:18:10.399
 was to be desired

00:18:10.399 --> 00:18:12.379
 to make one wise.

00:18:12.859 --> 00:18:15.139
 The pursuit of knowledge.

00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:18.839
 The pursuit of being wise.

00:18:19.979 --> 00:18:20.799
 Did anyone go to

00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:21.719
 Harvard University here?

00:18:22.979 --> 00:18:23.619
 You don't be shy.

00:18:23.619 --> 00:18:24.179
 Don't be shy.

00:18:24.359 --> 00:18:24.719
 Okay.

00:18:24.899 --> 00:18:25.479
 Not in this group.

00:18:25.799 --> 00:18:26.319
 Maybe some other

00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:27.179
 Ivy League university

00:18:27.179 --> 00:18:27.879
 that you guys went to.

00:18:28.539 --> 00:18:30.279
 If you took a look

00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:31.819
 at the logo,

00:18:32.179 --> 00:18:32.639
 the insignia

00:18:32.639 --> 00:18:34.139
 for Harvard University

00:18:34.139 --> 00:18:36.219
 from 1643,

00:18:36.219 --> 00:18:37.399
 you would see three books

00:18:37.399 --> 00:18:38.279
 on the logo.

00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:40.119
 And you see the word veritas.

00:18:40.239 --> 00:18:41.259
 What does the word veritas mean?

00:18:42.439 --> 00:18:42.839
 Truth.

00:18:44.399 --> 00:18:45.539
 And you see three books.

00:18:45.979 --> 00:18:46.859
 But Harvard University

00:18:46.859 --> 00:18:47.299
 was started

00:18:47.299 --> 00:18:48.879
 as a Christian school.

00:18:49.319 --> 00:18:50.339
 And so three books,

00:18:50.539 --> 00:18:51.000
 two of them

00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:51.659
 would be open

00:18:51.659 --> 00:18:52.279
 because there's

00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:53.299
 a pursuit of truth.

00:18:53.979 --> 00:18:55.439
 That's what education is.

00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:56.639
 But the third book

00:18:56.639 --> 00:18:57.539
 would actually be closed.

00:18:57.859 --> 00:18:58.459
 The third book

00:18:58.459 --> 00:18:58.959
 would be closed

00:18:58.959 --> 00:18:59.739
 because the Puritans

00:18:59.739 --> 00:19:00.339
 believed that actually

00:19:00.339 --> 00:19:01.199
 there's some knowledge

00:19:01.199 --> 00:19:02.179
 that cannot be attained.

00:19:02.179 --> 00:19:03.079
 That they were putting

00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:04.399
 a limit on human wisdom

00:19:04.399 --> 00:19:04.679
 going,

00:19:05.019 --> 00:19:05.779
 some things will only

00:19:05.779 --> 00:19:07.000
 be revealed at the end,

00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:07.559
 which is why

00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:08.679
 two out of the three books

00:19:08.679 --> 00:19:09.059
 are open,

00:19:09.179 --> 00:19:10.519
 but one shall remain closed.

00:19:10.959 --> 00:19:11.939
 1643 is what

00:19:11.939 --> 00:19:12.719
 the logo looks like.

00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:13.839
 But if you fast forward

00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:15.099
 just a couple of hundred years,

00:19:15.439 --> 00:19:17.039
 you see the insignia

00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:18.559
 take on different shapes.

00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:20.019
 But if you look right now,

00:19:20.220 --> 00:19:21.279
 all three books

00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:22.240
 are open.

00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:25.339
 Man has become obsessed

00:19:25.339 --> 00:19:26.460
 with the pursuit

00:19:26.460 --> 00:19:27.419
 of knowledge.

00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:29.740
 Man has become

00:19:29.740 --> 00:19:31.779
 completely satisfied

00:19:31.779 --> 00:19:33.519
 with scientific advancement,

00:19:34.339 --> 00:19:35.679
 technological progress.

00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:36.539
 But here's the problem.

00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:37.399
 You look at

00:19:37.399 --> 00:19:38.639
 where we are now

00:19:38.639 --> 00:19:40.599
 as humans,

00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:42.299
 we've probably

00:19:42.299 --> 00:19:43.179
 never been smarter.

00:19:43.180 --> 00:19:45.120
 There is an intelligence

00:19:45.120 --> 00:19:45.920
 that we've created

00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:47.660
 that far outweighs

00:19:47.660 --> 00:19:48.620
 our own intelligence.

00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:50.740
 And you've heard this

00:19:50.740 --> 00:19:52.200
 maybe a few decades ago

00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:53.060
 where actually science

00:19:53.060 --> 00:19:53.720
 is the one that's going

00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:54.240
 to replace

00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:55.539
 our religion and faith.

00:19:56.500 --> 00:19:57.240
 And yet you see

00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:58.600
 all the technological advancement.

00:19:58.740 --> 00:19:59.420
 We know more than

00:19:59.420 --> 00:20:00.960
 we ever, ever have known

00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:01.539
 in the past.

00:20:01.820 --> 00:20:04.039
 And yet we are more lonely

00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:05.259
 and isolated

00:20:05.259 --> 00:20:06.259
 and sad

00:20:06.259 --> 00:20:08.580
 than we ever have been.

00:20:09.400 --> 00:20:09.920
 Maybe,

00:20:10.420 --> 00:20:11.640
 maybe the writer

00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:13.000
 of Ecclesiastes

00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:14.440
 was right

00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:15.720
 when he said this.

00:20:16.019 --> 00:20:17.279
 Ecclesiastes chapter 1

00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:18.000
 verse 18.

00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:19.539
 For in much wisdom

00:20:19.539 --> 00:20:21.339
 is much vexation.

00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:23.940
 And he who increases knowledge

00:20:23.940 --> 00:20:25.740
 increases sorrow.

00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:27.940
 We've been obsessed

00:20:27.940 --> 00:20:28.900
 with this pursuit

00:20:28.900 --> 00:20:30.039
 of knowledge

00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:32.700
 to become wise

00:20:32.700 --> 00:20:33.559
 in our own eyes

00:20:33.559 --> 00:20:35.319
 to the point

00:20:35.319 --> 00:20:36.200
 where we can say

00:20:36.200 --> 00:20:36.980
 that we are God,

00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:38.119
 that we can control

00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:39.079
 the different things

00:20:39.079 --> 00:20:39.680
 of creation.

00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:41.400
 And yet,

00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:42.880
 this ancient wisdom

00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:44.160
 here says

00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:46.160
 it leads to vexation.

00:20:46.500 --> 00:20:47.420
 It leads

00:20:47.420 --> 00:20:48.780
 to sorrow.

00:20:49.460 --> 00:20:50.420
 Do you get that?

00:20:51.040 --> 00:20:51.500
 Now, of course,

00:20:51.540 --> 00:20:52.520
 there's some good things

00:20:52.520 --> 00:20:53.080
 that come with

00:20:53.080 --> 00:20:53.700
 what we've been able

00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:54.500
 to learn

00:20:54.500 --> 00:20:55.400
 and find out

00:20:55.400 --> 00:20:56.020
 about ourselves.

00:20:56.280 --> 00:20:56.700
 And yet,

00:20:56.740 --> 00:20:57.320
 what we see

00:20:57.320 --> 00:20:58.020
 is the pursuit

00:20:58.020 --> 00:20:58.480
 of knowledge

00:20:58.480 --> 00:20:59.180
 ends up

00:20:59.180 --> 00:21:00.180
 putting us

00:21:00.180 --> 00:21:00.760
 in a place

00:21:00.760 --> 00:21:01.580
 where we actually

00:21:01.580 --> 00:21:02.060
 feel as though

00:21:02.060 --> 00:21:02.680
 we are God,

00:21:02.760 --> 00:21:03.660
 that we can control

00:21:03.660 --> 00:21:04.780
 things.

00:21:04.779 --> 00:21:06.480
 and that leads

00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:06.980
 to the sorrow.

00:21:07.180 --> 00:21:07.700
 That leads

00:21:07.700 --> 00:21:08.440
 to the isolation.

00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:09.500
 That leads

00:21:09.500 --> 00:21:10.539
 to the pain.

00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:11.139
 And so,

00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:11.920
 what happens here?

00:21:12.639 --> 00:21:13.700
 She wants to be wise

00:21:13.700 --> 00:21:14.619
 and then

00:21:14.619 --> 00:21:15.700
 she passes

00:21:15.700 --> 00:21:16.480
 to her husband,

00:21:17.859 --> 00:21:18.119
 Adam.

00:21:20.059 --> 00:21:20.460
 Note,

00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:21.200
 he was the only one

00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:21.720
 that actually got

00:21:21.720 --> 00:21:22.160
 the instruction

00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:22.660
 from God

00:21:22.660 --> 00:21:23.180
 in chapter 2.

00:21:24.120 --> 00:21:24.299
 So,

00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:24.920
 what happened here

00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:25.820
 is God tells Adam,

00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:26.680
 hey,

00:21:26.840 --> 00:21:27.500
 you're going to work

00:21:27.500 --> 00:21:28.320
 and keep this garden.

00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:29.340
 You're going to name

00:21:29.340 --> 00:21:29.779
 all the animals

00:21:29.779 --> 00:21:30.360
 but there's one thing

00:21:30.360 --> 00:21:30.880
 you can't do,

00:21:31.380 --> 00:21:32.080
 eat from that tree.

00:21:33.100 --> 00:21:33.400
 And so,

00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:34.180
 he's supposed to pass

00:21:34.180 --> 00:21:34.920
 that message on

00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:36.460
 to Eve

00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:36.960
 and yet,

00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:37.640
 he doesn't do it.

00:21:38.180 --> 00:21:38.960
 Even worse

00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:40.880
 is when she talks

00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:41.279
 to the servant,

00:21:41.380 --> 00:21:42.019
 he's actually there.

00:21:42.080 --> 00:21:42.880
 He's actually standing

00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:43.740
 there silent.

00:21:45.960 --> 00:21:46.759
 And then,

00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:48.299
 she eats the fruit

00:21:48.299 --> 00:21:49.279
 and then she passes

00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:49.940
 it to him

00:21:49.940 --> 00:21:51.000
 and then he still

00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:51.880
 doesn't say anything.

00:21:53.180 --> 00:21:54.380
 And then he eats it himself.

00:21:55.380 --> 00:21:56.360
 The stupidity

00:21:56.360 --> 00:21:58.240
 of Adam

00:21:58.240 --> 00:21:59.840
 is on show

00:21:59.840 --> 00:22:00.860
 right here.

00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:02.820
 This wasn't

00:22:02.820 --> 00:22:03.759
 how he created

00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:04.820
 man to be.

00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:06.820
 And yet,

00:22:06.900 --> 00:22:07.380
 here we are

00:22:07.380 --> 00:22:08.259
 seeing this

00:22:08.259 --> 00:22:09.180
 silent

00:22:09.180 --> 00:22:10.560
 man

00:22:10.560 --> 00:22:12.759
 allow

00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:14.140
 the situation

00:22:14.140 --> 00:22:14.820
 to continue

00:22:14.820 --> 00:22:15.620
 to unfold

00:22:15.620 --> 00:22:16.400
 and lead us

00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:17.259
 down this slippery

00:22:17.259 --> 00:22:17.920
 slope.

00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:18.740
 And what happens?

00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:20.259
 The moment that happens,

00:22:21.180 --> 00:22:21.840
 they think they're

00:22:21.840 --> 00:22:22.340
 eating the fruit

00:22:22.340 --> 00:22:23.080
 and they'll suddenly

00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:23.839
 have this

00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:24.759
 just enlightenment.

00:22:25.419 --> 00:22:26.139
 They'll see

00:22:26.139 --> 00:22:26.779
 what's good

00:22:26.779 --> 00:22:27.359
 and what's evil.

00:22:27.919 --> 00:22:28.559
 That there will just be

00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:29.859
 this glorious

00:22:29.859 --> 00:22:31.419
 side that they see

00:22:31.419 --> 00:22:31.759
 and yet,

00:22:31.819 --> 00:22:32.240
 what happens

00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:33.240
 is this grotesque

00:22:33.240 --> 00:22:34.259
 anticlimax.

00:22:34.919 --> 00:22:36.240
 Those three relationships

00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:36.980
 that were supposed

00:22:36.980 --> 00:22:37.819
 to be all

00:22:37.819 --> 00:22:38.439
 interwoven

00:22:38.439 --> 00:22:38.899
 and connected

00:22:38.899 --> 00:22:39.939
 in this beautiful way,

00:22:40.259 --> 00:22:41.399
 it starts to fall apart

00:22:41.399 --> 00:22:42.279
 because they suddenly

00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:43.059
 see each other

00:22:43.059 --> 00:22:44.819
 and that first wall

00:22:44.819 --> 00:22:45.659
 comes up.

00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:47.399
 They look at each other

00:22:47.399 --> 00:22:48.480
 and they are disgusted.

00:22:49.139 --> 00:22:50.119
 They are ashamed.

00:22:50.119 --> 00:22:50.159
 ashamed.

00:22:50.320 --> 00:22:50.320


00:22:50.320 --> 00:22:53.259
 The moment we choose

00:22:53.259 --> 00:22:54.140
 to mistrust God,

00:22:54.940 --> 00:22:55.820
 the thing that's

00:22:55.820 --> 00:22:56.960
 introduced into humanity

00:22:56.960 --> 00:22:57.740
 is shame.

00:22:58.600 --> 00:22:59.279
 What is shame?

00:22:59.380 --> 00:22:59.940
 Shame is just

00:22:59.940 --> 00:23:01.140
 feeling bad about

00:23:01.140 --> 00:23:01.980
 who you are

00:23:01.980 --> 00:23:02.880
 yourself.

00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:03.980
 It's feeling that

00:23:03.980 --> 00:23:05.220
 you are fully seen

00:23:05.220 --> 00:23:06.380
 and fully known

00:23:06.380 --> 00:23:07.519
 and yet not fully

00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:08.120
 loved.

00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:10.000
 That is what

00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:11.000
 shame is

00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:11.880
 and we see it

00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:12.360
 completely

00:23:12.360 --> 00:23:13.700
 on show here

00:23:13.700 --> 00:23:14.759
 and they do something

00:23:14.759 --> 00:23:15.340
 which actually is

00:23:15.340 --> 00:23:15.940
 quite comical.

00:23:16.340 --> 00:23:16.740
 Verse 7,

00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:23.519
 And then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

00:23:24.059 --> 00:23:28.400
 So they covered each other up, saying, we don't want to look at each other.

00:23:28.700 --> 00:23:30.299
 We're going to cover them, cover each other.

00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:31.799
 We're going to hide from each other.

00:23:32.759 --> 00:23:38.720
 And from that moment, that relationship, that intimacy, that vulnerability, that authenticity is gone.

00:23:40.980 --> 00:23:42.420
 It is beginning to unravel.

00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:48.640
 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden, verse 8, in the cool of the day.

00:23:50.140 --> 00:23:51.100
 You can imagine this.

00:23:51.140 --> 00:23:53.560
 And maybe those of us in Hong Kong, we really resonate with this.

00:23:53.600 --> 00:23:57.640
 It was just a cool, nice day in a garden without humidity.

00:23:57.800 --> 00:24:00.560
 The humidity was probably at a 40% manageable rate.

00:24:01.560 --> 00:24:02.720
 And it's just breezy.

00:24:03.980 --> 00:24:05.880
 And they're just walking and they hear his sound.

00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:09.279
 And here you see the second relationship completely unraveling.

00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:11.220
 First, there's a war between them now.

00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:12.259
 That's why there's fig leaves.

00:24:12.420 --> 00:24:14.940
 And the second is they actually hide from him.

00:24:15.300 --> 00:24:18.820
 Which, of course, if you just took the picture of that scene, it would be comical.

00:24:19.240 --> 00:24:24.259
 You have two people covering themselves with fig leaves, hiding behind a bush from Almighty God, their creator.

00:24:25.600 --> 00:24:25.740
 Okay?

00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:32.380
 So what happens here is they hear him and they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

00:24:32.580 --> 00:24:34.340
 This tells me one thing, just on a side note.

00:24:34.420 --> 00:24:35.420
 It would have been so nice.

00:24:35.700 --> 00:24:37.100
 This must have been a regular thing.

00:24:37.420 --> 00:24:39.279
 That they could recognize the sound of him walking in.

00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:41.079
 That's what we were built for.

00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:46.639
 That we would be in a garden walking regularly, intimately, vulnerably with God without any shame.

00:24:47.379 --> 00:24:49.639
 And yet this time they hear him and they hide.

00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:53.599
 Now God knows where they are and God knows what's happened.

00:24:53.799 --> 00:24:55.579
 But he comes at them with some questions.

00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:57.839
 Which again just highlights the grace of God.

00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:06.639
 How many of us we are so used to when we've done something wrong that actually the authority to figure is going to come and come out with the stick without any questions.

00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:10.740
 Just come and straight away deliver punishment.

00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:12.220
 And yet God doesn't do that.

00:25:12.259 --> 00:25:13.519
 He just asks questions.

00:25:13.579 --> 00:25:14.819
 And he says, where are you?

00:25:14.899 --> 00:25:16.359
 Knowing full well where they are.

00:25:16.419 --> 00:25:18.720
 That is the grace of God on show right here.

00:25:18.980 --> 00:25:20.079
 And of course they hide.

00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:22.720
 And they said this.

00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:24.079
 Actually he talks to Adam.

00:25:24.259 --> 00:25:25.439
 Because he's the one who's responsible.

00:25:25.899 --> 00:25:28.599
 I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid is what Adam says.

00:25:28.779 --> 00:25:30.679
 Because I was naked and I hid myself.

00:25:31.379 --> 00:25:32.019
 God replies to him.

00:25:32.039 --> 00:25:33.059
 Who told you that you were naked?

00:25:33.179 --> 00:25:35.980
 Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?

00:25:36.259 --> 00:25:38.339
 Side note here is when we are hiding from God.

00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:42.779
 Isn't it just beautiful and just such a relief that he still comes pursuing us?

00:25:43.299 --> 00:25:46.299
 How many of us have been trying to run away, hide from God?

00:25:46.299 --> 00:25:50.980
 And yet what we see here, what the gospel is, what the whole gospel message is,

00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:55.159
 that Jesus is running towards us, coming towards us, pursuing us.

00:25:55.299 --> 00:25:57.500
 And of course he says, well I was trying to hide from you.

00:25:57.799 --> 00:26:01.139
 And then here comes, the first thing that comes is shame.

00:26:01.399 --> 00:26:03.519
 The second thing comes and it happens all the time.

00:26:03.579 --> 00:26:04.619
 It happens in my household.

00:26:04.859 --> 00:26:05.819
 It happens with my children.

00:26:05.940 --> 00:26:07.079
 It happens with me and Christina.

00:26:07.180 --> 00:26:07.859
 It happens with you.

00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:10.799
 Because when there's shame, the next thing that it leads to is blame.

00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:15.159
 So what happens here is Adam turns to God and says, well,

00:26:15.160 --> 00:26:17.240
 well, this is what happened, God.

00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:21.759
 The woman you gave me told me to eat the fruit.

00:26:22.340 --> 00:26:23.400
 So he blames two people.

00:26:23.980 --> 00:26:26.880
 He blames God and then he blames the other person.

00:26:27.300 --> 00:26:32.440
 How many times have you made a mistake and your default reaction is blaming someone?

00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:34.920
 Whether it's God, say, God, this is just too hard.

00:26:35.100 --> 00:26:36.400
 Why did you even do it like this?

00:26:36.660 --> 00:26:37.640
 This world is so broken.

00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:39.300
 It's your fault that we're here.

00:26:40.340 --> 00:26:42.000
 It's your fault that I'm stuck where I am.

00:26:42.820 --> 00:26:44.340
 Well, how many times do we blame someone else?

00:26:44.339 --> 00:26:48.539
 That shame always leads to blame because what we're trying to do is trying to deflect the shame.

00:26:48.740 --> 00:26:49.500
 We're trying to deflect.

00:26:49.619 --> 00:26:51.299
 Okay, people actually know that we are fallen.

00:26:51.639 --> 00:26:53.419
 What I need to do is make that excuse.

00:26:55.139 --> 00:26:57.059
 I don't know if we actually needed to learn that.

00:26:57.119 --> 00:26:58.819
 I think that just came naturally to us.

00:26:59.220 --> 00:27:01.220
 I look at my children and they do exactly the same.

00:27:01.339 --> 00:27:02.980
 Like, wow, this just happens.

00:27:03.059 --> 00:27:04.039
 Maybe they learn it from me.

00:27:04.339 --> 00:27:06.539
 But can you see that that is in all of us?

00:27:07.319 --> 00:27:10.539
 The woman you gave me told me to eat.

00:27:10.539 --> 00:27:16.639
 And yes, even though I did hear from you directly what I shouldn't do, and I should have really told her, but I didn't tell her properly.

00:27:16.859 --> 00:27:19.399
 And then when she told me to eat it, I just decided just to eat it.

00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:23.259
 Okay, it's really my fault, but I'm going to blame someone else first, is what's happening here.

00:27:24.579 --> 00:27:30.319
 I think first thing is followers of Christ is we get, well, actually, can we just own up to the things that we've done?

00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:33.539
 Can we be the first to say, actually, my bad, I'm sorry.

00:27:34.700 --> 00:27:39.220
 Recognizing, acknowledging of our human fallen nature and saying, well, yeah, that is me.

00:27:39.919 --> 00:27:40.379
 Worries me.

00:27:40.579 --> 00:27:44.179
 Romans 7, when Paul says, look, I know what I should do, but I don't do it.

00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:46.159
 And I know what I shouldn't do, but I still do it.

00:27:46.379 --> 00:27:47.659
 What a wretched person I am.

00:27:48.519 --> 00:27:49.299
 But thanks be to God.

00:27:49.939 --> 00:27:55.819
 Can we be the people, can we be the first people in our communities, in our workplace, to actually put our hand up and say sorry?

00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:57.679
 We're all running from fear.

00:27:57.839 --> 00:27:58.799
 We're all running from shame.

00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:01.279
 But what if we were freed from all of that?

00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:03.119
 What if we were liberated from that?

00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:08.079
 So when we make mistakes, we actually have the freedom to be able to apologize straight away.

00:28:09.500 --> 00:28:10.339
 Wouldn't that be good?

00:28:12.200 --> 00:28:17.940
 I think that would free up so much of society's problems if we were just willing to acknowledge and say sorry ourselves.

00:28:19.399 --> 00:28:21.359
 Shame, instead, leads to blame.

00:28:23.579 --> 00:28:27.819
 Of course, something else that we try and do when we have shame is we try and cover it up ourselves.

00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:31.419
 We blame other people for why we've made these mistakes.

00:28:31.419 --> 00:28:34.359
 And yet we also create fig leaves for ourselves.

00:28:34.460 --> 00:28:36.279
 What are the fig leaves of society that we have?

00:28:37.099 --> 00:28:38.759
 You don't feel good about yourself.

00:28:38.879 --> 00:28:43.319
 You don't feel as though you are a worthy, loved, human being that's worth knowing.

00:28:43.319 --> 00:28:46.659
 And so you cover yourself up by trying to inflate your bank account.

00:28:46.659 --> 00:28:52.480
 That you try and throw yourself into work, pursue your career, fulfill every ambition you have.

00:28:52.599 --> 00:28:54.919
 And that essentially is just your fig leave as well.

00:28:55.960 --> 00:28:57.720
 What about the relationships that we have?

00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:00.439
 The relationships were severed here.

00:29:01.099 --> 00:29:05.480
 But actually now we use relationships to be our fig leaves, to make us feel better about ourselves.

00:29:05.480 --> 00:29:10.819
 We look at the people around us and let them dictate how we feel about ourselves.

00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:13.259
 That is essentially a fig leaf as well.

00:29:14.339 --> 00:29:19.480
 The society of Hong Kong, whether it's the money, whether it's career, whether it's just how fun...

00:29:19.480 --> 00:29:28.519
 All of these things we're trying to prove to other people that we do have use, that we do have worth, that we can be admired, that we can be respected.

00:29:28.519 --> 00:29:32.940
 And we accumulate all these different fig leaves in our lives and cover ourselves up.

00:29:33.139 --> 00:29:35.019
 Yet to God they look silly.

00:29:37.220 --> 00:29:38.799
 The fig leaves that we have.

00:29:39.879 --> 00:29:43.359
 Of course, Eve herself then passes the blame on further.

00:29:43.859 --> 00:29:48.259
 And she says, the serpent deceived me and I ate it.

00:29:48.859 --> 00:29:50.839
 So she realizes that she was deceived.

00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:54.019
 Here's something else about deception.

00:29:54.019 --> 00:29:59.559
 If you are being deceived, you don't know that you are being deceived.

00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:05.779
 I know that sounds like an obvious statement, but I just need to say it again.

00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:10.779
 You yourself don't actually know that you are being deceived.

00:30:11.259 --> 00:30:14.339
 Because that's the very nature of deception.

00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:21.180
 You might be sat here going, well I'm justified in how I feel about that person because they did me wrong.

00:30:21.180 --> 00:30:25.560
 Or actually, I am actually in the right here.

00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:28.380
 And they're in the wrong.

00:30:28.539 --> 00:30:29.600
 And I should blame them.

00:30:30.100 --> 00:30:38.400
 And yes, whilst that may be the case, but the whole point of deception often is actually we just simply don't know what we don't know.

00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:45.540
 And when we're being deceived, then actually we fall right into it, thinking that we're in the right.

00:30:46.519 --> 00:30:51.280
 Again, this is where, as a follower of Christ, can we be in positions where we go, look, I think I'm right.

00:30:52.300 --> 00:30:54.500
 But let me also pray Psalm 139.

00:30:54.740 --> 00:30:55.880
 Lord, would you search my heart?

00:30:55.940 --> 00:30:56.820
 Would you test my thoughts?

00:30:57.060 --> 00:31:00.820
 How many of us have thought that we are right, but actually find out much later that we were not?

00:31:00.819 --> 00:31:01.379
 Right?

00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:10.379
 And so then by that very definition, maybe there's some things, some values, some perspectives that you're holding on to right now are not fully correct.

00:31:11.539 --> 00:31:13.599
 Actually, maybe the world's views have deceived you.

00:31:14.200 --> 00:31:14.939
 They've deceived me.

00:31:15.779 --> 00:31:22.119
 So as Christians, can we be in a place of humility and go, look, I want to humble myself and submit myself to this.

00:31:22.539 --> 00:31:23.779
 Because I believe this is the truth.

00:31:23.779 --> 00:31:36.559
 But some of my own opinions, some of my own thoughts, some of my own views on politics and on the economy and on relationships, I'm just going to humble myself and say, I don't actually truly, no, only one does, and that is God.

00:31:36.779 --> 00:31:44.779
 I'm just going to humble myself under this word, just in case I am being deceived, because the devil is everywhere prowling, looking to deceive people.

00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:49.619
 Can we be in a place of humility that allows us to be able to do that?

00:31:49.619 --> 00:31:58.439
 So anyway, God asks Adam, he asks the woman, he doesn't really give the serpent a chance because he knows what all the serpent is up to.

00:31:58.639 --> 00:32:00.759
 And then he jumps into the curse here.

00:32:00.879 --> 00:32:05.619
 And those three relationships that we talked about last week, you see him addressing each one.

00:32:05.679 --> 00:32:09.699
 So he talks to the serpent and he says, actually, you will lie on your belly all the days of your life.

00:32:09.959 --> 00:32:12.799
 You shall eat dust and you will have enmity.

00:32:13.439 --> 00:32:16.119
 Basically, there's two groups of people that are going to be.

00:32:16.119 --> 00:32:21.459
 There's going to be one group that trusts God and there's going to be one group that does not trust God, is what he's saying here.

00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:22.319
 This is verse 15.

00:32:22.719 --> 00:32:26.519
 I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring.

00:32:26.979 --> 00:32:34.059
 From this moment on, in this world, in humanity, there will be two groups of people, the group that trusts me and the group who do not.

00:32:34.539 --> 00:32:35.699
 And they will be at odds.

00:32:35.799 --> 00:32:38.279
 They will be at war with one another.

00:32:39.019 --> 00:32:44.119
 And I don't even need to go into the recent geopolitical tensions to highlight what this looks like.

00:32:44.119 --> 00:32:47.979
 This happens everywhere, not just on a global scale between countries.

00:32:48.259 --> 00:32:50.659
 This happens between, within countries.

00:32:50.839 --> 00:32:55.179
 This happens all the way down to within the families, people who trust God and people who do not.

00:32:56.339 --> 00:32:58.779
 All comes from this first moment here.

00:33:00.879 --> 00:33:05.000
 And then he says to the woman, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing.

00:33:05.259 --> 00:33:07.719
 In pain, you shall bring forth children.

00:33:09.859 --> 00:33:11.099
 Childbirth, painful.

00:33:11.099 --> 00:33:13.099
 Josh, it's going to be painful.

00:33:13.959 --> 00:33:19.439
 And I joke about this with the guys, but wear gloves, man.

00:33:19.919 --> 00:33:20.699
 Wear gloves.

00:33:21.019 --> 00:33:23.759
 When your hand gets squeezed, it is painful.

00:33:24.240 --> 00:33:25.679
 And then no one cares for you afterwards.

00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:26.480
 No one remembers you.

00:33:30.659 --> 00:33:31.719
 I'm just going to stop there.

00:33:31.839 --> 00:33:32.879
 I'm not going to tell any more jokes.

00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:34.399
 Because Christina does listen.

00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:42.740
 Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.

00:33:43.060 --> 00:33:44.100
 This makes me sad.

00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:49.300
 This is the beginning of where man rules over woman.

00:33:49.519 --> 00:33:55.320
 Not in a loving way, but in an abusive, possessive kind of way.

00:33:55.319 --> 00:33:57.740
 This wasn't meant to be.

00:33:59.319 --> 00:34:04.299
 Man was supposed to have dominion over the creatures, yet it ends up listening to the serpent.

00:34:05.319 --> 00:34:11.539
 Man was supposed to be able to love and lead the woman that was placed in his care, and yet he stays silent.

00:34:12.699 --> 00:34:16.340
 And what you see now is the sexes will now be at odds.

00:34:16.340 --> 00:34:20.340
 One will seek power and authority and use over one.

00:34:20.700 --> 00:34:25.940
 And the other, the woman, desiring intimacy, will never get it from the man.

00:34:27.120 --> 00:34:29.240
 Not in the way that it was intended from the beginning.

00:34:29.579 --> 00:34:34.640
 But now you see what the fall has done, is put that divide between man and woman.

00:34:35.980 --> 00:34:36.760
 And it's heartbreaking.

00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:38.539
 And then he says to Adam,

00:34:38.539 --> 00:34:58.199
 You were created to work.

00:34:58.420 --> 00:34:59.460
 And work wouldn't have been that hard.

00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:01.340
 Can you imagine work before the fall?

00:35:01.340 --> 00:35:02.880
 Hey, you're going to work and keep this garden.

00:35:03.099 --> 00:35:03.860
 And you're going to eat this food.

00:35:03.900 --> 00:35:04.480
 Oh, there's the food.

00:35:04.659 --> 00:35:04.800
 Boom.

00:35:04.960 --> 00:35:05.360
 You eat it.

00:35:05.559 --> 00:35:05.739
 Mmm.

00:35:05.880 --> 00:35:06.119
 Nice.

00:35:06.219 --> 00:35:06.440
 Delicious.

00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:07.199
 You move on.

00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:09.299
 It would have just been such an easy way to work.

00:35:09.559 --> 00:35:15.379
 And yet what we see now is that since he mistrusted God and allowed sin to enter into mankind, work will now be hard.

00:35:15.579 --> 00:35:18.460
 The ground that you work will now be filled with thorns and thistles.

00:35:19.239 --> 00:35:20.219
 It will be hard.

00:35:20.299 --> 00:35:24.439
 This is why those of us now look at work and see that it is just filled with toil.

00:35:25.219 --> 00:35:26.259
 Work is hard.

00:35:26.379 --> 00:35:28.179
 And we can trace it all the way back to here.

00:35:28.679 --> 00:35:30.559
 Work still is not evil, by the way.

00:35:30.879 --> 00:35:32.099
 We established that last week.

00:35:32.419 --> 00:35:33.759
 And yet it is hard.

00:35:33.819 --> 00:35:35.299
 It was designed to be hard.

00:35:35.299 --> 00:35:37.000
 The ground will now be cursed.

00:35:37.199 --> 00:35:42.779
 Those relationships with God, with others, and with work completely fractured.

00:35:43.480 --> 00:35:45.239
 The curse goes everywhere.

00:35:47.879 --> 00:35:49.299
 And you look at that and you think, whew.

00:35:49.300 --> 00:35:59.820
 If I'm honest with you, as pastors, Christina and I, we have this thought regularly, which is, oh, life is hard.

00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:03.220
 We look at the problems that you guys are going through.

00:36:03.219 --> 00:36:08.480
 The troubles that you have in your relationships, the trouble you have with work, at work.

00:36:09.719 --> 00:36:12.659
 The distance that you feel between you and God.

00:36:12.699 --> 00:36:16.500
 And we just sit there and go, oh, this is all so hard.

00:36:16.500 --> 00:36:24.059
 I was talking to a group of brothers the other day, talking about how hard work is, how meaningless sometimes it is.

00:36:24.059 --> 00:36:27.099
 And then there's always this dream.

00:36:27.099 --> 00:36:33.860
 And hear it from me as a secondary school teacher turned pastor, who most people will go, well, those are meaningful things.

00:36:33.900 --> 00:36:35.039
 You're pouring into the next generation.

00:36:35.159 --> 00:36:35.820
 You're caring for them.

00:36:35.900 --> 00:36:36.960
 You're raising them up.

00:36:38.179 --> 00:36:42.659
 I would be lying to you if I said that every day it feels purposeful and meaningful.

00:36:43.219 --> 00:36:44.139
 Gabs, you've been in ministry.

00:36:44.239 --> 00:36:45.059
 You've been in both sides.

00:36:45.340 --> 00:36:47.239
 You can see the vanity and the meaningless in both.

00:36:47.239 --> 00:36:50.399
 Or the despair, the lack of hope in both.

00:36:54.639 --> 00:36:56.699
 Yeah, it was never meant to be like this.

00:36:57.819 --> 00:37:04.079
 What we must do as Christians, not only when we make those mistakes, should we be able to, hey, say, it was me.

00:37:04.359 --> 00:37:06.339
 Let me take on the blame and let me not pass it on.

00:37:07.899 --> 00:37:11.579
 Also, look at this and go, okay, well, this is just how it is in this world right now.

00:37:11.879 --> 00:37:13.299
 Work is supposed to be hard.

00:37:13.359 --> 00:37:14.639
 But God, you put me in this garden.

00:37:14.879 --> 00:37:16.339
 What did you put me in this garden for?

00:37:16.340 --> 00:37:19.960
 Well, how can I serve others and how can I glorify you even if it is hard?

00:37:20.140 --> 00:37:21.240
 And what does it look like?

00:37:22.620 --> 00:37:24.400
 It's down to us to be able to do that.

00:37:25.800 --> 00:37:32.800
 And accept, really, of the consequences of our actions, the consequences of our mistrust.

00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:34.360
 But then we look at that and go, oh.

00:37:35.980 --> 00:37:36.539
 And then what?

00:37:36.800 --> 00:37:37.940
 What hope do we have?

00:37:38.039 --> 00:37:41.600
 Those three relationships that were supposed to be so beautiful now completely broken,

00:37:41.800 --> 00:37:45.579
 and we still see the brokenness right now, what hope do we have?

00:37:45.579 --> 00:37:49.199
 Well, I'm here to tell you, and this is where I'll finish the sermon on a slightly more hopeful,

00:37:49.199 --> 00:37:55.119
 happy note, is because I'm here to tell you that in this chapter three, there is the glimmer.

00:37:55.960 --> 00:38:01.819
 There is the Easter eggs of hope, of the good news.

00:38:01.820 --> 00:38:08.800
 Because it's in this bad news where we seem to have severed every tie that was supposed to be meaningful and purposeful for us.

00:38:09.100 --> 00:38:10.480
 We see glimmers of hope.

00:38:10.660 --> 00:38:11.720
 Let me show you where they are.

00:38:11.920 --> 00:38:14.100
 Okay, so he's given this curse out to these three.

00:38:14.440 --> 00:38:15.660
 Verse 20, he says this.

00:38:15.659 --> 00:38:20.839
 The man calls his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

00:38:21.480 --> 00:38:22.219
 That's interesting.

00:38:22.399 --> 00:38:23.839
 He just received the curse.

00:38:24.359 --> 00:38:27.359
 He's just heard about the three different problems that have now occurred,

00:38:27.480 --> 00:38:30.259
 that will happen from now until they die.

00:38:30.799 --> 00:38:33.440
 And yet in this moment, his first response, Adam, is,

00:38:33.519 --> 00:38:34.779
 I'm going to give my wife a name.

00:38:35.219 --> 00:38:36.299
 And she's going to be called Eve.

00:38:36.420 --> 00:38:37.859
 She's going to be the mother of all living.

00:38:37.940 --> 00:38:39.839
 Wait, did you not get the memo?

00:38:39.840 --> 00:38:43.840
 You guys ate from the tree, and now you will die.

00:38:44.280 --> 00:38:47.320
 And yet you're naming your wife the mother of all living.

00:38:48.360 --> 00:38:48.800
 Why?

00:38:49.059 --> 00:38:50.480
 Why is that the case here?

00:38:50.720 --> 00:38:54.300
 You see, if we go back to the curse that the serpent had in verse 15 to 16,

00:38:54.640 --> 00:38:58.440
 I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring.

00:38:58.760 --> 00:38:59.380
 There will be war.

00:38:59.480 --> 00:39:04.960
 That speaks to all the violence, the hostility that's happening between people.

00:39:05.960 --> 00:39:07.460
 But he's talking in plural there.

00:39:07.460 --> 00:39:08.940
 He's talking about groups of people.

00:39:08.940 --> 00:39:11.539
 The group that trusts God and the group that doesn't trust God.

00:39:12.260 --> 00:39:16.480
 But then he goes from plural to the second half part of verse 15,

00:39:17.079 --> 00:39:20.079
 and he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

00:39:20.679 --> 00:39:23.440
 He was talking about groups of people that were at odds with each other,

00:39:23.480 --> 00:39:24.860
 because one trusted God and one didn't.

00:39:25.139 --> 00:39:29.000
 And yet then he turns and says, from this, from these groups of people,

00:39:29.119 --> 00:39:30.800
 there will be someone.

00:39:32.200 --> 00:39:38.320
 There will be someone who will bruise the head of the serpent,

00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:40.640
 who could that person be?

00:39:40.840 --> 00:39:41.660
 Fast forward later.

00:39:42.880 --> 00:39:44.760
 Adam and Eve try and make these fig leaves of themselves.

00:39:44.920 --> 00:39:48.820
 We try and cover ourselves with fig leaves like money, like ambition, like career, like relationships.

00:39:49.140 --> 00:39:52.280
 And then God decides, okay, well, these fig leaves aren't going to work.

00:39:52.580 --> 00:39:53.340
 So what does he do?

00:39:53.460 --> 00:39:54.420
 In verse 21,

00:39:54.420 --> 00:40:01.420
 Garments of skins.

00:40:01.420 --> 00:40:02.519
 Garments of skins.

00:40:02.619 --> 00:40:03.920
 Where did those skins come from?

00:40:05.200 --> 00:40:09.260
 Many people believe that this was the first example of sacrifice.

00:40:09.260 --> 00:40:12.640
 Those skins would have had to come from animals.

00:40:13.540 --> 00:40:19.240
 This is God's first act of sacrifice that you see later played out in the form of all the laws,

00:40:19.340 --> 00:40:22.780
 the Levitical laws and sacrifices that we have, where it comes to atonement,

00:40:23.080 --> 00:40:27.960
 where in order to pay for sin, there must be a life that must pay.

00:40:27.960 --> 00:40:31.099
 And so God covers them with skin.

00:40:33.720 --> 00:40:35.579
 Covers them in a way that only he can.

00:40:35.699 --> 00:40:40.619
 Not like the fig leaves, but this time God is the one who covers them completely.

00:40:42.300 --> 00:40:45.240
 Innocent blood is slain for man to be covered up.

00:40:45.579 --> 00:40:47.460
 And then they are banished from the garden.

00:40:48.699 --> 00:40:52.679
 Now banishing from the gardens feels quite drastic, feels quite sad,

00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:56.000
 but really a lot of people believe this is also an act of mercy.

00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:58.579
 Because now they have chosen to mistrust him.

00:40:58.639 --> 00:41:00.599
 Now they have chosen to go into rebellion with him.

00:41:00.820 --> 00:41:03.599
 If they had stayed in the garden and continued to eat of the tree of life,

00:41:03.719 --> 00:41:07.059
 that would mean that they would be trapped in a permanent state of rebellion forever.

00:41:07.559 --> 00:41:10.059
 And yet God in his mercy takes them out and says,

00:41:10.159 --> 00:41:11.599
 actually, this will not be forever.

00:41:11.719 --> 00:41:15.280
 Your rebellion, your separation from me will not be forever.

00:41:15.579 --> 00:41:18.119
 The physical death is one thing, but the spiritual death,

00:41:19.159 --> 00:41:20.500
 I will preserve and I will save.

00:41:20.500 --> 00:41:23.820
 And he sets in place what he will do in the future.

00:41:23.960 --> 00:41:25.800
 And he moves them and he takes them out of the garden.

00:41:26.320 --> 00:41:28.300
 And therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden

00:41:28.300 --> 00:41:29.840
 to work the ground from which he was taken.

00:41:29.980 --> 00:41:32.940
 Still has to work, by the way, but this time is going to be much, much harder.

00:41:33.380 --> 00:41:36.260
 Verse 24, he drove out the man and at the east of the garden of Eden,

00:41:36.380 --> 00:41:38.840
 he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way

00:41:38.840 --> 00:41:41.400
 to guard the way of the tree of life.

00:41:41.519 --> 00:41:44.199
 They were never going to be allowed back into the garden again.

00:41:44.280 --> 00:41:46.599
 The garden where they would be so used to walking with God,

00:41:46.719 --> 00:41:48.320
 they are now not allowed in.

00:41:48.320 --> 00:41:52.320
 And there will be a big sword that stops them from entering in,

00:41:52.320 --> 00:41:54.820
 from entering and eating from the tree of life,

00:41:55.120 --> 00:41:57.120
 causing them to be in a permanent state of rebellion

00:41:57.120 --> 00:41:58.800
 because God had a plan.

00:41:59.660 --> 00:42:01.500
 God had a rescue plan.

00:42:01.780 --> 00:42:06.100
 Man and woman failed at their first attempt in obeying God in the garden.

00:42:06.300 --> 00:42:09.600
 But there will come one moment where one person

00:42:09.600 --> 00:42:12.160
 who will bruise the head of the serpent,

00:42:12.840 --> 00:42:15.460
 who himself finds himself in a garden,

00:42:15.460 --> 00:42:17.019
 next to a tree,

00:42:18.900 --> 00:42:19.599
 the same call,

00:42:20.420 --> 00:42:21.619
 trust and obey.

00:42:23.039 --> 00:42:24.820
 And despite the fear,

00:42:24.940 --> 00:42:25.579
 despite the pain,

00:42:25.679 --> 00:42:26.340
 despite the sorrow,

00:42:27.480 --> 00:42:29.280
 ends up choosing to obey God

00:42:29.280 --> 00:42:29.860
 and says,

00:42:30.679 --> 00:42:31.380
 yeah, not my will,

00:42:32.039 --> 00:42:33.240
 but yours be done.

00:42:34.059 --> 00:42:34.519
 You see, mankind,

00:42:35.519 --> 00:42:37.059
 creation was cursed from that moment

00:42:37.059 --> 00:42:39.099
 in the tree and with the garden.

00:42:39.800 --> 00:42:41.039
 But there will come a moment

00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:43.039
 where that curse is completely reversed

00:42:43.039 --> 00:42:45.300
 also because of a tree.

00:42:45.739 --> 00:42:46.279
 But this time,

00:42:46.340 --> 00:42:48.059
 the tree turns into a cross.

00:42:49.279 --> 00:42:49.920
 This time,

00:42:50.820 --> 00:42:51.940
 the last Adam,

00:42:52.279 --> 00:42:52.920
 the second Adam,

00:42:54.059 --> 00:42:55.739
 does what the first Adam could never do,

00:42:55.820 --> 00:42:58.400
 which is to trust and obey God.

00:43:01.079 --> 00:43:03.000
 The first Adam hears from God saying,

00:43:03.119 --> 00:43:04.179
 obey me and you will live.

00:43:04.719 --> 00:43:06.920
 The second Adam in the garden of Gethsemane,

00:43:07.460 --> 00:43:07.900
 God says,

00:43:07.980 --> 00:43:08.980
 obey me and you will die.

00:43:10.099 --> 00:43:10.840
 But you will die

00:43:10.840 --> 00:43:12.820
 in order for others to live.

00:43:13.860 --> 00:43:14.659
 You will pay

00:43:14.659 --> 00:43:16.980
 the wages

00:43:16.980 --> 00:43:18.579
 of sin,

00:43:18.639 --> 00:43:19.119
 which is death.

00:43:19.880 --> 00:43:20.639
 You will pay

00:43:20.639 --> 00:43:21.579
 and you will reverse.

00:43:22.320 --> 00:43:23.920
 And how death came through

00:43:23.920 --> 00:43:25.519
 one man is what Romans 5 says,

00:43:25.960 --> 00:43:26.619
 now life

00:43:26.619 --> 00:43:27.779
 will be breathed

00:43:27.779 --> 00:43:29.360
 into all mankind

00:43:29.360 --> 00:43:30.840
 through what you do

00:43:30.840 --> 00:43:31.800
 with the tree.

00:43:33.159 --> 00:43:33.800
 Can you see

00:43:33.800 --> 00:43:35.099
 the significance of the garden?

00:43:35.239 --> 00:43:35.779
 Can you see

00:43:35.779 --> 00:43:37.099
 the significance of the tree?

00:43:37.500 --> 00:43:38.099
 And that sword

00:43:38.099 --> 00:43:38.699
 that guards

00:43:38.699 --> 00:43:40.360
 Adam and Eve

00:43:40.360 --> 00:43:40.880
 from the garden,

00:43:41.460 --> 00:43:41.820
 God's saying,

00:43:41.940 --> 00:43:42.699
 you can't come in.

00:43:43.480 --> 00:43:44.719
 Not in your current state

00:43:44.719 --> 00:43:46.139
 because you'll be separated

00:43:46.139 --> 00:43:47.500
 from me forever.

00:43:48.619 --> 00:43:50.099
 And you won't survive the sword.

00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:52.179
 And yet Jesus himself

00:43:52.179 --> 00:43:53.779
 gets pierced

00:43:53.779 --> 00:43:55.539
 for our sins.

00:43:57.420 --> 00:43:58.139
 Dying the death

00:43:58.139 --> 00:43:59.179
 that we were supposed to die

00:43:59.179 --> 00:44:00.719
 in order to get the life

00:44:00.719 --> 00:44:02.159
 that we never deserved.

00:44:02.159 --> 00:44:05.179
 it's funny.

00:44:05.480 --> 00:44:06.759
 Adam knows this promise

00:44:06.759 --> 00:44:07.599
 even though it's a curse.

00:44:07.679 --> 00:44:08.899
 He knows that something's happening.

00:44:09.179 --> 00:44:10.519
 So he calls his wife Eve

00:44:10.519 --> 00:44:11.920
 because he knows

00:44:11.920 --> 00:44:13.099
 that she will still be

00:44:13.099 --> 00:44:14.139
 the mother of all living

00:44:14.139 --> 00:44:15.259
 and it will be painful.

00:44:16.659 --> 00:44:18.019
 The pangs of childbirth,

00:44:18.119 --> 00:44:18.699
 the love labor

00:44:18.699 --> 00:44:19.599
 will be painful.

00:44:19.839 --> 00:44:20.779
 Yet this one man

00:44:20.779 --> 00:44:22.079
 that comes many years later

00:44:22.079 --> 00:44:22.399
 says,

00:44:22.539 --> 00:44:23.339
 I will turn sorrow

00:44:23.339 --> 00:44:24.440
 into joy

00:44:24.440 --> 00:44:25.559
 and there will be pain.

00:44:25.559 --> 00:44:28.099
 But after the pain

00:44:28.099 --> 00:44:28.980
 there will be life

00:44:28.980 --> 00:44:29.820
 and there will be joy

00:44:29.820 --> 00:44:30.980
 is what John 16 says.

00:44:32.079 --> 00:44:33.079
 And you look at Romans 8

00:44:33.079 --> 00:44:34.119
 where it says

00:44:34.119 --> 00:44:34.719
 all creation

00:44:34.719 --> 00:44:35.860
 is just groaning,

00:44:37.500 --> 00:44:37.840
 longing

00:44:37.840 --> 00:44:39.500
 for the revealing

00:44:39.500 --> 00:44:40.400
 of the sons of God.

00:44:41.000 --> 00:44:41.579
 And yet you see

00:44:41.579 --> 00:44:42.700
 so even though

00:44:42.700 --> 00:44:43.500
 there is pain

00:44:43.500 --> 00:44:44.300
 in labor,

00:44:44.460 --> 00:44:45.460
 even though there is pain

00:44:45.460 --> 00:44:46.460
 in childbirth,

00:44:47.140 --> 00:44:49.140
 it gives birth to life.

00:44:51.340 --> 00:44:52.160
 All of that

00:44:52.160 --> 00:44:52.880
 is pointing

00:44:52.880 --> 00:44:54.380
 to Jesus.

00:44:55.220 --> 00:44:56.539
 The sacrificial lamb

00:44:56.539 --> 00:44:57.980
 that was slain for us.

00:44:59.140 --> 00:45:00.660
 God covers Adam and Eve

00:45:00.660 --> 00:45:02.000
 with animal skin.

00:45:03.519 --> 00:45:05.079
 And now we sit here

00:45:05.079 --> 00:45:06.120
 being covered

00:45:06.119 --> 00:45:08.019
 Jesus himself,

00:45:08.179 --> 00:45:08.819
 the prince of heaven

00:45:08.819 --> 00:45:09.460
 with the robe

00:45:09.460 --> 00:45:10.880
 of heaven

00:45:10.880 --> 00:45:12.119
 puts it over us

00:45:12.119 --> 00:45:13.000
 and covers us

00:45:13.000 --> 00:45:14.079
 so that we

00:45:14.079 --> 00:45:15.119
 would be considered innocent.

00:45:15.960 --> 00:45:16.659
 Can you see?

00:45:17.699 --> 00:45:18.019
 Yes,

00:45:18.139 --> 00:45:19.159
 every relationship

00:45:19.159 --> 00:45:19.980
 that we have now

00:45:19.980 --> 00:45:20.759
 has been fractured

00:45:20.759 --> 00:45:21.819
 because of sin.

00:45:22.099 --> 00:45:23.139
 Yet there is hope

00:45:23.139 --> 00:45:24.719
 because one man came,

00:45:25.739 --> 00:45:26.500
 entered the garden,

00:45:27.199 --> 00:45:28.339
 trusted and obeyed God,

00:45:29.579 --> 00:45:30.719
 sacrificed himself,

00:45:31.719 --> 00:45:32.440
 covered us,

00:45:33.980 --> 00:45:34.739
 subjected himself

00:45:34.739 --> 00:45:35.359
 to the sword,

00:45:36.119 --> 00:45:37.359
 so that we could live.

00:45:38.559 --> 00:45:39.519
 He broke down

00:45:39.519 --> 00:45:40.519
 the dividing wall

00:45:40.519 --> 00:45:41.139
 of hostility

00:45:41.139 --> 00:45:42.019
 between people

00:45:42.019 --> 00:45:43.159
 because of him

00:45:43.159 --> 00:45:44.059
 that is now gone.

00:45:46.519 --> 00:45:47.359
 That distance

00:45:47.359 --> 00:45:47.880
 that we feel

00:45:47.880 --> 00:45:48.219
 from God

00:45:48.219 --> 00:45:48.880
 is now gone

00:45:48.880 --> 00:45:49.659
 because we can access

00:45:49.659 --> 00:45:50.480
 God through him.

00:45:52.559 --> 00:45:53.279
 Can you see

00:45:53.279 --> 00:45:54.259
 he comes to restore

00:45:54.259 --> 00:45:55.539
 every relationship?

00:45:56.239 --> 00:45:56.779
 That blueprint

00:45:56.779 --> 00:45:57.500
 that was given us

00:45:57.500 --> 00:45:58.219
 is now restored

00:45:58.219 --> 00:45:59.019
 through one man,

00:45:59.819 --> 00:46:00.420
 the last Adam.

00:46:01.679 --> 00:46:02.799
 And because of his death

00:46:02.800 --> 00:46:04.140
 and because of his resurrection,

00:46:04.700 --> 00:46:06.539
 we can have hope

00:46:06.539 --> 00:46:07.260
 despite the fall.

00:46:07.620 --> 00:46:08.840
 We can sit and go,

00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:09.660
 we are still

00:46:09.660 --> 00:46:10.760
 a fallen people.

00:46:11.780 --> 00:46:12.120
 Man,

00:46:12.200 --> 00:46:12.940
 just what Sam said,

00:46:13.180 --> 00:46:13.560
 remind me,

00:46:13.660 --> 00:46:14.340
 just Romans 3,

00:46:14.420 --> 00:46:15.420
 that we all fall short

00:46:15.420 --> 00:46:16.640
 of the glory of God.

00:46:18.240 --> 00:46:19.420
 Isn't it just liberating

00:46:19.420 --> 00:46:20.420
 to be able to say that

00:46:20.420 --> 00:46:20.580
 and go,

00:46:20.660 --> 00:46:20.800
 man,

00:46:20.840 --> 00:46:21.660
 I fall short

00:46:21.660 --> 00:46:22.620
 of the glory of God

00:46:22.620 --> 00:46:23.620
 today,

00:46:23.900 --> 00:46:24.220
 yesterday,

00:46:24.400 --> 00:46:25.680
 and I probably will tomorrow,

00:46:25.679 --> 00:46:26.759
 but yet,

00:46:27.039 --> 00:46:28.219
 we are justified

00:46:28.219 --> 00:46:29.539
 freely by his grace

00:46:29.539 --> 00:46:30.079
 as a gift

00:46:30.079 --> 00:46:31.179
 because of Christ Jesus.

00:46:33.319 --> 00:46:34.299
 The one who

00:46:34.299 --> 00:46:35.159
 paid the price.

00:46:38.419 --> 00:46:39.559
 The one who desires

00:46:39.559 --> 00:46:40.319
 to walk with us

00:46:40.319 --> 00:46:41.099
 in the garden again.

00:46:42.559 --> 00:46:44.139
 The one who will allow us

00:46:44.139 --> 00:46:45.119
 to walk in the garden

00:46:45.119 --> 00:46:45.719
 again.

00:46:48.559 --> 00:46:49.460
 Can you see

00:46:49.460 --> 00:46:51.019
 that even in

00:46:51.019 --> 00:46:52.019
 the most

00:46:52.019 --> 00:46:53.779
 depressing of chapters

00:46:53.779 --> 00:46:54.440
 in the scripture,

00:46:54.440 --> 00:46:56.139
 you see

00:46:56.139 --> 00:46:56.800
 glimmers of hope.

00:46:58.039 --> 00:46:59.000
 I encourage you

00:46:59.000 --> 00:46:59.579
 as you look at the

00:46:59.579 --> 00:47:01.000
 SEMP today

00:47:01.000 --> 00:47:02.860
 and as you look at

00:47:02.860 --> 00:47:03.980
 everything that's going

00:47:03.980 --> 00:47:04.380
 on around

00:47:04.380 --> 00:47:05.019
 and you see

00:47:05.019 --> 00:47:05.440
 darkness

00:47:05.440 --> 00:47:06.220
 and you see

00:47:06.220 --> 00:47:07.519
 Genesis chapter 3

00:47:07.519 --> 00:47:08.260
 both outside

00:47:08.260 --> 00:47:09.019
 and both inside,

00:47:09.360 --> 00:47:10.599
 I encourage you

00:47:10.599 --> 00:47:11.320
 not to stop there.

00:47:13.500 --> 00:47:14.240
 Look deeper.

00:47:14.920 --> 00:47:15.440
 Look closer.

00:47:16.440 --> 00:47:17.159
 And you will see hope.

00:47:17.940 --> 00:47:18.720
 And you will see light.

00:47:19.480 --> 00:47:20.220
 And you will see life.

00:47:21.679 --> 00:47:22.340
 And you will see

00:47:22.340 --> 00:47:23.019
 the Prince of Heaven.

00:47:25.380 --> 00:47:26.099
 Doing the work

00:47:26.099 --> 00:47:26.579
 of the Father.

00:47:26.900 --> 00:47:27.639
 Bringing his children

00:47:27.639 --> 00:47:28.460
 back to him.

00:47:29.500 --> 00:47:30.920
 And soon he will return

00:47:30.920 --> 00:47:32.000
 in clouds of glory

00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:32.760
 and we will hear

00:47:32.760 --> 00:47:33.460
 him again

00:47:33.460 --> 00:47:34.280
 before we see him

00:47:34.280 --> 00:47:34.700
 likely.

00:47:36.260 --> 00:47:36.980
 But he will make

00:47:36.980 --> 00:47:37.519
 all things new.

00:47:39.820 --> 00:47:40.760
 That's what frees us.

00:47:41.340 --> 00:47:42.440
 That's what allows us

00:47:42.440 --> 00:47:43.420
 to admit our mistakes.

00:47:43.679 --> 00:47:44.539
 That's what allows us

00:47:44.539 --> 00:47:45.559
 to not pass blame

00:47:45.559 --> 00:47:46.300
 on to other people.

00:47:46.579 --> 00:47:47.559
 That's what allows us

00:47:47.559 --> 00:47:48.119
 to get back

00:47:48.119 --> 00:47:48.860
 to the garden.

00:47:48.860 --> 00:47:48.960
 God,

00:47:49.960 --> 00:47:52.920
 we're going to spend

00:47:52.920 --> 00:47:53.460
 time now

00:47:53.460 --> 00:47:54.579
 just to reflect.

00:47:55.640 --> 00:47:55.920
 Again,

00:47:55.980 --> 00:47:57.000
 to ask that question.

00:47:57.579 --> 00:47:57.780
 God,

00:47:57.880 --> 00:47:58.440
 search my heart,

00:47:58.539 --> 00:47:59.079
 test my thoughts.

00:47:59.120 --> 00:48:00.200
 If there is anything

00:48:00.200 --> 00:48:00.680
 offensive,

00:48:00.920 --> 00:48:01.920
 anything anxious to you,

00:48:02.360 --> 00:48:05.019
 anything that is me

00:48:05.019 --> 00:48:06.220
 not trusting you,

00:48:06.340 --> 00:48:07.180
 whether it's a relationship,

00:48:07.320 --> 00:48:08.019
 whether it's work,

00:48:09.200 --> 00:48:11.000
 whether it's anything

00:48:11.000 --> 00:48:11.680
 that's going on in our lives,

00:48:11.740 --> 00:48:12.440
 if there's anything

00:48:12.440 --> 00:48:13.120
 that is me

00:48:13.120 --> 00:48:14.120
 not trusting you,

00:48:14.260 --> 00:48:14.480
 God,

00:48:14.539 --> 00:48:15.820
 I repent of it right now.

00:48:15.980 --> 00:48:17.519
 Why can I trust you

00:48:17.519 --> 00:48:18.640
 because of what you did,

00:48:18.700 --> 00:48:19.480
 that you gave your son

00:48:19.480 --> 00:48:20.220
 to die for us?

00:48:20.559 --> 00:48:21.640
 We're going to take communion

00:48:21.640 --> 00:48:22.500
 right now.

00:48:22.780 --> 00:48:23.660
 What I ask you to do

00:48:23.660 --> 00:48:24.760
 is reflect on that.

00:48:25.960 --> 00:48:26.680
 Reflect on the work

00:48:26.680 --> 00:48:27.480
 that was already done.

00:48:29.440 --> 00:48:30.440
 Reflect on the sacrifice

00:48:30.440 --> 00:48:30.960
 of Jesus

00:48:30.960 --> 00:48:31.680
 that allows us

00:48:31.680 --> 00:48:32.519
 to enter into

00:48:32.519 --> 00:48:33.140
 God's presence

00:48:33.140 --> 00:48:33.920
 again.

00:48:35.800 --> 00:48:36.700
 But here's the thing.

00:48:38.880 --> 00:48:39.760
 In order to

00:48:39.760 --> 00:48:40.980
 experience the freedom

00:48:40.980 --> 00:48:41.559
 and liberation,

00:48:41.700 --> 00:48:42.559
 we must first repent.

00:48:44.019 --> 00:48:45.260
 Because there is

00:48:45.260 --> 00:48:46.640
 any Eve in us,

00:48:47.640 --> 00:48:48.820
 any doubts

00:48:48.820 --> 00:48:49.640
 and deceptions

00:48:49.640 --> 00:48:50.260
 that we've brought,

00:48:51.220 --> 00:48:52.120
 where if we've just

00:48:52.120 --> 00:48:52.940
 stayed silent

00:48:52.940 --> 00:48:53.940
 and stupid

00:48:53.940 --> 00:48:54.480
 like Adam,

00:48:55.940 --> 00:48:57.020
 whatever it is,

00:48:58.380 --> 00:48:59.540
 let us take it

00:48:59.540 --> 00:49:00.200
 to the cross now

00:49:00.200 --> 00:49:00.600
 and go,

00:49:01.160 --> 00:49:01.400
 Jesus,

00:49:01.580 --> 00:49:02.020
 thank you

00:49:02.020 --> 00:49:02.960
 for dealing

00:49:02.960 --> 00:49:04.080
 with this.

00:49:05.580 --> 00:49:06.360
 I fall short

00:49:06.360 --> 00:49:07.080
 of your glory.

00:49:07.420 --> 00:49:08.100
 I have missed

00:49:08.100 --> 00:49:09.220
 the mark.

00:49:11.480 --> 00:49:12.360
 But thank you.

00:49:15.260 --> 00:49:15.860
 that you have

00:49:15.860 --> 00:49:16.400
 paid the price.

00:49:17.500 --> 00:49:18.060
 I'll spend a moment

00:49:18.060 --> 00:49:18.720
 in silence now.

00:49:18.720 --> 00:49:18.800
 Amen.

00:49:18.800 --> 00:49:36.340
 Lord, all our lives,

00:49:36.420 --> 00:49:37.740
 you've been faithful.

00:49:39.140 --> 00:49:39.800
 In fact,

00:49:39.800 --> 00:49:40.760
 from the beginning

00:49:40.760 --> 00:49:41.360
 of time,

00:49:41.740 --> 00:49:42.620
 you have been faithful.

00:49:44.180 --> 00:49:45.220
 And we thank you

00:49:45.220 --> 00:49:45.760
 that when

00:49:45.760 --> 00:49:47.440
 we had no hope,

00:49:47.440 --> 00:49:48.280
 you gave us hope.

00:49:48.820 --> 00:49:49.539
 You gave us hope

00:49:49.539 --> 00:49:51.900
 through Jesus Christ

00:49:51.900 --> 00:49:52.579
 on the cross.

00:49:54.079 --> 00:49:55.280
 And in response,

00:49:56.400 --> 00:49:57.559
 as we just sang,

00:49:57.679 --> 00:49:57.820
 Lord,

00:49:57.880 --> 00:49:58.679
 we will sing

00:49:58.679 --> 00:49:59.559
 of your goodness.

00:50:00.740 --> 00:50:02.139
 Even when we are

00:50:02.139 --> 00:50:04.519
 in the trenches,

00:50:05.200 --> 00:50:06.139
 even when we are

00:50:06.139 --> 00:50:06.619
 facing

00:50:06.619 --> 00:50:10.200
 the different worldly pressures,

00:50:10.340 --> 00:50:11.179
 the different things

00:50:11.179 --> 00:50:12.079
 that people say

00:50:12.079 --> 00:50:12.659
 over us,

00:50:12.720 --> 00:50:12.880
 Lord,

00:50:12.880 --> 00:50:13.840
 we will sing

00:50:13.840 --> 00:50:14.660
 of your goodness.

00:50:15.980 --> 00:50:16.840
 Because we

00:50:16.840 --> 00:50:17.740
 know that you

00:50:17.740 --> 00:50:18.460
 have been faithful

00:50:18.460 --> 00:50:19.059
 to us.

00:50:20.640 --> 00:50:21.600
 In Jesus' name

00:50:21.600 --> 00:50:21.900
 we pray.

00:50:22.620 --> 00:50:22.960
 Amen.