Genesis chapter 3. Please join with me.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
And he said to the woman,
Did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?
And the woman said to the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden.
But God said,
You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that's in the midst of the garden.
Neither shall you touch it, lest you die.
But the serpent said to the woman,
You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it,
your eyes will be opened and you'll be like God, knowing good and evil.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and it was a delight to the eyes
and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,
she took of its fruit and ate.
And she also gave some to her husband who was with her.
And he ate.
Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked
and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord,
from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
But the Lord God called to the man and said to him,
Where are you?
And he said,
I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid
because I was naked and I hid myself.
He said,
Who told you that you were naked?
Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?
And the man said,
The woman you gave me to be with me,
she gave me the fruit of the tree and I ate.
And the Lord God said to the woman,
What is this that you have done?
And the woman said,
The serpent deceived me and I ate.
The Lord God said to the serpent,
Because you have done this,
curse to you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field.
On your belly you shall go
and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman
and between your offspring and her offspring.
And he shall bruise your head
and you shall bruise his heel.
To the woman he said,
I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing.
In pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband.
But he shall rule over you.
And to Adam he said,
Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,
you shall not eat of it.
Cursed is the ground because of you.
In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.
And you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground.
For out of it you were taken.
For you are dust.
And to dust you shall return.
The man called his wife's name Eve
because she was the mother of all living.
And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife
garments of skins and clothed them.
Then the Lord God said,
Behold,
the man has become like one of us
in knowing good and evil.
Now,
lest he reach out his hand
and take also the tree of life
and eat and live forever.
Therefore,
the Lord God sent him out
from the garden of Eden
to work the ground
from which he was taken.
He drove out the man
and at the east of the garden of Eden
he placed cherubim
and a flaming sword
that turned every way
to guard the way
to the tree.
Well,
good morning,
everyone.
Why don't we pray
as we come to God's word.
Lord God,
we always need your help
to hear you speak
through your word.
We need your help
to understand.
We need your help
to trust
that your way
is the way of life.
So I ask
that you would be
helping each one of us
to listen to what you say
here in Genesis 3
and help me
to be true
and clear
and give
all the glory
to Christ.
In his name we pray.
Amen.
Well,
it's a bit of a negative
question to start with,
but what do you covet?
We don't really use
that word much,
do we?
What does someone else
have that you just
long
to have
to possess yourself?
Let me ask
another question.
what is it
that you are willing
to hurt
for?
To work
hard
and struggle
to make happen?
You're willing
to have pain
to get it.
I'm asking
these questions
because
I'm hoping
they start
to bring
some things
to mind
and help you
to work out
what you believe
is the best
thing about paradise,
the paradise
we've heard
in Genesis 1
and 2.
Is it the place?
Is it a body
that is in order?
Imagine that.
Relationships
and family
thriving.
Just abundance.
The safety,
the purpose,
the significance
in your work.
So is it the place?
Is that the best
thing
about
paradise?
Is it the
flourishing
of human
relationships?
Is that
the best
thing?
Or
is the
very best
thing
that the
Lord is
there?
What we think
is the very
best thing
about paradise
is what
we will be
spending our
entire lives,
body and
soul,
striving to get.
life
so it's
pretty important
that we
work out
what the
very best
thing is.
Otherwise
we'll be
spending our
whole lives
chasing
something that
isn't the
best.
We're about
to hear
what our
greatest
problem
is
that's
getting in
the road
of having
the best
thing.
We're going
to hear
about why
life now
is more
like a
wilderness
than a
garden.
and we're
going to
get a
glimpse of
the solution,
a picture
of the
hope that
we have.
So how
did chaos
and darkness
and death
become the
new normal
in God's
very good
world?
How did
that happen
in a word
the Bible's
word for
it is sin?
Here we
get in
Genesis 3
the beginning
of sin.
But it's
not only where
sin began,
this is the
best case
study you'll
find on
what sin
actually is
because you
can't blame
what happened
here on
the environment.
You can't.
You can't
blame it on
family upbringing.
We get
the best case
study for
understanding
what sin
is here.
So to
understand
how awful
and foolish
sin actually
is, we
need to
just remember
what we've
seen so
far in
Genesis 1
and 2
and I
want to
describe it
from Adam
and Eve's
perspective.
I think,
see if you
agree with me
here, but I
think it would
have felt a
lot like
play.
I don't
mean a
theatrical
play like
they're
pretending.
I mean like,
I reckon it
probably felt
something like a
father play
wrestling their
child in the
backyard in the
grass.
purpose.
I'm not
trying to say
that Adam
and Eve's
purpose wasn't
important.
They were
representing God
in everything
they were doing.
They must have
felt hugely
significant.
And I'm not
even saying that
their work wasn't
difficult.
It could have
been very
strenuous, but
it would have
been full of
purpose.
It would have
been without
any sense of
fear.
They would have
been full of
confidence.
It would have
been done in
community.
The results
would have
been fruitful.
I think, have
you found, like,
even if you're
scrubbing a
dirty pot in
the sink, washing
it up, sometimes
if you're just so
busy talking and
laughing with the
person next to
you, it feels
like play.
It doesn't feel
like work.
There they were
with the Lord in
everything they're
doing.
there they were
speaking and
walking with the
Lord, hearing his
words to them,
knowing that his
words were the
same source, the
same words that
put the sun in the
sky to warm their
face.
Those were the
words that formed
the rivers to
create this garden
that commanded the
rain to fall so
that everything they
ate was from him.
When they were
hearing his words,
they knew that
they were the
ones who put the
stars in place
that declare his
glory.
This is the one
we're talking to
right now, the
one who made all
this.
All the animals
and plants,
beautiful to the
eye.
And they were in
total oneness of
soul and body as
man and woman,
never competing,
never threatened,
but reflecting the
love of God and
loving God together,
worshipping him
together.
They were in such
close relationship
with God and with
such dignity,
representing him,
being image bearers
in the world,
they were so close
to being God
himself that God
put one limit in
place, a limit for
them to enjoy so
that they can
remember the Lord
is God and I am
your people, we are
your people.
To quote the
theologian
Colin Buchanan,
you can tell what
we've got playing
over and over in
our car, that
birds were made
for flying,
flip,
flap,
flippity flap,
fish were made
to swim,
splish,
splash,
splish,
splash,
you and me
were made by
God to love
and treasure
him.
They knew
that the Lord
deserved their
heart, soul,
mind and strength
and they were
totally fulfilled
giving it to
him.
I'm suggesting
that must have
felt a lot like
play.
joy, or if
you want a
biblical word,
joy, just
pure joy.
Enter the
serpent.
Verse 1.
Scripture later
identifies this
ancient serpent as
the adversary of
God, Satan.
We're not told
where he came
from, how he
fell, we want
to know all
that, but
we're not
told.
We don't
need to
know.
It's
possible that
verse 1 isn't
just a
description but
part of the
deception.
That coming
in the form of
a serpent,
clearly underneath
the authority as
a creature to
Adam and Eve.
So maybe that
was part of the
deception.
The main
lesson here isn't
in the action of
taking and
eating because
that is very
quickly dealt
with in verse
5.
The focus is it
slows down and
concentrates on the
conversation.
This is where we
need to learn the
lesson of sin in the
conversation that
takes place.
Don't be ignorant of
Satan's schemes.
Learn them here.
Understand the
anatomy of
temptation and what
sin is.
He doesn't
outright suggest
disobedience.
That's obvious.
The best truths,
as we all know,
are half-truths.
He invites Eve to
question God's
word.
Notice from
verse 1 to
verse 2 that it
goes from the
name the Lord
God back to
just God.
Now maybe,
maybe that's
suggesting that
Satan wants
Eve, just
forget God's
personal covenant
relational nature.
Just forget that
for a moment.
Let's have a
conversation here.
Maybe that's
what's going on.
Now this should
have been a very
short conversation
if Eve knew
clearly and
trusted what
God had said.
But Satan is
more precise with
God's word,
the actual
word in here,
than Eve was.
First she
minimises the
provision of
God.
She says we
may eat of
the fruit of
the trees.
But the Lord
said you may
surely eat of
every tree.
Maybe we
shouldn't read
into it too
much but it
sounds like she's
already minimising
the abundance that
God has given,
even the tree of
life.
And then she
adds to the
prohibition.
The Lord said
you shall not
eat the tree.
She adds
neither shall
you touch it.
She makes the
Lord's limits
sound more
strict than
he actually
says.
And then she
weakens the
penalty, lest
you die.
When the Lord
said you shall
surely die.
Literally it
says in dying
you shall die.
So she
minimises the
provision, she
makes God
sound more
strict and the
penalty she
reduces slightly.
And having
followed Satan
into a position
of placing
herself in
judgment over
what God
says she's
ready for the
outright lie.
You shall
not surely
die.
There is no
punishment for
sin.
There are no
negative consequences.
Or as many
believe today,
there is no
judgment day.
There is no
such thing as
hell.
There is no
condemnation.
Satan offers a
different motive
for this
prohibition.
It's not that
the Lord is
like a loving
mother who
says don't go
in the pool and
swim by yourself.
Don't do it.
It's not a
loving warning.
It's he's
holding back
from you.
He's holding
the best life
back from you.
He knows you
can elevate
yourself.
You can choose
what is good
and bad for
yourself.
You don't have
to be under
his rule.
You can be
God.
God is
short-changing
you.
And if
that's the
case,
disobedience
doesn't feel so
wrong.
You're just
chasing what
is the best
life.
So we're
getting to the
essence of what
sin is.
Whose word
will you
believe?
God is
holding back
from you.
Whose word?
The Lord who
gives us life,
who says that
being under his
rule brings
life and peace
and relationship,
which is what
we're made for.
Being under his
rule is life.
Or Satan's
word, God is
holding back
from you.
you can decide
where life can
be found.
You can make
it happen
yourself.
You'll
surely die.
No, you
will not die.
There's no
consequences.
Someone is
lying.
Someone.
the essence
of sin is
internal
before she
ever reaches.
It's completed
by the act
of disobedience,
but the sin
is internal.
It's
unbelief
in what
God says.
It's believing
a lie,
not the truth,
of where
the good
life is
found,
of where
paradise is
found.
But we've
all swallowed
this lie.
Eve was
deceived into
believing it,
but where
was Adam?
Verse 5
tells us
he was with
her.
He wasn't
deceived.
Why
didn't he
step in
and speak
up?
Get
stuffed,
Satan.
You say
you are
offering a
better path
to life,
but you
want to
murder us.
You want
us to
see us
dead.
Why
didn't he
step in
and say
something?
Where
is he?
He
wasn't
deceived.
He ate
willingly.
He saw
a clear
line and
he
transgressed
that
line.
Why
so
when you
hear in
scripture
that Eve
was
deceived,
Adam
takes the
full,
he takes
the primary
responsibility
there.
He
transgressed
a clear
line in
obedience to
his wife
rather than
the Lord.
In the
history of
mankind,
every hero
in the
Bible,
inverted
commas
hero,
we see
succumbing
to these
lies.
we need
a champion,
someone who
will come
and fight
Satan's
lies for
us,
a stronger
man.
And we
do see
that when
we get to
the New
Testament.
Satan
again twists
God's word,
worship me,
don't go the
path of the
cross,
bow down
to me,
I'll give
you the
whole world.
But this
stronger man
trusts his
father even
to the
point of
death.
That
stronger man
has come,
that champion
has come.
Well,
whatever the
tree of the
knowledge of
good and
evil means,
what is
clear is
that it's
taking in
one's own
hands as
a creature
what only
belongs to
God.
It's
trying to
invert
God's
order and
be in
charge
without
God.
Satan
was telling
a half
truth.
In their
current state
of innocence
their eyes
would be
open.
Their eyes
were opened.
There was a
half truth
there.
But that
gaining of
knowledge of
evil actually
robbed them
of innocence.
That grasp
at a
supposed
better glory
actually
lowered them
into shame.
Immediately
they no longer
feel innocence
but guilt
and shame
and they
tried to
cover it
up.
They try
and deal
with it
themselves.
And here's
where we
see them
dying this
day.
Physically
they die
later but
spiritually
speaking they
die.
Verse 8
They heard
the sound
of the
Lord God
walking in
the garden
in the
cool of
the day
and the
man and
his wife
rejoiced.
No not
anymore.
They hid
themselves
from the
presence of
the Lord
God among
the trees
of the
garden.
Joy has
been turned
to fear.
Seeing
the face
of God
is turned
into fear
because of
our guilt
and shame.
But you
can't hide.
what you
cannot hide
from the
Lord.
Your sin
will be
exposed.
Every one
of us
will come
face to
face with
our maker
one day
to give
an account.
Whatever
pathetic
attempts we
are trying
to remove
our shame
they're like
fig leaves.
They don't
work.
The Lord
will not
accept them.
The obvious
ones just
to name a
few is we
we try
and win
the approval
of others
with our
beauty,
with our
power,
with our
wisdom.
We try
and present
well,
putting on a
front,
putting on a
mask from
other people
but it
doesn't deal
with the
shame.
The guilt
and shame
is still
there and
the Lord
sees who
we are
and he
sees what
we've done.
and like
a prosecuting
barrister
the Lord
asks questions
that expose
what they've
done.
They keep
trying to
hide.
They shift
the blame.
It's the
woman's fault.
Actually,
Lord,
it's your
fault.
You put
her here.
They're still
trying to
hide.
And then she
shifts the
blame as
well.
It's the
servant's
fault.
None of
them are
taking ownership
for their
sin.
They're
still trying
to hide
it.
But the
Lord will
have none
of it.
Eventually
they confess,
I did
eat,
yes.
You
can't
hide.
We
can't
hide.
Fear
now replaces
joy at
the prospect
of coming
face to
face with
the Lord.
And then
in verses
14 to
19,
after seeing
that fear
separates us
from God,
we see the
effects of
sin on
God's
perfectly
ordered
world.
Sin has
thrown it
all into
chaos and
darkness.
We don't
have time to
go into all
the detail,
but I'm
hoping to
give you a
framework to
think about
these verses,
which you
can go away
and do some
more study.
What this
section is
about is
this is
the new
normal.
It's not
saying that
if you
sin in a
particular
way,
then these
will be
the
particular
consequences
for that
sin.
It's
saying,
more or
less,
this is
where we
all live.
Some of
us will
experience
these
things to
a greater
or lesser
degree,
but this
is where
we live,
isn't
it?
the key
word in
here is
toil.
It's
just life
is toil.
It is a
striving because
we live
amidst
conflict and
pain and
death.
It's just
toil.
instead of a
state of
innocence before
God, there
is now a
perpetual
struggle between
good and
evil, between
the serpent
seed and
mankind
seed.
Good and
evil is a
constant
struggle.
Each person
is no longer
in harmony
within
themselves,
within their
own body.
long before
psychologists and
Freud talked
about fear,
here it is
in scripture,
here's where
our fear has
come from.
So even
within our
own body,
between the
Lord, there
is no peace
anymore.
Within
ourselves, there
is no peace
anymore.
Within the
family and
social relationships,
that order has
been broken.
The woman's
glory in
bringing image
bearers into
the world is
now tainted
by pain.
pain.
And that can
be both
emotional and
physical.
And between
men and
women, it's
no longer
harmonious
worship of
God and
partnership, it
is battling
for control.
And then
the relationship
between mankind
and nature is
frustrated.
Instead of
abundance, it's
barely making
a living.
And nature
can even be the
cause of pain
and death, as
we've seen on
a large scale
again this
week with
those
earthquakes.
And as
warned, all
people, without
exception, have
all these
relationships, God
and people, within
themselves, man
and man, people
to people and
people to
nature.
All these
relationships will
come to an end
when finally we
turn to dust.
God's
love.
While all
people still
bear the
image of God,
every person
bears the
image of God,
I think it's
Schaeffer who
calls us
majestic
ruins.
God's
goodness.
This is
probably feeling
pretty heavy
by this
point.
The effects
of sin are
bitter and
just reality.
But don't
miss God's
goodness in
here.
There is so
much grace and
goodness in
these verses.
We'll come to
the next section
which we have a
picture of hope,
but even here,
don't miss God's
goodness.
God's
love.
Let me first
ask, what tone
are you imagining?
It's very hard to
work out tone in a
written text, but
what tone are you
imagining?
Are you imagining
just harsh,
critical, full of
rage?
Now, anger is
very appropriate.
Like, we've told
the Lord to get
stuffed, basically.
Anger is
appropriate.
But could it
possibly, mixed
without anger is
a father
weeping, longing
for peace?
He wouldn't have
wanted to turn his
good world into
this chaos.
Now, again, it's
hard to know tone,
but I just, I want to
raise the question.
Other ways to see
God's goodness here,
he warned.
He had a loving
warning.
It's Satan who
wants us to walk
blindly into death.
The Lord warns us
again and again,
don't go there.
He warns.
He's patient.
He could have just
wiped out humanity.
It's what they
deserved.
But he wants us to
confess and turn
back.
He's patient.
The punishment is
righteous.
It's just.
He hands us over to
the disorder that we
craved.
We wanted to break
God's order and be
God without him.
It's like Romans 1
says, a lot of God's
judgment is just
giving us what we
want.
Okay?
You want to break
the order?
That is not going to
go well.
And all the,
all, everything is
affected.
And the Lord is
righteous.
He's not indifferent
to evil.
It would be awful
if God didn't care
about evil.
He punishes it.
He will get rid of
it.
Another mercy here
is that this state
of things is not
going to last
forever.
He kicks Adam and
Eve out of the
garden so that they
can't eat from the
tree of life and
live forever.
That leaves the door
open for redemption.
another way is that he
still graciously gives
us food and there's
still so many gifts of
family and marriage and
work.
Like, food is
delicious, isn't it?
We still get those
moments of joy in
relationships.
It should astound us
that we receive so
many good things.
I know life is toil,
it is toil, but we
still get incredible
gifts.
Now in verse 15, he is
gracious in that he
gives a promise.
The struggle between
good and evil will end
one day.
Satan will be crushed.
He, a descendant of
Eve, shall bruise your
head.
He's going to stand on
your head and crush you.
And you shall bruise
his heel.
He will be wounded.
He didn't, God didn't
need to give that
promise, but he did.
From this point on,
we're looking for that
serpent head crusher.
Is it going to be
Cain?
No, he crushes his
brother instead.
Succumbing to those
lies again.
And from this point on,
we're looking and we're
getting our hopes up.
Is it Noah?
No.
Is it Abraham?
No.
Is it Moses?
No.
Is it King David?
No.
And then finally, he
does arrive.
The seventh way I think
we see God's grace here
is if we just step back
from this section and
ask, what's the purpose
of telling us all this?
Like, why tell us that
everything in chaos now
is the result of sin?
Why tell us this?
I think the purpose here
is that our daily toil,
our daily struggle,
should be a constant
reminder that the root
cause, the biggest
problem, is our sin.
we've actually got a daily
reminder.
This is not how it
should be.
He wants us to remember
that sin is the problem
so that we confess
and look to him
to save us.
So paradise is lost.
And then in verses 20
to 24,
even while man is being
driven out of God's
presence, out of the
garden, there's hope
in these verses.
We've already heard the
promise of the serpent
crusher.
Some think in verse 20
that this is, so the man
called his wife's name Eve
because she was the mother
of all living.
Some see in that
that that is an expression
of faith.
That life
will continue
and life will get
the victory in the end.
Maybe.
It seemed to be hopeful
trusting in God
to bring that about.
And although
the cherubim
are put in place
to guard the way
back to the garden
and the tree of life,
that doesn't mean
that it's permanently
cut off.
We see the cherubim
again in the tabernacle
and temple.
I think it's more
saying if you are
going to come back
to the tree of life,
it's got to be God's
way.
You can't come in
any other way.
God will prescribe
a way.
And then we get
a picture of
God's grace
and the solution
in verse 21.
And the Lord
God made
for Adam
and for his wife
garments
of skins,
animal skins
and clothed
them.
The Lord
won't accept
our pathetic
efforts at covering
our shame.
He won't accept
that.
But
in confessing,
he graciously
covers us.
This clothing
is very
different
from the
sinful attempt
to hide
your guilt
because this
clothing
required
death.
It required
a sacrifice.
It required
blood.
So by wearing
this clothing,
you're not
hiding,
you're confessing
that animal
should have
been me.
But not
only is
your guilt
and shame
dealt
with,
you're
covered.
That
innocence
is
restored.
If you
are to
enter God's
presence,
having your
relationship
with him
back in
order,
the Lord
must clothe
you.
So
Genesis
1-3
sets up
what
paradise
is,
how it's
been lost
by sin,
so that
we might
not hide
from God
but confess
our sin
and look
to God's
grace to
restore
all things.
Now I
want to
finish by
suggesting
that there's
three ways
people try
to seek
paradise.
There's
three options.
If the
best thing
about
paradise
is good
health
and long
life
and abundance
of the
place,
harmony
among
people,
then the
message in
Genesis 3
sounds like
God is,
I think it
sounds like a
needy bully
who's going,
I'm going to
withhold
paradise from
you until
you submit
to me.
And if
that's what
you hear
God saying,
which I
don't think
is what
he's saying,
but if
you think
that's what
he's saying,
I'm going
to withhold
paradise until
you submit
to me,
then either
people are
going to have
one or two
options.
Stuff that.
I'm not
submitting to
God's rules.
I don't
need Jesus.
I can make
paradise myself.
Working hard
and I can
do it.
So most of
our society
in Australia
are trying
that method.
Or the
religious among
us will go,
okay, I'll
submit to
God's rules
and then you're
going to keep
your end of
the bargain
and give me
that long
life, that
health, those
good relationships,
that prosperity,
either in this
life or in
the life to
come.
Both are
missing the
point of
paradise.
what the
essence of
paradise is.
One looks
very religious,
one looks like
throwing God
out of their
lives, but
both are
equally
missing it.
But here
comes a third
way.
If the very
best thing
about paradise
is to play
with the
Lord,
I hope you
don't mind
that joy
with the
Lord, not
fear, having
restored
relationship
with him
because you're
designed to
love and
treasure him.
If he is
the essence
of paradise,
then the
message here in
Genesis 3 is,
look, see how
destructive life
is without me.
confess your
sin, stop
trying to
hide and
trust in my
goodness and
I will deal
with the
problem.
I will
restore
things.
So there's
three ways.
Two of them
try and cover
up the problem
ourselves.
Two end in
bitterness and
despair because
paradise feels so
far away, it
just doesn't
work.
But the
Lord is
urging us to
a third
way, the
way of not
hiding, trying
to create
paradise ourselves
but confessing
our sins, seeing
the Lord himself
as our
treasure.
If you want
paradise in
God's presence,
let me tell you
what you need
from what we've
heard in
Genesis 1 to
3.
Here's what you
need.
You need
someone, and
maybe it's
yourself if you
got tickets on
yourself.
You need
someone strong
enough to
crush Satan's
head, to
defeat evil and
not believe his
lies.
You need
someone to
put the
whole cosmos
back in
order.
Healing the
relationship with
us and God,
healing people
to people,
healing people
to the land
healing within
our own
bodies.
You need
someone strong
enough to put
everything back
in order.
And you
need someone to
actually deal
with your guilt
and shame, not
just try and cover
it up, but
someone trustworthy
enough that when
you confess your
sin, they won't
reject you.
Someone who will
actually take it
for you and
bear the curse
for you and
then give you
their innocence
so that you can
enjoy the
father again.
That's a tall
order.
If you've lost
hope in this
life and don't
know where to
turn, it will
not feel like it,
but hopelessness
in yourself and
hopelessness in
society in the
world is actually
the doorway to
paradise because
you stop looking
to yourself and
you start to look
to God to be
the solution.
And the good
news is that
descendant of
Eve, that
serpent crusher,
has arrived.
We're going to
look to another
tree.
Galatians 3,
13 says,
Jesus Christ
redeemed us from
the curse of the
law by the
coming a curse
for us.
For it is
written,
cursed is
everyone who
is hanged on
a tree.
You need to
look to a
different tree,
someone to
take your
curse.
You need to
look to a
different Adam.
Romans 5,
19,
for as by one
man's disobedience,
Adam, the many
were made sinners,
so by one man's
obedience,
Christ, the
many will be
made righteous.
You need a
different tree,
you need a
different Adam.
And we have
that in the
Lord Jesus.
So there's
three ways for
us to take,
and it
depends on what
you think the
very best part of
paradise is,
about which one
you would try and
strive to get.
Where the third
one isn't really
striving, it's
resting, it's
receiving.
Let me pray,
let's pray.
Father, I do
pray that
whatever
circumstances we
are in, that
we would,
no doubt, it is
tainted by the
curse of sin,
and we feel the
toil, deep in our
bones.
And I pray that
each one of us,
that you would
cause each of us
to long for your
solution, that you
would help us to
confess that sin
has ruined it all,
and that you would
help us to see that
it is our sin that
robs us of the rest
that you offer in the
Lord Jesus Christ,
of being restored in
relationship with you.
Lord, I pray for
those of us who
don't know you,
that you would
urge them in their
hopelessness to turn
to Christ, and I
pray for those of us
who do know the
rest we have in
Christ, that you
would help us to
seek you more,
and enjoy you more,
and enter the
struggle, the
struggle against sin
and the brokenness
in this world with
a deep sense of
peace and the
power of your
presence and hope
that you will
restore all things.
Lord, make us a
church that sees
Jesus as our only
solution and our
greatest treasure.
In his name we
pray.
Amen.