I got a free kick tonight.
That means that I could preach what I like.
So I thought I'd talk to you about something which has been on my mind since Deb first preached three weeks ago
when she preached from Genesis 3 in the series that we've just had in Identity.
Because she sowed a few seeds with me which I thought about in another way beyond there.
And anyway, let me go into it.
One of the things that she showed us in terms of the Garden of Eden between Genesis 2 and Genesis 3 is what is lost.
So in the Garden of Eden, Adam has a place of significance.
He's safe.
He meets God face to face.
He's in a very secure place.
And with the fall, all that is lost.
Now one of the things for me, which is a major personal struggle which I grapple with often,
and I have to remind myself the Gospel in terms of being able to deal with it,
I think it's a struggle which is not just mine, but I think it's probably the struggle for a number of you as well.
You come to the New Testament.
You come to the Bible.
You read things about who we are in Christ.
And in some places, the Bible speaks in very exalted terms about who we are.
So say in Ephesians 2, verse 6, it says,
And I think what it's doing is it's speaking about a future reality,
but it's bringing it into the present and saying,
that is our status right now.
That is who we are in Christ.
But my experience, which is a present reality for me,
is that even as a Christian believer, I have an ongoing struggle with sin.
And so when I read my New Testament, I read Romans chapter 7,
and Paul says, it is mine.
And he says, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?
And then he goes on and says, but thanks be to God.
And I think what, so you've got this struggle between what it feels like still to struggle with sin,
and also the Scriptures saying to us how great we are and how safe we are in Christ.
And people do various things with that struggle to try to make sense of it.
So one of the things that people do is they say, look, I'm complete, I've made perfect in Christ,
I've already arrived, almost as though we've got this state of sinless perfection now,
I can no longer offend God ever again.
So if I go back to the Bible study group that I was first a member of when I became a Christian,
we had a woman there who was associated with a Christian cult,
and she used to claim that she didn't get sick anymore because she's been made perfect in Christ.
And one night she's missing from our small group, and one of the members goes to see her,
knocks on the door, no answer, knocks on the door, no answers,
hammer on the door, and finally she answers it, and she's very embarrassed because she's very sick.
And she didn't want anybody to see how sick she was,
because being sick was contrary to what she had come to believe.
I've heard a story, I don't really know if it's true or not, I think it might be true,
but in the 1800s there was a really famous preacher in London called Charles Spurgeon,
and he had a member of his congregation come to him one day,
and he said, I just want to talk to you pastor,
I want to tell you that I've really been growing in Christ,
and I have achieved this, I just feel like I'm free of sin.
God's been doing this work of grace in my life,
and I no longer have the struggles, the sin,
that used to be part of what was going on for me.
And Spurgeon said, we've got to come and have dinner with us,
and tell us some more about it.
So he goes for dinner at the pastor's house,
and in the middle of dinner he tells a bit more about what's been going on for him,
and Spurgeon picks up this jug of ice cold water,
and pours it on his dinner guest.
And the guy goes off his nut,
and Spurgeon says, there you see,
the old man isn't dead yet,
he just needed a glass of water to revive him.
See, to move to that extreme and think that we've moved beyond sin is absurd.
That's one way that we deal with life this side of heaven,
and it's to claim future realities and bring them into the present in a way which is just absurd.
But the other way is to go,
woe is me,
and live a life as a believer of absolute despair.
Almost as though there's nothing good in me,
there's nothing worthy in me,
rather than seeing the promises of the gospel,
which say we are made new in Christ,
and we are now regarded differently by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Genesis 3, which is where I do want you to look at as I'm talking,
is something which could only be described as a sheer tragedy for humanity.
Genesis 2, Adam's in God's presence,
he's doing what God gave him to do,
he's safe in the garden,
he's not on his own,
he's got work to do,
he's quite secure.
And God gives him just one command,
just one restriction on his life and on his behaviour.
He says to Adam,
and he gives him this command even before Eve is created.
So Eve does not hear God give Adam this command.
And he says to Adam,
God says to Adam,
you can eat from any tree in the garden,
except one,
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
for when you eat of it,
you will certainly die.
And we know the story,
the serpent's crafty,
he approaches the woman,
and there's this really strange interaction which goes on,
which is like this clever mix of truth and deception.
Did God,
remember he's speaking to the woman who never heard the command from God herself,
did God really say,
you can't eat from any tree?
Oh no,
no,
that's not what God said.
We can eat fruit of the trees,
yes,
but we can't eat
or touch the tree in the middle of the garden,
because if we,
if we touch that tree,
if we eat from that tree,
we'll die.
Which is not what God said,
because he said eat from,
but he didn't talk about touching it.
And then,
the serpent tells what is a bald-faced lie.
You won't die.
You'll be like God.
You eat a bit of this,
and you'll be like God.
God's the one who's really trying to stop you
enjoying all the things that he knows
that you can't participate in.
And she looks,
and she desires the wisdom
that the tree might give her,
and she eats,
and she gives to Adam,
and both become very vulnerable before God.
They become aware of their own nakedness.
And there's a whole lot of questions go with that.
You can ask bucket loads of questions about that passage.
Why did the serpent approach Eve?
Now, she'd only heard the command secondhand.
She'd heard it from Adam.
She hadn't heard it from God.
In my community group the other week,
I did something really risky.
And in my community group here tonight,
and I can say this,
I thought I'd play,
I'd take a risk.
Oh, sorry, James and Katrina.
Uh-oh.
I could say,
you know,
did the serpent work on the weakest link?
Did he go to the woman rather than to the man?
And I've put considerable distance between you
when I say that tonight.
Let's not go there, eh?
But then you ask the question,
where's Adam in all this?
Verse 6 says that
she gave some to her husband who was with her.
He was there.
And it seems like Adam has heard the whole thing.
And yet,
he's totally passive in this story.
He doesn't step up and correct the serpent and say,
no, God didn't say that.
He said, don't eat from the tree.
He didn't say, don't touch it.
And he doesn't tell his wife,
you're a fool woman if you eat from that.
You'll die.
God said we would die.
He just stands there weak and inactive
while his beautiful naked wife says,
have a bite, dear.
Men.
Now, Larry Carab wrote a book called
The Silence of Adam.
And I think it's what you see here,
the silence of Adam
in terms of this interaction.
He's passive.
He's quiet.
There's no leadership.
And it's a sin that is reflected in families
when dads don't step up
and take spiritual leadership.
Now, I've been talking about this
in my Ephesians group this afternoon.
We're not talking to blokes and saying,
you've got to step up
and take control of your family.
But you do need to step up
in a Christ-like way
and love your wife
as the scriptures call you to
and to lay down your life
on behalf of others
rather than it all being about you.
So taking initiative to serve,
taking initiative to read the Bible,
taking initiative to pray,
taking initiative to go the extra mile.
Marriage is not about you, Dad.
It is about how you serve your family under Christ.
And God comes visiting.
He's been visiting up till now.
This is not new.
He's been walking with them in the garden.
And there's three questions.
Where are you?
No.
We're hiding.
We're naked.
Who told you you were naked?
And then the crucial question,
have you eaten from the tree
that I commanded you not to eat from?
Adam,
the man,
stands there and said,
she gave it to me.
In fact,
he says more than that.
He says,
the woman you gave me
made me eat from it.
What's he do?
Blames God,
blames her.
And she blames the snake.
It's your fault.
You gave it to me.
See,
it's something.
I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks
and I see it in myself
and I see it in what others do to me sometimes.
But we use the language of blame
when the spotlight starts to fall on us
about our sin and our weakness.
If you're in a marriage,
your husband or wife
will sometimes point out things about you
that you perhaps don't really want to hear.
Or you might think of yourself as humble
and think I'm really open,
I really want to hear those things,
but the truth is
we often only want to hear them
when we're ready to hear them,
not when they're ready to tell us to us
about it.
And when I do that,
I think it's pride which is driving me
because I want to be exposed on my terms
and not on their terms.
But this is on God's terms.
He asks the question
and he's not ready to fess up.
And Adam just blames.
And if you read the rest of the story,
God does judge,
but it's with mercy.
They do die spiritually.
They're cut off from direct contact with God,
cast out of the garden.
It's an incredibly lonely place to be.
It's a huge loss.
They don't die physically then and there,
but they're destined to die physically as well.
Life now becomes difficult for men in work.
Life becomes difficult for women in childbirth.
Relationships between men and women
become difficult in terms of marriage.
So your desire will be for your husband,
but your husband will rule over you.
They're shut out from the garden.
They're cut off from God.
The consequences of this
are absolutely tragic.
And yet despite the tragedy and the fall,
God's mercy is on view
because he takes away their fig leaves
and he gives them clothes
which are made of animal skin.
An animal needs to die
to hide their nakedness.
And they're also shown mercy
because they're shut out from the garden
before they can also reach out
to the tree that they had permission to eat from,
which was the tree of life,
and eat from it.
And that's merciful
because it means that God prevented them
from making sin eternal.
And so cut off from God,
life in the world becomes lonely,
it becomes uncertain.
There's this tragic disconnect from God.
Damage is done.
And this is damage
that Adam himself
is unable to change.
Ephesians chapter 2
describes our state without God.
It says we're powerless.
We are dead in our trespasses and sins.
We cannot atone for our own sin.
It uses the language of death.
A dead person cannot bring themselves to life.
We need action from totally outside of us.
Romans chapter 5
says that this is such a significant failure
it can only be reversed by a second Adam,
a new Adam.
And so in Romans chapter 5 verse 6
it says at just the right time
when we were still powerless
Christ died for the ungodly.
And then in Romans chapter 5 verse 14
And then in verse 15
For if by the trespass of the one man
death reigned through that one man
how much more
will those who receive
God's abundant provision of grace
and the gift of righteousness
reign in life
through the one man Jesus Christ.
And I think if you look
and if you think about this
you see
that untold
and irreversible damage
is done
at the fall
which people like Adam
were unable to deal with themselves.
And there's some things that we can do
that are just not reversible.
In terms of sin
I don't think there is anything
that we can do
which is beyond hope
and the grace of the gospel.
But there are some things
that we can do
that become irreversible
in terms of say relationships.
I was going to break a glass out here tonight
and I thought better of it.
But smash a glass
it's broken
and you're not going to want
that glass again
even if I glue it together
with arrow dot all over it
or something like that.
You're just not going to want it.
It's gone.
It's done.
It's finished.
And we can do some things
in relationship
that cause great harm.
So you know
husbands and wives
they can be unfaithful
and it can absolutely
smash a relationship.
Or within all sorts of relationships
we can speak a word
which is wrong
or out of place
or harsh
or unloving
or untruthful
or whatever it is
that word's not easily
taken back again.
It goes out there
and does its damage.
damage
and sometimes
that damage
is great harm.
But it doesn't mean
that we're without hope.
I listened to this
the other week
and I thought about it.
What if
what if
Adam had gone
another way?
And this is what
I think you must have
heard it kick.
What if when God
came to him
in the garden
he'd actually
not blamed
but left himself
in the spotlight
and in that moment
when God said
have you eaten
from the tree
that I commanded
you not to eat from
what if Adam
had said
yes Lord
I did
and yes Lord
I neglected
my family
I did not
correct my wife
and yes Lord
all these things
have happened.
Being the man
and he'd said
I'm a fool
I have sinned
against heaven
and against earth
and I am no longer
worthy to be called
your son.
Now in some ways
we don't really know
what God would have done
because Adam
because Adam didn't
do it.
But can you see
that in the gospel
we have a different
way to answer
that question
that God
asked Adam.
We have a different
way of dealing
with that moment
from the way
that Adam
dealt with that
moment.
We have been
given the tools
in the gospel
which allows us
to stand there
and face Adam's
sin in us
not to live a
perfect life
because we can't
live a perfect life
we can't do that
we can't self-atone
but we can face
sin and we can
face failure
knowing that we
have one who
has atoned
for our sins
and allowed us
therefore to stand
there and say
yes Lord
I have done wrong.
We come to God
not in independence
but in dependence
and in faith
and we trust him
in that moment.
And so this side
of heaven
we're called
perfect
and yet what
are we doing
we're still
struggling with
sin and weakness
and offence
in between us
and God
and in all
the relationships
we have
with other people
but we have
this ability
to function
because we have
one who has
reversed Adam's
sin and gives
us a different
way of answering
the question
where are you
we do not
have to hide.
Now I reckon
you see this
worked out
all through
the New Testament
but a couple
of places
in particular
Luke's gospel
a rich young
bloke comes
up to Jesus
in Luke 18
and he says
to Jesus
good teacher
what must
I do
to inherit
eternal life?
and Jesus
says
well why do
you call
me good?
No one's
good
only God
alone is
good
and he says
well you know
the commandments
don't commit
adultery
don't murder
don't steal
don't tell lies
only your father
and mother
and he says
to Jesus
I've done
all those
since I
was a
little boy
and Jesus
said to him
you only
lack one
thing
sell all
that you
have
and distribute
to the
poor
and you
will have
treasure in
heaven
and come
follow me
and when
he heard
these things
he became
very sad
because
he was
extremely
rich
but it's
a bit
subtle
because he
sort of
comes to
Jesus
and says
what must
I do
what's the
big thing
that I
might do
to get
eternal
life
it's
sort of
actually
a
me
focused
question
if it
was Adam
it's
almost
like
how
can I
work
my
way
out
of
this
mess
what's
the
one
thing
I
can
do
that
would
trump
all
the
bad
stuff
that's
happened
which
would
guarantee
I'm
back
with
you
I've
got
eternal
life
and I
think
Jesus
with this
particular
man
I'm
not
saying
to
everyone
but to
this
particular
man
he's
showing
him
by what
he
asks
him
to
do
that
there's
something
that he's
really
unwilling
to do
for God
and he
goes away
very sad
and Jesus
is sad
but he's
tried to
come to
God
on his
own
terms
but then
there's
the other
story
which is
just
before it
in Luke's
gospel
Jesus
tells this
parable
to some
who trusted
in their
own
righteousness
and who
looked down
on other
people
two men
he said
went up
to the
temple
to pray
one of
them's
a
Pharisee
a really
good
religious
person
and the
other
is a
tax collector
he's
scum
and filth
and traitor
and all the
rest of it
and the
Pharisee
stands by
himself
and he
prays
God I
really
thank you
that I'm
not like
other people
I really
thank you
I'm not
an extortioner
I'm not
unjust
I'm not
an adulterer
I've never
done any
of that
dirty
stuff
or even
like
especially
I really
thank you
that I'm
not like
him
see
his
response
to Adam's
nature
is to
say
God
and it's
with
thanksgiving
to God
God I
thank you
that I'm
such a
good boy
I thank
you that
I've really
done so
much that's
just right
in your
eyes
and the
other man
won't even
raise his
eyes he
knows he's
a bad
boy for
want of a
better word
he beats
his chest
and he
says
God have
mercy on
me
the
sinner
God
have
mercy on
me
the
sinner
he knows
his life
is absolutely
barren
he knows
he's got
nothing to
commend
himself
he knows
that life
and relationship
with God
is absolutely
shattered
he knows
that he's
despised in
the eyes of
other people
and they can
see his sin
for all that
it is
and yet he
comes to
God
he comes to
Jesus
and he
throws himself
on his
mercy
God have
mercy
on me
the sinner
doesn't pretend
to be anything
other than what
he is
and he
does
what Adam
never did
he owns
his sin
he throws
himself on
the mercy
of God
and Jesus
says
I tell you
that this
man
went down
to his
house
justified
rather than
the other
for everyone
who exalts
himself will
be humbled
but the one
who humbles
himself will
be exalted
and so
brothers and
sisters
I think
where I want
to leave you
tonight
and what I
want to say
to you
I want to
go back
to the
what if
question
in that
moment
when we're
shamed
and we're
exposed
and we're
seen for
all that we
were in
terms of
rebellion
against God
which Adam
certainly was
not to
take a
defiant
stand and
still blame
everybody else
for what I'm
like
and what's
happened to
me
but in
that moment
to throw
ourselves on
the mercy
of the
Lord Jesus
and say
Father
yes
Father
I have
sinned
against
heaven
and I've
sinned
against
earth
and I
deserve
nothing
of your
mercy
but I
throw myself
on your
mercy
and ask
for your
grace and
your forgiveness
in my
life
and we
are empowered
to do
that
because
God has
acted
apart from
us in
Christ
and sent
his son
to be
the atoning
sacrifice
for our
sin
he has
put things
right that
were broken
in the
garden
and because
he has
put things
right that
were broken
in the
garden
we are
safe
and do
not need
to fear
confessing
what we
are really
like
and what
we really
need
from God
our
heavenly
father
amen