WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.160 Let me now invite Kelly to read to us from Genesis chapter 3, verses 1 to 7. 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:07.780 Thanks, Kelly. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.039 Neither shall you touch it, lest you die. 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:36.020 But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. 00:00:36.480 --> 00:00:42.640 For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. 00:00:43.480 --> 00:00:53.120 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that 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. 00:00:53.760 --> 00:00:57.320 And she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:01.520 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. 00:01:02.100 --> 00:01:05.760 And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:16.180 Kelly read for us from the very famous story of the Garden of Eden when we read here about a talking serpent. 00:01:17.099 --> 00:01:26.260 And in the New Testament, in the book of Revelation, John the Apostle tells us that this serpent is Satan who came to deceive humanity in the very beginning. 00:01:26.260 --> 00:01:35.719 Now, this is a very famous story, and for Christianity, for Christians, we believe it's the explanation of everything that's wrong in the world today. 00:01:35.820 --> 00:01:36.820 It comes from right here. 00:01:37.320 --> 00:01:45.960 And sometimes people will come to the Garden of Eden story, and they will see a talking serpent and a garden and two trees. 00:01:45.959 --> 00:01:49.859 And that the world was broken by eating fruit from a tree. 00:01:49.939 --> 00:01:51.659 And they'll say, as modern people, what? 00:01:52.339 --> 00:01:53.139 A talking animal? 00:01:54.659 --> 00:01:56.919 These trees, this feels arbitrary. 00:01:57.259 --> 00:01:58.139 This feels like a legend. 00:01:58.319 --> 00:01:58.959 It feels like a myth. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:05.339 And so I just want to say, hold on on that and press pause and come back next week. 00:02:06.419 --> 00:02:14.079 Because next week I will talk about the serpent and the garden and the two trees a little bit more and why you can trust this. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:15.639 So come back next week for that. 00:02:16.139 --> 00:02:23.439 Today, I want to begin this series for a month in Genesis 3 by focusing on the main point of Genesis 3, 1-7. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:31.099 And that's to tell us what happened to us, what's wrong with us, why we as human beings are broken. 00:02:32.180 --> 00:02:34.659 And that's really the big idea here. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:37.319 So let's think about that this week. 00:02:38.460 --> 00:02:47.579 Edgar Allan Poe wrote a series of detective stories in the 19th century about a detective called Detective Dupont, a Parisian, French detective. 00:02:47.580 --> 00:02:53.820 And in one of the stories, there's a letter stolen from the queen's bedroom. 00:02:54.620 --> 00:02:56.820 And the police think they know who did it. 00:02:56.900 --> 00:02:58.520 And they go to the man's house. 00:02:58.880 --> 00:03:00.660 And they ransack his house. 00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:02.480 And they cannot find the letter anywhere. 00:03:03.600 --> 00:03:05.820 And so they bring in famous Detective Dupont. 00:03:06.220 --> 00:03:14.060 And as soon as he walks in the room, he sees at the entryway a rack of cards where the man kept his mail. 00:03:14.060 --> 00:03:20.659 And right there at the very front of the rack of cards, on the top of the mail stack, is the queen's letter. 00:03:21.740 --> 00:03:26.560 And he turns and he says to them, it was hidden from you in plain sight. 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:28.580 That's where we get that famous phrase. 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:35.219 And when it comes to the world, Simon was just praying about this, we look around and we say, 00:03:35.219 --> 00:03:41.680 what is the reason, what is the cause for why we cannot fix our society? 00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:46.419 Why can we not stop the next war from starting? 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:49.520 Why can we not stop the string of abuses that we're always discovering? 00:03:49.979 --> 00:03:54.180 Why can we not stop the corruption in governments and businesses and corporate entities? 00:03:54.379 --> 00:03:57.419 Why can we not fix our relationships and our families? 00:03:57.419 --> 00:04:00.979 And we're always asking questions like that. 00:04:01.839 --> 00:04:05.579 And I think the answer is hidden in plain sight. 00:04:06.579 --> 00:04:09.060 And you can look today and say, it's me. 00:04:09.279 --> 00:04:10.199 It's my heart. 00:04:10.399 --> 00:04:11.560 That's why we can't fix it. 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:12.599 It's us. 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:13.280 It's humanity. 00:04:13.659 --> 00:04:14.739 It's hidden in plain sight. 00:04:14.819 --> 00:04:18.599 It's always been visible that no matter how good our technology becomes, 00:04:19.459 --> 00:04:22.419 no matter how much education we give to people, 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:24.860 we can't stop these basic problems. 00:04:24.860 --> 00:04:26.759 And it's right here. 00:04:26.939 --> 00:04:27.759 It's in the human heart. 00:04:27.900 --> 00:04:29.520 And this is what Christians call sin. 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:34.259 And so people today will say, they'll look at sin, a word like that, 00:04:34.280 --> 00:04:36.860 and some people will be romantic about the concept of sin. 00:04:37.460 --> 00:04:41.600 You know, they'll say sin is just that nice little indulgence, 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:45.180 the idea in the modern world that sometimes it's good to be a little bad. 00:04:46.460 --> 00:04:51.160 And most people on the flip side, I think, in a modern city, in our city like Edinburgh, 00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:54.560 will say this concept of sin, the Christian concept, 00:04:54.700 --> 00:04:57.980 it's puritanical, intolerant, narrow position of traditionalism. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:04:59.220 Right? 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:05.960 And actually, all the Bible means by it is that this is the word that just describes the fact 00:05:05.960 --> 00:05:07.800 that we are not who we're supposed to be, 00:05:08.520 --> 00:05:10.580 that we're broken from the inside out, 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:13.020 that we're not the people God made us to be. 00:05:13.140 --> 00:05:13.780 That's all it means. 00:05:13.860 --> 00:05:14.700 We miss the mark. 00:05:15.339 --> 00:05:18.479 We have self-centeredness instead of Godwardness. 00:05:19.039 --> 00:05:21.620 And so that's what this chapter is about. 00:05:22.339 --> 00:05:23.360 What broke the world? 00:05:24.180 --> 00:05:26.259 And the first answer we're given is, it's us. 00:05:27.060 --> 00:05:27.599 It's us. 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:29.439 And so let's think about that this morning. 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:31.459 And here's my thesis for you. 00:05:31.740 --> 00:05:34.079 I think it's fair to say, according to the Bible, 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:36.279 that you cannot really know yourself, 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:39.919 and you cannot really understand what's going on in the world, 00:05:39.980 --> 00:05:40.759 what's wrong with the world, 00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:42.539 until you've captured this, 00:05:43.180 --> 00:05:44.279 that the problem is here. 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:46.219 In each one of our hearts. 00:05:47.159 --> 00:05:48.860 And so, here's what happens. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:51.699 How did the world break in four movements it broke? 00:05:52.699 --> 00:05:58.439 With an attitude, a manipulation, a temptation, and an exchange. 00:06:00.019 --> 00:06:01.800 All right, so let's think about those four movements. 00:06:01.980 --> 00:06:03.560 First, an attitude. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:07.800 If you look at verse 1, you'll see the serpent's more crafty, 00:06:08.159 --> 00:06:10.800 the King James says subtle, either word, subtle, 00:06:11.159 --> 00:06:12.419 than any other beast of the field. 00:06:12.420 --> 00:06:14.340 And so he says to the woman, 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:17.840 did God actually say, or did God really say, 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:20.140 you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? 00:06:20.819 --> 00:06:23.800 So let me say that in a slightly different way. 00:06:23.939 --> 00:06:24.840 You could read it like this. 00:06:25.180 --> 00:06:26.180 The serpent is asking, 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:30.259 did God really say that you cannot eat of all the trees? 00:06:30.259 --> 00:06:33.060 And so the serpent is not telling a lie here. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:34.019 He's telling the truth. 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:37.219 Did God really say that you can't eat of all the trees? 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:38.279 And the answer is yes. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:40.399 He did say you cannot eat of all the trees. 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:42.000 There is one tree you cannot eat of. 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:46.699 And so he's not saying a lie at first, not at all. 00:06:46.699 --> 00:06:48.819 What he's doing is he's telling the truth, 00:06:49.180 --> 00:06:50.479 but he's repositioning. 00:06:51.620 --> 00:06:55.860 And what I mean by that is he's making the truth seem ridiculous. 00:06:56.439 --> 00:06:57.860 So he adds one little word. 00:06:58.620 --> 00:07:02.300 Did he really say you can't eat of all the trees? 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:05.819 Did he really say that there's one tree you're not allowed to eat from? 00:07:05.939 --> 00:07:09.279 And you see the subtlety of the beginning of what's wrong with the world. 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:11.779 The subtlety is it's attitude. 00:07:12.599 --> 00:07:13.219 It's an attitude. 00:07:13.220 --> 00:07:16.500 It's snarkiness. 00:07:17.320 --> 00:07:19.100 Did God really, did he really do that? 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:23.740 And it's the same way that you might sit around the water cooler at work 00:07:23.740 --> 00:07:26.140 and your boss comes to a group of people 00:07:26.140 --> 00:07:30.700 and maybe the team didn't quite get the job done exactly right. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:34.020 And the boss says, can you guys go and fix this? 00:07:34.100 --> 00:07:36.960 Can you guys go and take care of the business that you were supposed to take care of? 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:40.800 And the boss comes and he has every power and every right to do that 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:43.120 if he does it with respect, right? 00:07:43.900 --> 00:07:47.460 But as soon as he walks away, somebody in the group inevitably does what? 00:07:48.180 --> 00:07:50.840 Did he really just come and say that to us? 00:07:51.280 --> 00:07:53.440 You know, immediately it's snark. 00:07:53.700 --> 00:07:54.300 It's an attitude. 00:07:54.740 --> 00:07:57.320 And what has happened in that, you see what the sin is? 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:58.440 It's repositioning. 00:07:58.980 --> 00:07:59.840 And here's the reposition. 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:07.459 Is that when, as soon as Satan takes Eve's heart and gets her to snark at God like he does, 00:08:08.519 --> 00:08:12.000 she has placed herself as the judge over God. 00:08:13.039 --> 00:08:16.519 God is the one who gave the rules, but now, did he really say that? 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:20.819 Now, I'm now the judge over the person who said it to me. 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:23.920 The person who said it to me was seeking to tell me what to do, 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:27.680 but now, if I snark at them, I've become the power. 00:08:27.939 --> 00:08:29.360 I've become the judge in the situation. 00:08:30.219 --> 00:08:31.339 I've inverted that pyramid. 00:08:32.340 --> 00:08:35.279 And in other words, he's trying to get her through this word, 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:41.779 actually, really, to say, did the creator of the universe actually just tell me what to do? 00:08:41.779 --> 00:08:44.100 Did he really just do that? 00:08:45.199 --> 00:08:48.319 Richard Dawkins, a very famous atheist of our lifetime, 00:08:49.500 --> 00:08:51.299 in one of his books, he writes this, 00:08:51.860 --> 00:08:54.980 The unhealthy preoccupation of early Christian theologians with sin. 00:08:55.199 --> 00:08:56.000 That's the headline. 00:08:56.459 --> 00:09:03.319 They could have devoted their pages and their sermons to extolling the sky splashed with stars or mountains 00:09:03.319 --> 00:09:05.959 and green forest seas and the dawn choruses. 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:09.240 These are occasionally mentioned, 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:16.340 but the Christian focus seems to overwhelmingly be sin, sin, sin, sin, sin, sin, sin, sin, sin. 00:09:17.700 --> 00:09:21.519 What a nasty little preoccupation to have always dominating your life. 00:09:22.340 --> 00:09:26.080 Now, the irony of what Dawkins writes here is he says, 00:09:26.580 --> 00:09:31.000 the one immoral thing, the one sin that must never exist is to actually believe in sin. 00:09:31.980 --> 00:09:33.940 So he believes in sin in order to condemn sin. 00:09:34.460 --> 00:09:37.120 He thinks there is something immoral, and that's you actually believing in sin. 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:37.560 Right? 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:41.460 But you see, if you read this paragraph, if you read his books, 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:44.159 one of the things you realize is these are not arguments. 00:09:45.340 --> 00:09:47.060 These are not arguments against God. 00:09:47.500 --> 00:09:51.299 This is not, here's the ten reasons the cosmological argument doesn't work. 00:09:51.820 --> 00:09:52.659 No, not at all. 00:09:52.779 --> 00:09:53.200 What is this? 00:09:53.299 --> 00:09:53.940 It's attitude. 00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:55.500 It's snark. 00:09:56.700 --> 00:09:59.060 And, you know, I don't want to point out Dawkins here, 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:02.299 though it's very apparent with him, but it's in all of us. 00:10:02.299 --> 00:10:04.939 The attitude is in all of us. 00:10:05.199 --> 00:10:06.620 Our problem is not arguments. 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:08.079 Our problem is our attitude. 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:09.559 Snark at God. 00:10:10.219 --> 00:10:11.120 Did God really say? 00:10:11.599 --> 00:10:14.439 And most of the time we see that come out in our relationships, 00:10:14.599 --> 00:10:15.659 in the way we treat other people, 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:19.459 in the way that we say to other people in our lives, 00:10:19.579 --> 00:10:20.799 probably the people we love most, 00:10:20.899 --> 00:10:22.459 did you really just say that to me? 00:10:23.439 --> 00:10:23.799 Snark. 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:24.379 Attitude. 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:26.359 It's the beginning of all that's wrong with the world. 00:10:26.439 --> 00:10:27.879 And so what's happening here is a pyramid. 00:10:27.879 --> 00:10:31.799 If you think of a pyramid, you know, traditional pyramid, triangle, 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:35.939 God, the maker, the creator is at the top, 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:37.860 and all of us creatures are at the bottom. 00:10:38.419 --> 00:10:41.419 But as soon as Satan says, did he really? 00:10:42.460 --> 00:10:43.100 What has happened? 00:10:43.259 --> 00:10:45.500 Eve's heart, Adam's heart, who was right there with her, 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:49.879 has started to invert the pyramid and put ourselves, 00:10:50.679 --> 00:10:54.779 put me at the top and put God at the bottom like a creature. 00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:57.200 I am now, I have now become his judge. 00:10:57.879 --> 00:11:00.259 Now, sometimes the theologians, they'll say this, 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:02.539 the commentators, they'll say, what is this posture? 00:11:03.059 --> 00:11:04.720 What is this attitude in one word? 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:06.779 And I think in one word you could say it like this, 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:08.259 it is ingratitude. 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:12.899 So it's the attitude that begins to say, 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:16.000 God the maker is not actually good. 00:11:16.860 --> 00:11:19.600 God the maker, he's, you know, did he really, 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:21.279 he's withholding something from me. 00:11:21.799 --> 00:11:22.799 What is he withholding? 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:27.000 That's the beginning of all sin, an attitude. 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:30.159 Now, secondly, and we can do the next two very quickly, 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:32.440 because they're really just the development of the attitude. 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:35.200 And secondly, it's manipulation. 00:11:35.700 --> 00:11:38.139 So if you look down at verse three, you can see what happens. 00:11:39.259 --> 00:11:41.440 Verse two and three, the woman says to the serpent, 00:11:41.860 --> 00:11:43.860 we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:46.440 but God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:47.960 that is in the midst of the garden, 00:11:48.379 --> 00:11:50.519 neither shall you touch it lest you die. 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:54.440 Now, what's happening here is we see very subtly, 00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:55.860 and you've got to pay close attention to see this, 00:11:55.940 --> 00:11:59.120 but the snark, the attitude is starting to grip hold of Eve's heart. 00:11:59.860 --> 00:12:03.640 And the way you know that is because of a very common practice 00:12:03.640 --> 00:12:04.620 maybe you've experienced. 00:12:05.260 --> 00:12:06.520 I've never experienced this. 00:12:07.660 --> 00:12:09.240 You'll know why I'm joking in a second, 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:11.800 but have you ever been in the kitchen, 00:12:12.460 --> 00:12:14.740 in an argument with your beloved, 00:12:14.920 --> 00:12:16.220 or your friend, or your sibling, 00:12:16.700 --> 00:12:17.620 your partner of any kind, 00:12:17.620 --> 00:12:20.519 and you know that you have an argument. 00:12:21.560 --> 00:12:25.460 But what you do is you add one or two clauses to the argument, 00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:26.639 one or two words, 00:12:27.019 --> 00:12:30.440 just to twist the truth slightly 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:33.379 to guarantee victory in this argument, right? 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:35.159 You say, you know, you don't just say, 00:12:35.460 --> 00:12:36.440 you did this, you say, 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:39.820 you always do this, right? 00:12:39.820 --> 00:12:43.600 I don't know if you've had that experience, 00:12:43.800 --> 00:12:48.000 but Eve here does exactly that. 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:49.420 We know that something's going on 00:12:49.420 --> 00:12:51.220 because if you notice closely, 00:12:51.300 --> 00:12:51.860 what does she say? 00:12:52.520 --> 00:12:55.120 She said, yeah, he did give us a command. 00:12:55.879 --> 00:12:57.320 And he said, you may not eat of it, 00:12:57.379 --> 00:12:59.320 but she adds a little clause in verse three. 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:01.879 And the little clause is, you may not touch it. 00:13:02.160 --> 00:13:03.379 And if you go back to chapter two, 00:13:03.460 --> 00:13:06.220 you will find that nowhere did God ever say that. 00:13:06.220 --> 00:13:09.800 And so what she's doing is she's manipulating the truth. 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:11.420 And Adam is right there alongside her, 00:13:11.580 --> 00:13:13.460 letting it happen all the way. 00:13:13.920 --> 00:13:15.000 And she's twisting it. 00:13:15.019 --> 00:13:17.420 And you see that something has gotten a hold of the heart. 00:13:18.940 --> 00:13:21.300 And she's starting to manipulate the truth a little bit. 00:13:22.379 --> 00:13:24.320 And the attitude of ingratitude 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:26.879 has become a twisting of what God actually said. 00:13:27.920 --> 00:13:30.560 And two great mistakes here happen at the same time. 00:13:30.660 --> 00:13:32.600 One, the beginning of world history, 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:34.860 the beginning, the first moment in all of world history 00:13:34.860 --> 00:13:37.180 where people tend to start thinking 00:13:37.180 --> 00:13:40.960 the real God is a God of rules, rules, rules, rules, 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:42.500 rules starts in that moment. 00:13:43.460 --> 00:13:44.840 That God is not a God of love. 00:13:44.940 --> 00:13:45.899 That God does not love me. 00:13:46.019 --> 00:13:47.580 That God is not out for my good. 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:50.220 God is just out to tell me what to do 00:13:50.220 --> 00:13:51.279 and to control me 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:53.539 and to keep me away from things. 00:13:53.560 --> 00:13:54.740 And he's withholding something from me. 00:13:54.779 --> 00:13:56.279 And there it is, the twist, the turn, 00:13:56.360 --> 00:13:57.940 the manipulation of language. 00:13:58.379 --> 00:13:59.860 He always does this. 00:14:00.180 --> 00:14:03.360 Doesn't he always tell me just to control, 00:14:03.420 --> 00:14:04.379 to take away my freedoms? 00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:06.659 And you see it happening right here. 00:14:06.740 --> 00:14:08.120 And it's Satan saying to her, 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:10.279 God is a, you know, he's saying, 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:11.940 he's implanting a seed 00:14:11.940 --> 00:14:13.960 in the lives of the first humans 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:15.820 that said God is a cosmic killjoy. 00:14:16.060 --> 00:14:17.019 And you need to know that. 00:14:17.560 --> 00:14:18.480 You need to believe that. 00:14:18.620 --> 00:14:20.539 And that is exactly what's taking place here. 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:25.120 In J.R.R. Tolkien's series, 00:14:25.220 --> 00:14:26.480 The Lord of the Rings and Middle Earth, 00:14:26.680 --> 00:14:27.659 one of the great characters, 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:28.920 the most important character maybe, 00:14:29.080 --> 00:14:30.320 is the ring, right? 00:14:31.020 --> 00:14:32.060 And what is the ring? 00:14:32.400 --> 00:14:35.180 What happens, the ring of power in his stories, 00:14:35.620 --> 00:14:36.340 the ring of power, 00:14:36.440 --> 00:14:37.820 when it's placed upon the finger, 00:14:38.280 --> 00:14:39.879 we're told by Tolkien in the books 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:42.379 that it takes over the heart 00:14:42.379 --> 00:14:44.000 and slowly corrupts. 00:14:44.040 --> 00:14:45.740 And one of the interesting things in the books 00:14:45.740 --> 00:14:47.720 is that Frodo, the lead character, 00:14:47.800 --> 00:14:48.320 the protagonist, 00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:50.580 he is able, unlike almost everyone, 00:14:50.780 --> 00:14:51.580 in a surprising way, 00:14:51.700 --> 00:14:54.060 to stand against the corrupting power of the ring 00:14:54.059 --> 00:14:55.279 for longer, 00:14:55.419 --> 00:14:57.019 though it will get him eventually. 00:14:58.339 --> 00:15:00.459 And you see, the snark, the attitude, 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:02.419 did he really just say that? 00:15:02.839 --> 00:15:04.659 Was the first moment in human history 00:15:04.659 --> 00:15:06.879 where Satan slid that ring 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:08.119 on the finger of humanity. 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:10.559 And then the twisting of the language, 00:15:10.899 --> 00:15:13.019 the manipulation of what God actually said, 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:16.699 is the unfolding of the corrupting power. 00:15:17.719 --> 00:15:20.299 That now the heart is beginning to corrupt. 00:15:21.059 --> 00:15:21.779 It's changing. 00:15:21.779 --> 00:15:23.279 There's a transformation taking place. 00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:26.259 And we see that even in the subtlety of her language. 00:15:27.220 --> 00:15:28.120 And so that leads, thirdly, 00:15:28.179 --> 00:15:29.240 to the objective temptation. 00:15:29.539 --> 00:15:31.399 So if you look down at verse four and five, 00:15:32.259 --> 00:15:33.879 but the serpent turns and he says to her, 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:36.319 you will not surely die. 00:15:36.419 --> 00:15:37.019 God had said, 00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:39.819 if you disobey, you'll choose death, not life. 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:41.459 But he says, you won't actually die. 00:15:41.839 --> 00:15:43.179 God knows that if you eat of it, 00:15:43.220 --> 00:15:44.259 your eyes will be open 00:15:44.259 --> 00:15:45.720 and you'll be like God, 00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:46.439 knowing good and evil. 00:15:46.500 --> 00:15:48.959 So here, an objective external temptation 00:15:48.959 --> 00:15:50.860 comes in through his words. 00:15:50.860 --> 00:15:51.940 You will be like God, 00:15:52.379 --> 00:15:53.399 knowing good and evil. 00:15:54.300 --> 00:15:55.680 Now, the essence of the fall, 00:15:55.779 --> 00:15:57.740 let me bring it to a head and say, 00:15:58.000 --> 00:15:59.480 here's the essence of all that's wrong, 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:00.240 our title today. 00:16:00.659 --> 00:16:01.899 The essence of all that's wrong 00:16:01.899 --> 00:16:03.680 is the belief in the heart 00:16:03.680 --> 00:16:06.180 that I, we cannot trust God. 00:16:07.019 --> 00:16:08.300 That he is not good 00:16:08.300 --> 00:16:09.960 and that he does not want our good. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:12.720 That's really what took place here in this moment. 00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:15.200 And again, it's not an argument. 00:16:15.379 --> 00:16:15.639 It's not, 00:16:17.300 --> 00:16:18.120 what's wrong with our hearts, 00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:19.840 it's not that we've been convinced 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:21.399 that the problem of evil 00:16:21.399 --> 00:16:22.940 and the cosmological argument 00:16:22.940 --> 00:16:24.200 doesn't work 00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:26.139 and that all the arguments out there 00:16:26.139 --> 00:16:27.159 intellectually don't work 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:28.399 and so we don't believe in God. 00:16:28.500 --> 00:16:29.720 The issue, that is not the issue. 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:31.659 The issue with all of us, 00:16:31.820 --> 00:16:32.560 disbelief in God, 00:16:32.620 --> 00:16:33.159 our unbelief, 00:16:33.240 --> 00:16:34.980 the issue is attitude 00:16:34.980 --> 00:16:35.820 that says, 00:16:36.060 --> 00:16:37.019 I cannot trust him. 00:16:38.019 --> 00:16:39.419 That's the real issue at the heart. 00:16:40.259 --> 00:16:41.060 And so what Satan does 00:16:41.059 --> 00:16:42.559 is he says to her, 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:43.939 he says to her, 00:16:45.319 --> 00:16:46.659 it's not just that, 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:49.299 it's not just that you will be like God. 00:16:49.699 --> 00:16:50.179 He says, 00:16:50.239 --> 00:16:51.000 you will be like God, 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:52.219 but it's not just that you'll be like God 00:16:52.219 --> 00:16:53.179 knowing good and evil. 00:16:53.379 --> 00:16:54.559 What is he tempting her with? 00:16:55.099 --> 00:16:56.639 What is he asking her to believe? 00:16:57.019 --> 00:16:57.699 And this is it. 00:16:58.159 --> 00:16:58.979 He is saying to her, 00:16:59.099 --> 00:17:01.099 it's not just that you will be like God, 00:17:01.199 --> 00:17:02.579 but you will be God-like. 00:17:03.439 --> 00:17:04.500 You know, when Satan said, 00:17:04.619 --> 00:17:05.639 look, if you disobey, 00:17:05.740 --> 00:17:07.179 if you reach out and you take and you eat, 00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:08.539 what should Eve have said 00:17:08.539 --> 00:17:09.539 in that moment to him 00:17:09.539 --> 00:17:10.659 when he said, 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:11.420 you will be like God, 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:12.200 she could have said, 00:17:12.420 --> 00:17:14.139 I already am like God. 00:17:15.220 --> 00:17:16.480 God made me in his image. 00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:18.000 He gave me harmony and peace 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:19.039 in a garden and a home 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:20.399 and a life of joy 00:17:20.399 --> 00:17:21.599 and righteousness and glory. 00:17:21.899 --> 00:17:24.059 I'm like God as much as I can be. 00:17:24.399 --> 00:17:25.759 But what he's saying is not, 00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:26.799 you will be like God, 00:17:26.879 --> 00:17:27.680 but if you eat, 00:17:27.899 --> 00:17:29.200 you will become God-like. 00:17:30.139 --> 00:17:30.659 And so he says, 00:17:30.659 --> 00:17:31.399 there is one thing 00:17:31.399 --> 00:17:32.740 God does not want you to know, 00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:33.339 and that's that 00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:34.399 if you will just reach out, 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:34.960 you will eat. 00:17:35.259 --> 00:17:36.159 You will be like him 00:17:36.159 --> 00:17:37.299 knowing good and evil. 00:17:37.779 --> 00:17:38.460 And so this language 00:17:38.460 --> 00:17:39.440 of knowing good and evil 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:41.100 is tricky for us 00:17:41.100 --> 00:17:41.840 as modern people, 00:17:41.840 --> 00:17:42.640 but this is actually 00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:44.539 just a Hebrew euphemism, 00:17:45.360 --> 00:17:47.059 and it's a Hebrew euphemism 00:17:47.059 --> 00:17:47.759 for wisdom. 00:17:48.940 --> 00:17:49.700 So we say, 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:50.320 like God, 00:17:50.380 --> 00:17:50.940 knowing good and evil, 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:51.860 what exactly does that mean? 00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:53.160 It just simply means 00:17:53.160 --> 00:17:54.820 you will have the wisdom, 00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:56.840 the status of God. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:17:57.840 You'll have the mind of God. 00:17:57.900 --> 00:17:59.080 You'll have the divinity of God. 00:17:59.080 --> 00:18:00.000 You will be like God 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:00.900 and being able to know 00:18:00.900 --> 00:18:02.120 as much as God knows. 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:03.039 In other words, 00:18:03.080 --> 00:18:04.279 he's saying the very secret 00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:05.360 that he's holding from you 00:18:05.360 --> 00:18:06.980 is that he doesn't want you 00:18:06.980 --> 00:18:08.019 to know that if you eat, 00:18:08.180 --> 00:18:09.420 you will be equal to 00:18:09.420 --> 00:18:10.579 or greater than him. 00:18:11.220 --> 00:18:12.180 You will be God. 00:18:12.339 --> 00:18:12.700 You will be able 00:18:12.700 --> 00:18:13.579 to define yourself, 00:18:13.940 --> 00:18:14.500 your own life, 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:15.000 your own way. 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:16.140 You'll be able to say, 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:16.839 it's my choice 00:18:16.839 --> 00:18:17.539 who I'm going to be. 00:18:17.620 --> 00:18:18.880 It's expressive individualism 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:20.779 of the ancient world. 00:18:21.380 --> 00:18:22.500 That was the real temptation. 00:18:23.460 --> 00:18:25.019 And Adam, Eve, 00:18:25.120 --> 00:18:25.920 both in this moment 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:26.799 begin to believe 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:28.759 God is not a giver of gifts. 00:18:29.259 --> 00:18:30.599 He is hiding the truth from me. 00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:31.640 He is power hungry. 00:18:32.200 --> 00:18:33.059 I've got to take things 00:18:33.059 --> 00:18:33.799 into my own hands. 00:18:33.980 --> 00:18:34.960 I've got to define 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:35.900 who I'm going to be 00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:36.840 with my own life. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:38.880 And so the exchange. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:39.480 In verse 6, 00:18:39.579 --> 00:18:39.920 Eve, 00:18:40.779 --> 00:18:41.640 fourthly the exchange. 00:18:41.819 --> 00:18:43.640 She saw that the tree, 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:45.160 notice the sight verbs, 00:18:45.259 --> 00:18:46.240 she sees the tree 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:47.160 is good for food. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:49.340 She sees that it's a delight, 00:18:49.600 --> 00:18:51.000 a delight to her eyes, 00:18:51.539 --> 00:18:52.759 that the tree was desired 00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:53.579 to make one wise, 00:18:53.660 --> 00:18:54.579 to achieve this goal 00:18:54.579 --> 00:18:55.160 of divinity, 00:18:55.340 --> 00:18:56.160 of divine status. 00:18:56.519 --> 00:18:57.940 So she takes and she eats 00:18:57.940 --> 00:18:59.940 and she gives some to Adam as well 00:18:59.940 --> 00:19:01.440 who was with her all the way. 00:19:02.340 --> 00:19:03.660 Now, when it says that 00:19:03.660 --> 00:19:05.360 she saw that it was good, 00:19:05.960 --> 00:19:07.480 you've heard that language before 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:09.060 if you've read the Bible so far. 00:19:09.140 --> 00:19:10.000 In Genesis 1, 00:19:10.320 --> 00:19:11.420 seven times, 00:19:12.080 --> 00:19:14.160 it says that God made something 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:14.800 and then what? 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:16.680 He saw that it was good. 00:19:17.220 --> 00:19:18.759 And now she looks out at the tree 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:20.259 and she saw that it was good. 00:19:20.300 --> 00:19:20.820 What's happening? 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:22.279 Moses, the writer, 00:19:22.380 --> 00:19:24.160 is taking the language of creation 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:25.940 and trying to show you 00:19:25.940 --> 00:19:27.000 Eve in this moment 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:28.600 believes that she's becoming 00:19:28.600 --> 00:19:29.380 a creator. 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:31.740 She saw that it was good 00:19:31.740 --> 00:19:32.460 just like God saw 00:19:32.460 --> 00:19:33.640 that His creation was good. 00:19:33.940 --> 00:19:35.700 She sees this really can 00:19:35.700 --> 00:19:36.880 make me my own person. 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:37.920 I can be a creator. 00:19:38.059 --> 00:19:38.860 I can be like God. 00:19:39.299 --> 00:19:41.019 I can take divinity into my life. 00:19:41.100 --> 00:19:42.660 And so this great reversal 00:19:42.660 --> 00:19:43.259 takes place. 00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:44.340 We could call it 00:19:44.340 --> 00:19:46.000 an exchange takes place 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:47.579 where in this moment, 00:19:47.700 --> 00:19:48.799 Adam and Eve choose 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:50.100 not to be creatures. 00:19:50.600 --> 00:19:51.720 They seek to be the creator. 00:19:52.740 --> 00:19:53.400 And in that moment, 00:19:53.500 --> 00:19:54.480 the total undoing 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:55.799 of all of humanity takes place. 00:19:56.039 --> 00:19:56.840 Everything is broken. 00:19:58.319 --> 00:19:59.579 You might look at this today 00:19:59.579 --> 00:20:00.179 and say, 00:20:00.659 --> 00:20:02.819 what in the world is wrong 00:20:02.819 --> 00:20:05.240 with picking fruit from a tree? 00:20:06.139 --> 00:20:07.799 It feels incredibly arbitrary. 00:20:08.139 --> 00:20:09.759 Why would God say, 00:20:10.460 --> 00:20:11.419 don't eat of a tree 00:20:11.419 --> 00:20:12.039 or you're going to break 00:20:12.039 --> 00:20:12.579 the whole world? 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:15.559 And I'll say a little bit more 00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:16.139 about this next week. 00:20:16.199 --> 00:20:17.099 Let me just say this now. 00:20:17.879 --> 00:20:19.179 These two trees, 00:20:19.299 --> 00:20:19.839 the tree of life 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:20.559 and the tree of the knowledge 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:21.119 of good and evil, 00:20:21.299 --> 00:20:22.099 this tree of wisdom, 00:20:22.839 --> 00:20:25.279 they're there as a choice. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:27.819 We might call them 00:20:27.819 --> 00:20:29.480 with a little lowercase s 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:30.639 like sacraments, 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:31.740 signs, symbols, 00:20:32.399 --> 00:20:33.680 true historical realities, 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:34.559 physical entities 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:35.940 pointing to something 00:20:35.940 --> 00:20:36.660 bigger and greater 00:20:36.660 --> 00:20:37.440 beyond themselves. 00:20:37.940 --> 00:20:38.599 And what is that 00:20:38.599 --> 00:20:39.319 that they're signaling? 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:40.099 What are they signing? 00:20:40.599 --> 00:20:41.359 And it's simply this. 00:20:41.420 --> 00:20:42.420 Look, you come to a passage 00:20:42.420 --> 00:20:43.279 like this and you read through it 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:43.500 and you say, 00:20:43.579 --> 00:20:44.759 there is so much mystery here. 00:20:45.019 --> 00:20:46.119 There's so much I don't know. 00:20:46.200 --> 00:20:47.359 There's so much I don't understand. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:49.500 Yes, you've got to just 00:20:49.500 --> 00:20:50.460 take what you're given. 00:20:51.700 --> 00:20:52.339 And when you take 00:20:52.339 --> 00:20:52.879 what you're given, 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:53.960 what are you being asked 00:20:53.960 --> 00:20:54.480 in the tree? 00:20:54.620 --> 00:20:55.440 Not don't eat of the tree. 00:20:55.500 --> 00:20:56.180 What are they being asked? 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:58.600 In the infancy of humanity, 00:20:58.819 --> 00:20:59.940 in the youth of humanity, 00:20:59.940 --> 00:21:00.980 the earliest days, 00:21:01.319 --> 00:21:02.700 they're simply being asked 00:21:02.700 --> 00:21:03.140 to say, 00:21:03.420 --> 00:21:04.920 I trust you. 00:21:06.360 --> 00:21:08.079 I don't know exactly 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:09.220 what the trees are all about 00:21:09.220 --> 00:21:10.700 and we still don't. 00:21:11.460 --> 00:21:12.519 There's a lot of mystery here. 00:21:12.900 --> 00:21:13.840 But what they're simply 00:21:13.840 --> 00:21:14.980 being asked is to say, 00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:16.960 I believe God made me 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:18.380 and I believe he's good 00:21:18.380 --> 00:21:19.160 and I trust him. 00:21:20.700 --> 00:21:21.340 And instead, 00:21:21.620 --> 00:21:23.180 they chose to be the creator 00:21:23.180 --> 00:21:23.920 instead of the creature. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:25.360 And they exchanged 00:21:25.360 --> 00:21:26.120 all that's good 00:21:26.120 --> 00:21:26.819 with all that's wrong. 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:28.480 And in this moment, 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:29.259 they broke the world. 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:30.579 And so we could say 00:21:30.579 --> 00:21:31.259 that the fall, 00:21:31.360 --> 00:21:31.880 the fall, 00:21:32.180 --> 00:21:32.700 that's what we call 00:21:32.700 --> 00:21:33.240 this moment, 00:21:33.700 --> 00:21:35.100 is pride that leads 00:21:35.100 --> 00:21:36.059 to ingratitude, 00:21:36.180 --> 00:21:37.539 that leads to an exchange 00:21:37.539 --> 00:21:39.480 of creator-creature relations 00:21:39.480 --> 00:21:40.779 where we said, 00:21:41.019 --> 00:21:41.559 I don't want to be 00:21:41.559 --> 00:21:42.340 the image of God, 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:43.480 I want to be God. 00:21:43.620 --> 00:21:44.460 I want to be God. 00:21:45.539 --> 00:21:46.259 Friedrich Nietzsche, 00:21:47.120 --> 00:21:47.980 famous atheist 00:21:47.980 --> 00:21:49.019 of the 19th century, 00:21:49.539 --> 00:21:50.180 he wrote a book 00:21:50.180 --> 00:21:50.480 called 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:51.980 Thus Spoke Zarathustra. 00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:53.240 And in it, 00:21:53.319 --> 00:21:54.000 one of the characters, 00:21:54.140 --> 00:21:54.799 Zarathustra, 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:55.819 who it's about, 00:21:56.339 --> 00:21:56.799 he has, 00:21:57.420 --> 00:21:57.579 boy, 00:21:57.900 --> 00:21:58.700 a compelling moment. 00:21:58.779 --> 00:21:59.480 He says this, 00:21:59.480 --> 00:22:02.299 But to reveal my heart 00:22:02.299 --> 00:22:02.680 to you, 00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:03.160 friends, 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:05.259 if there is a God, 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:07.640 how could I stand 00:22:07.640 --> 00:22:08.779 not to be God? 00:22:10.779 --> 00:22:11.220 Therefore, 00:22:11.559 --> 00:22:12.640 there is no God. 00:22:14.019 --> 00:22:14.380 You see, 00:22:14.500 --> 00:22:15.360 it's not argument, 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:16.180 it's attitude. 00:22:16.839 --> 00:22:17.180 Did you hear, 00:22:17.339 --> 00:22:18.079 he says this, 00:22:18.460 --> 00:22:19.839 But to reveal my heart 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:20.160 to you, 00:22:20.200 --> 00:22:20.720 my friends, 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:23.059 Zarathustra says, 00:22:23.059 --> 00:22:25.519 if there is a God, 00:22:25.619 --> 00:22:26.319 how in the world 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:27.079 could I stand 00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:27.700 not to be? 00:22:28.700 --> 00:22:29.099 Therefore, 00:22:29.299 --> 00:22:30.000 there is no God. 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:32.779 And all the arguments, 00:22:32.919 --> 00:22:33.240 I think, 00:22:33.399 --> 00:22:34.000 that are out there 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:34.579 are from a place 00:22:34.579 --> 00:22:35.159 where we actually 00:22:35.159 --> 00:22:36.319 all believe in God, 00:22:36.879 --> 00:22:38.419 but our attitude 00:22:38.419 --> 00:22:39.179 is preventing us 00:22:39.179 --> 00:22:39.819 from seeing it. 00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:40.720 The snark. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:42.119 It's at the bottom 00:22:42.119 --> 00:22:42.679 of who we are. 00:22:42.759 --> 00:22:43.460 And when we say, 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:44.679 I don't know 00:22:44.679 --> 00:22:45.399 that God exists, 00:22:45.619 --> 00:22:46.519 I think science 00:22:46.519 --> 00:22:47.539 has replaced God. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:49.619 That's not an argument, 00:22:49.819 --> 00:22:50.419 it's an attitude. 00:22:51.299 --> 00:22:51.980 It's a position. 00:22:51.980 --> 00:22:53.200 It begins 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:53.700 with an attitude. 00:22:54.900 --> 00:22:55.579 When we say, 00:22:55.860 --> 00:22:56.819 every time we say, 00:22:57.880 --> 00:22:58.500 the pleasure 00:22:58.500 --> 00:22:59.539 of giving in 00:22:59.539 --> 00:23:00.599 to all my lust 00:23:00.599 --> 00:23:01.319 is okay, 00:23:02.120 --> 00:23:03.279 what's going on 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:03.640 in that moment? 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:04.440 It's an attitude 00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:05.099 of unbelief. 00:23:06.019 --> 00:23:06.480 It says, 00:23:06.660 --> 00:23:07.400 I don't think 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:08.240 that God's way 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:09.440 can actually fulfill me, 00:23:10.380 --> 00:23:10.819 and so I'm going 00:23:10.819 --> 00:23:11.160 to take it 00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:11.900 into my own hands. 00:23:12.339 --> 00:23:12.960 Every time, 00:23:13.700 --> 00:23:13.960 boy, 00:23:14.039 --> 00:23:14.299 this one, 00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:14.799 I heard somebody 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:15.539 say this one recently, 00:23:15.620 --> 00:23:16.380 it came close to me. 00:23:17.220 --> 00:23:18.180 Every time we struggle 00:23:18.180 --> 00:23:18.819 with anxiety 00:23:18.819 --> 00:23:19.460 and worry 00:23:19.460 --> 00:23:20.539 and we constantly think 00:23:20.539 --> 00:23:21.319 things aren't going well, 00:23:21.319 --> 00:23:22.399 what if things don't go well, 00:23:22.779 --> 00:23:23.519 what are we doing? 00:23:24.399 --> 00:23:25.079 We're saying, 00:23:25.919 --> 00:23:26.079 boy, 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:27.619 every time I say, 00:23:28.139 --> 00:23:29.419 I've got a plan 00:23:29.419 --> 00:23:30.039 for success 00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:30.899 in this local church 00:23:30.899 --> 00:23:31.039 here, 00:23:31.139 --> 00:23:31.779 St. Columba's, 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:33.099 and it's not going 00:23:33.099 --> 00:23:34.079 exactly the way 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:34.799 I've mapped out, 00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:36.759 what am I saying? 00:23:36.819 --> 00:23:37.179 I'm saying, 00:23:37.399 --> 00:23:37.939 I don't know 00:23:37.939 --> 00:23:38.299 that God 00:23:38.299 --> 00:23:39.339 is going to get this right. 00:23:41.019 --> 00:23:41.700 As I heard 00:23:41.700 --> 00:23:42.740 a pastor say recently, 00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:43.799 you know, 00:23:43.879 --> 00:23:45.220 I better take it 00:23:45.220 --> 00:23:46.000 into my hands, 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:48.019 and that is 00:23:48.019 --> 00:23:48.420 the attitude 00:23:48.420 --> 00:23:48.940 of the garden, 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:50.400 the snark. 00:23:51.059 --> 00:23:52.119 I do not trust him. 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:53.900 I'm not willing 00:23:53.900 --> 00:23:54.799 to believe, 00:23:55.019 --> 00:23:55.539 to trust 00:23:55.539 --> 00:23:56.380 that God 00:23:56.380 --> 00:23:57.160 has my best interests 00:23:57.160 --> 00:23:57.500 at heart. 00:23:58.599 --> 00:23:59.140 And so there's 00:23:59.140 --> 00:24:00.099 an exchange of truth 00:24:00.099 --> 00:24:00.799 for who we are, 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:01.720 made to be created, 00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:02.220 dependent, 00:24:02.660 --> 00:24:04.460 trusting the good God 00:24:04.460 --> 00:24:05.420 for saying, 00:24:05.660 --> 00:24:06.259 I want to define 00:24:06.259 --> 00:24:06.720 who I am, 00:24:06.779 --> 00:24:07.180 I want to be 00:24:07.180 --> 00:24:07.819 my own God. 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:08.579 Boy, 00:24:09.160 --> 00:24:09.700 let me reveal 00:24:09.700 --> 00:24:10.420 my heart to you. 00:24:11.420 --> 00:24:12.079 Zarathustra said, 00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:12.759 is this you? 00:24:12.839 --> 00:24:13.160 He said, 00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:15.259 my heart is, 00:24:16.140 --> 00:24:17.059 if there is a God, 00:24:17.140 --> 00:24:17.559 then that means 00:24:17.559 --> 00:24:18.299 I'm not him, 00:24:18.500 --> 00:24:18.879 and boy, 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:19.400 that means 00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:20.519 there is no God. 00:24:21.940 --> 00:24:22.740 What can we do? 00:24:23.500 --> 00:24:23.980 The solution. 00:24:24.099 --> 00:24:25.619 We've got three more weeks 00:24:25.619 --> 00:24:27.500 to really dig 00:24:27.500 --> 00:24:28.220 into the depth 00:24:28.220 --> 00:24:29.019 of what this means, 00:24:29.099 --> 00:24:29.859 the consequences, 00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:31.980 the hope 00:24:31.980 --> 00:24:32.940 that's going to come 00:24:32.940 --> 00:24:34.420 later in Genesis chapter 3. 00:24:35.259 --> 00:24:35.859 And to think 00:24:35.859 --> 00:24:36.960 really deeply about it, 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:38.140 but let me finish 00:24:38.140 --> 00:24:38.720 today with this. 00:24:39.500 --> 00:24:40.700 What can be done? 00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:41.619 What is the solution? 00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:42.579 Is there hope? 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:44.039 For this situation, 00:24:44.900 --> 00:24:45.579 Adam and Eve 00:24:45.579 --> 00:24:46.180 in the garden 00:24:46.180 --> 00:24:47.400 exchanged 00:24:47.400 --> 00:24:48.519 the harmony, 00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:49.160 the peace, 00:24:49.259 --> 00:24:49.720 the home 00:24:49.720 --> 00:24:50.759 that we were made for 00:24:50.759 --> 00:24:52.039 for something 00:24:52.039 --> 00:24:53.180 far lesser. 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:55.019 For this broken world 00:24:55.019 --> 00:24:55.740 that we now live in, 00:24:55.779 --> 00:24:56.519 for self-centeredness 00:24:56.519 --> 00:24:57.299 as a pattern of life, 00:24:57.599 --> 00:24:58.200 for the fact that 00:24:58.200 --> 00:24:59.099 because we all have 00:24:59.099 --> 00:24:59.579 this attitude 00:24:59.579 --> 00:25:00.420 deep down in our hearts 00:25:00.420 --> 00:25:01.079 against God, 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:02.900 we all pretend 00:25:02.900 --> 00:25:03.539 we're all gods, 00:25:03.660 --> 00:25:04.220 and so we're in 00:25:04.220 --> 00:25:05.059 a constant state 00:25:05.059 --> 00:25:05.839 of anger 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:06.519 and discord 00:25:06.519 --> 00:25:07.339 and war 00:25:07.339 --> 00:25:08.960 and argument 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:09.579 with people 00:25:09.579 --> 00:25:10.119 all the time 00:25:10.119 --> 00:25:10.779 all around us. 00:25:10.859 --> 00:25:11.980 This is the exchange 00:25:11.980 --> 00:25:12.519 that took place 00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:12.900 in the beginning 00:25:12.900 --> 00:25:13.599 of human history. 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:15.360 Can we fix it? 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:17.539 Can we fix it? 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:19.480 And people have come along 00:25:19.480 --> 00:25:19.940 and said, 00:25:20.259 --> 00:25:21.339 here's what we can do. 00:25:22.339 --> 00:25:23.620 In the 18th century, 00:25:23.700 --> 00:25:24.099 we said, 00:25:24.420 --> 00:25:25.319 if we can just create 00:25:25.319 --> 00:25:26.220 better societies 00:25:26.220 --> 00:25:27.339 fraternity, 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:28.839 brotherhood and sisterhood, 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:30.839 if we can give 00:25:30.839 --> 00:25:31.539 better measures 00:25:31.539 --> 00:25:32.360 of equality 00:25:32.360 --> 00:25:33.819 in every way 00:25:33.819 --> 00:25:34.519 across the board, 00:25:34.900 --> 00:25:36.100 if our educational 00:25:36.100 --> 00:25:37.420 work increases 00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:38.740 and we really educate people, 00:25:39.460 --> 00:25:40.759 then we can reach 00:25:40.759 --> 00:25:41.299 a society 00:25:41.299 --> 00:25:42.100 where we see 00:25:42.100 --> 00:25:42.980 these problems 00:25:42.980 --> 00:25:44.000 of self-centeredness 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:44.579 and brokenness 00:25:44.579 --> 00:25:45.299 and corruption, 00:25:45.539 --> 00:25:46.279 they'll all go away. 00:25:46.339 --> 00:25:46.980 And so Karl Marx 00:25:46.980 --> 00:25:47.759 came along and said, 00:25:48.019 --> 00:25:48.180 you know, 00:25:48.220 --> 00:25:49.259 if we get rid of classes, 00:25:50.259 --> 00:25:51.640 if we have a classless society, 00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:52.960 then that will finally 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:53.460 be the thing 00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:54.420 that will turn it around. 00:25:54.420 --> 00:25:56.420 And just before him, 00:25:56.460 --> 00:25:57.240 a guy named Rousseau, 00:25:57.320 --> 00:25:58.400 he said that, 00:25:58.539 --> 00:25:58.740 you know, 00:25:58.779 --> 00:26:00.019 the issue is adults, 00:26:00.060 --> 00:26:00.660 not children. 00:26:00.779 --> 00:26:01.160 And he said, 00:26:01.220 --> 00:26:02.180 so if we could just 00:26:02.180 --> 00:26:03.200 return everybody 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:04.200 to a state of 00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:05.580 a wild infancy, 00:26:05.740 --> 00:26:05.900 you know, 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:07.259 if we get rid of buildings 00:26:07.259 --> 00:26:07.779 and societies 00:26:07.779 --> 00:26:08.259 and we go back 00:26:08.259 --> 00:26:08.840 to the woods 00:26:08.840 --> 00:26:10.640 and we all live 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:11.400 in the woods together 00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:13.440 and we live in a childlike, 00:26:13.600 --> 00:26:14.580 animalistic state, 00:26:14.700 --> 00:26:15.960 then that will fix the problem. 00:26:17.080 --> 00:26:18.400 Every single proposal 00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:19.440 that has been tried 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:21.480 led to World War I 00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:22.100 and World War II. 00:26:23.460 --> 00:26:24.400 Every single proposal 00:26:24.420 --> 00:26:25.720 leads to where we are today. 00:26:26.740 --> 00:26:27.759 The world is still broken 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:28.720 and bent and bruised 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:29.460 and we still struggle 00:26:29.460 --> 00:26:30.560 with the same exact issues. 00:26:31.800 --> 00:26:32.500 And that means 00:26:32.500 --> 00:26:34.580 that what we need today, 00:26:34.940 --> 00:26:35.920 what we all need today, 00:26:36.500 --> 00:26:37.440 is an ability 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:38.300 to answer this question, 00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:39.960 how can you be realistic 00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:41.560 about the state of the world 00:26:41.560 --> 00:26:43.500 and yet not become hopeless? 00:26:45.380 --> 00:26:45.539 Right, 00:26:45.560 --> 00:26:46.740 so people come at this 00:26:46.740 --> 00:26:47.220 in two ways. 00:26:47.320 --> 00:26:48.600 They start off young 00:26:48.600 --> 00:26:48.980 and they say, 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:50.100 I'm romantic about the world. 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:50.900 I don't really think 00:26:50.900 --> 00:26:51.380 it's that bad. 00:26:51.420 --> 00:26:51.920 I don't really think 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:52.519 I'm that bad. 00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:53.500 I think I'm generally 00:26:53.500 --> 00:26:54.099 a good person. 00:26:55.319 --> 00:26:56.920 And then life comes along 00:26:56.920 --> 00:26:58.680 and the truth about the self, 00:26:58.839 --> 00:26:59.740 what we're capable of, 00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:00.259 comes out 00:27:00.259 --> 00:27:01.859 and the suffering comes in 00:27:01.859 --> 00:27:03.160 and a lot of times 00:27:03.160 --> 00:27:04.379 romanticism gives way 00:27:04.379 --> 00:27:05.180 to hopelessness. 00:27:06.259 --> 00:27:07.019 And the question 00:27:07.019 --> 00:27:07.579 that we really have 00:27:07.579 --> 00:27:08.119 before us today 00:27:08.119 --> 00:27:08.420 is, 00:27:08.779 --> 00:27:09.460 is there a way 00:27:09.460 --> 00:27:10.379 to look out at the world 00:27:10.379 --> 00:27:10.940 and ourselves 00:27:10.940 --> 00:27:13.480 and be realistic 00:27:13.480 --> 00:27:15.440 about the truth 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:15.980 of what's wrong 00:27:15.980 --> 00:27:16.440 with this world 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:17.420 and yet not hopeless, 00:27:17.660 --> 00:27:18.339 not cynical, 00:27:18.339 --> 00:27:20.319 not so broken by it 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:21.359 that either we snark 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:22.019 about everything 00:27:22.019 --> 00:27:23.079 or we end up 00:27:23.079 --> 00:27:24.079 in utter hopelessness. 00:27:25.399 --> 00:27:27.039 And the answer 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:29.519 that Christianity gives 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:30.759 is to say this, 00:27:31.059 --> 00:27:32.599 the world is broken. 00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:34.599 I am the problem. 00:27:35.619 --> 00:27:37.059 But because of the love of God, 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:38.259 it will not be that way forever. 00:27:40.019 --> 00:27:40.720 And so, 00:27:40.859 --> 00:27:41.699 at the beginning 00:27:41.699 --> 00:27:42.279 of human history, 00:27:42.359 --> 00:27:43.199 there's an exchange 00:27:43.199 --> 00:27:45.480 between what should have been 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:46.579 and what actually is. 00:27:46.579 --> 00:27:48.079 And in the middle 00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:48.740 of human history, 00:27:48.839 --> 00:27:50.139 there is a better exchange. 00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:51.939 There's a better exchange 00:27:51.939 --> 00:27:52.500 that came along. 00:27:52.859 --> 00:27:54.079 And, you know, 00:27:54.119 --> 00:27:55.059 we as creatures, 00:27:55.199 --> 00:27:56.339 we put ourselves 00:27:56.339 --> 00:27:57.359 in the place of the Creator. 00:27:58.399 --> 00:27:59.480 So what did God do? 00:27:59.539 --> 00:28:00.480 The Creator put Himself 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:01.299 in the place of the creature. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:03.679 In the middle of history, 00:28:03.799 --> 00:28:04.399 Jesus Christ, 00:28:04.500 --> 00:28:05.199 the Son of God, 00:28:05.379 --> 00:28:06.519 who is the Maker of the world, 00:28:06.599 --> 00:28:07.759 became the image of God. 00:28:08.259 --> 00:28:09.099 We were made to be 00:28:09.099 --> 00:28:09.699 the image of God. 00:28:09.740 --> 00:28:10.480 We rejected that 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:11.599 and so Jesus became 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:13.179 the image of God. 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:15.439 We tried to trade places 00:28:15.439 --> 00:28:15.899 with God, 00:28:15.900 --> 00:28:16.600 so what did God do? 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:17.759 God traded places with us. 00:28:18.900 --> 00:28:20.600 We tried to take His divinity 00:28:20.600 --> 00:28:21.840 so He took on our humanity. 00:28:22.500 --> 00:28:24.400 We wanted Him to die. 00:28:25.340 --> 00:28:26.460 We wanted Him to die 00:28:26.460 --> 00:28:27.759 and so He came and died. 00:28:29.140 --> 00:28:30.300 We went to Him 00:28:30.300 --> 00:28:31.720 with pride and the knife 00:28:31.720 --> 00:28:32.500 and He came 00:28:32.500 --> 00:28:33.100 and He put the knife 00:28:33.100 --> 00:28:33.740 to His own throat 00:28:33.740 --> 00:28:35.420 in the middle of human history. 00:28:35.600 --> 00:28:35.920 And you see, 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:37.240 the good news of Christianity 00:28:37.240 --> 00:28:40.960 is not rules, rules, rules, rules, rules 00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:43.400 because of your sin, sin, sin, sin, sin, sin 00:28:43.400 --> 00:28:44.700 as Dawkins thought. 00:28:44.700 --> 00:28:47.660 Instead, let me say it like this 00:28:47.660 --> 00:28:48.240 as we close. 00:28:48.860 --> 00:28:49.860 If you could just put yourself 00:28:49.860 --> 00:28:50.480 for a moment 00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:53.319 in the first century, 00:28:53.960 --> 00:28:55.380 the day Jesus was crucified, 00:28:56.140 --> 00:28:57.700 into the court setting 00:28:57.700 --> 00:28:58.759 that Pontius Pilate, 00:28:59.480 --> 00:29:00.080 Pontius Pilate, 00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:01.220 he gathered all the people 00:29:01.220 --> 00:29:01.680 in Jerusalem 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:04.039 and he brought Jesus out 00:29:04.039 --> 00:29:05.799 and he brought Barabbas out 00:29:05.799 --> 00:29:07.160 and there were two prisoners 00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:07.799 and he said, 00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:09.860 I will give you Jesus back. 00:29:10.420 --> 00:29:11.480 You can choose here. 00:29:11.600 --> 00:29:12.779 You can have whichever one 00:29:12.779 --> 00:29:13.879 of these two people you want. 00:29:14.920 --> 00:29:15.779 And in that moment, 00:29:15.960 --> 00:29:16.500 what did the crowd do? 00:29:16.539 --> 00:29:18.519 The crowd snarked. 00:29:18.639 --> 00:29:19.660 The crowd mocked. 00:29:19.740 --> 00:29:20.700 The crowd jeered. 00:29:22.440 --> 00:29:23.759 And I was reading this week 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:25.740 an editorial from a book review 00:29:25.740 --> 00:29:27.440 by David Denby 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:28.899 who wrote a book called Snark. 00:29:29.859 --> 00:29:31.119 And Tim Keller pointed me 00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:32.220 to this in one of his books 00:29:32.220 --> 00:29:34.079 and this is what the review said. 00:29:34.619 --> 00:29:36.839 Snark, jeering and mocking, 00:29:37.899 --> 00:29:39.399 aims not just at refuting 00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:40.240 somebody's position 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:41.480 but also at destroying 00:29:41.480 --> 00:29:42.680 their cool, 00:29:43.140 --> 00:29:44.440 erasing their effectiveness, 00:29:44.940 --> 00:29:46.140 trying to get control of 00:29:46.140 --> 00:29:48.160 and sully the person's image 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:48.940 in the public. 00:29:49.420 --> 00:29:50.740 Opposing views are never treated 00:29:50.740 --> 00:29:51.259 with respect 00:29:51.259 --> 00:29:53.500 but instead with snarling disdain 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:55.280 and ad hominem mockery. 00:29:55.740 --> 00:29:57.380 The internet has put snark 00:29:57.380 --> 00:29:58.220 on steroids. 00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:01.960 He says, David Denby says, 00:30:02.180 --> 00:30:03.380 snark is the attitude 00:30:03.380 --> 00:30:04.000 in the heart 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:05.540 that seeks to erase someone, 00:30:05.539 --> 00:30:07.000 to destroy them, 00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:09.319 that seeks to erase 00:30:09.319 --> 00:30:10.659 and destroy a person. 00:30:11.779 --> 00:30:13.180 In the middle of human history, 00:30:13.799 --> 00:30:17.139 Peter says that every single one of us 00:30:17.139 --> 00:30:20.480 snarked, sneered, mocked, and jeered 00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:22.220 at Jesus Christ that day. 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:24.180 That we were the ones 00:30:24.180 --> 00:30:25.720 who yelled, crucify him. 00:30:25.779 --> 00:30:26.420 That we were the ones 00:30:26.420 --> 00:30:26.899 that said, 00:30:27.579 --> 00:30:29.980 if he can save himself, let him. 00:30:30.399 --> 00:30:30.920 If he says, 00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:31.819 if he really is God, 00:30:31.879 --> 00:30:32.500 let him show it. 00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:34.980 The attitude of the beginning 00:30:34.980 --> 00:30:36.299 of all of human history 00:30:36.299 --> 00:30:37.119 that broke the world 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:38.259 is the very attitude 00:30:38.259 --> 00:30:39.940 that put Christ on the cross 00:30:39.940 --> 00:30:40.559 and it was me. 00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:41.660 It was you. 00:30:41.799 --> 00:30:42.619 It was all of us. 00:30:43.140 --> 00:30:44.160 That's what the Bible says. 00:30:44.759 --> 00:30:45.619 And you've got to see 00:30:45.619 --> 00:30:46.299 that in the beginning, 00:30:47.079 --> 00:30:47.720 humanity, 00:30:48.140 --> 00:30:49.480 we fell from grace. 00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:51.660 Jesus Christ walked down the steps. 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:54.400 Jesus Christ came and chose. 00:30:54.579 --> 00:30:54.779 You see, 00:30:55.299 --> 00:30:56.599 we began with mockery, 00:30:56.700 --> 00:30:57.039 with jeering, 00:30:57.140 --> 00:30:57.559 with snark. 00:30:57.559 --> 00:30:59.079 He chose to be mocked. 00:30:59.259 --> 00:31:00.220 He chose to be jeered. 00:31:00.759 --> 00:31:02.019 He chose to be snarked at. 00:31:02.019 --> 00:31:03.420 In the middle of human history. 00:31:03.579 --> 00:31:05.039 He who knew no sin 00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:06.900 became sin for us. 00:31:08.259 --> 00:31:09.240 He took our blows. 00:31:09.339 --> 00:31:10.000 He took our jeers. 00:31:10.099 --> 00:31:10.960 He took our mockery. 00:31:11.420 --> 00:31:12.740 He became the chastisement 00:31:12.740 --> 00:31:13.779 that would bring us shalom, 00:31:13.980 --> 00:31:14.279 peace, 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:15.059 the peace of the garden. 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:15.400 And so, 00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:17.180 in the beginning, 00:31:18.339 --> 00:31:19.720 in the garden of Eden, 00:31:20.519 --> 00:31:21.359 Adam and Eve 00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:23.339 ruined the garden city 00:31:23.339 --> 00:31:25.700 that God made as our home. 00:31:26.519 --> 00:31:27.900 Jesus Christ was murdered 00:31:27.900 --> 00:31:28.839 by our hands 00:31:28.839 --> 00:31:30.480 and he was buried in a garden 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:31.299 so that at the moment 00:31:31.299 --> 00:31:31.899 of resurrection, 00:31:32.579 --> 00:31:33.680 the garden could become 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:34.299 our home again. 00:31:35.240 --> 00:31:36.259 In the beginning of human history, 00:31:36.359 --> 00:31:36.899 Adam and Eve 00:31:36.899 --> 00:31:38.599 took of the tree 00:31:38.599 --> 00:31:39.599 and cursed the world. 00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:40.299 Jesus Christ, 00:31:40.359 --> 00:31:41.220 in the middle of human history, 00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:42.680 hung upon that cursed tree 00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:44.339 in order to heal the world. 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:45.359 You see, 00:31:45.460 --> 00:31:47.180 the gospel is the great reversal 00:31:47.180 --> 00:31:48.019 of Genesis 3. 00:31:48.899 --> 00:31:50.099 Everything that we did wrong, 00:31:50.220 --> 00:31:51.500 Jesus came and took our place 00:31:51.500 --> 00:31:52.259 to make right, 00:31:52.339 --> 00:31:53.139 to heal the land. 00:31:54.279 --> 00:31:56.000 And I just want to ask you this morning, 00:31:56.180 --> 00:31:56.680 if you will, 00:31:56.680 --> 00:31:57.500 for a moment, 00:31:58.100 --> 00:31:59.220 look at the truth 00:31:59.220 --> 00:32:00.039 about yourself, 00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:02.160 about your self-centeredness, 00:32:02.220 --> 00:32:02.940 about your struggle 00:32:02.940 --> 00:32:04.080 with the snark, 00:32:04.279 --> 00:32:04.640 the jeer, 00:32:04.740 --> 00:32:05.240 the attitude 00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:07.240 that begins maybe 00:32:07.240 --> 00:32:07.840 in your experience 00:32:07.840 --> 00:32:08.460 with other people 00:32:08.460 --> 00:32:09.539 but extends all the way 00:32:09.539 --> 00:32:10.740 directed at God himself. 00:32:11.840 --> 00:32:12.740 And then you'll turn 00:32:12.740 --> 00:32:14.120 and you'll look at the cross. 00:32:14.119 --> 00:32:17.559 You can realize this. 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:19.819 My heart every day says, 00:32:20.159 --> 00:32:22.139 my heart every day 00:32:22.139 --> 00:32:22.959 says to my brain, 00:32:23.559 --> 00:32:24.439 God does not love you. 00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:25.779 God does not have 00:32:25.779 --> 00:32:27.079 your best interests at heart. 00:32:27.159 --> 00:32:28.079 God is not good. 00:32:28.439 --> 00:32:29.659 And then I have to lift my eyes 00:32:29.659 --> 00:32:30.439 and look at the cross 00:32:30.439 --> 00:32:32.379 and see that Jesus Christ, 00:32:32.539 --> 00:32:33.759 God loves me 00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:35.639 to the point of death for me. 00:32:36.059 --> 00:32:36.539 Every day, 00:32:36.599 --> 00:32:37.419 I've got to look at my heart, 00:32:38.179 --> 00:32:38.659 the truth, 00:32:39.439 --> 00:32:40.539 and then I've got to look up 00:32:40.539 --> 00:32:41.079 and look at the cross 00:32:41.079 --> 00:32:41.399 and say, 00:32:41.459 --> 00:32:41.679 heart, 00:32:42.939 --> 00:32:43.799 look at the truth again. 00:32:44.779 --> 00:32:45.659 God is good 00:32:45.659 --> 00:32:46.500 and he loves you. 00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:48.559 And he's going to heal the land. 00:32:48.899 --> 00:32:49.500 And so I'll finish 00:32:49.500 --> 00:32:49.979 with a quote 00:32:49.979 --> 00:32:51.239 from John Newton. 00:32:52.179 --> 00:32:52.799 John Newton 00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:54.699 was the captain 00:32:54.699 --> 00:32:55.739 of a slave ship 00:32:55.739 --> 00:32:57.659 that traded slaves 00:32:57.659 --> 00:32:58.819 off the coast of West Africa. 00:32:59.919 --> 00:33:01.699 And he found God's grace. 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:02.599 God's grace radically 00:33:02.599 --> 00:33:03.579 came into his life 00:33:03.579 --> 00:33:04.259 and showed him 00:33:04.259 --> 00:33:06.239 how big of a sinner he was 00:33:06.239 --> 00:33:07.000 and how broken he was. 00:33:07.399 --> 00:33:09.019 But it's not very well known 00:33:09.019 --> 00:33:09.779 that John Newton 00:33:09.779 --> 00:33:10.879 did not stop 00:33:10.879 --> 00:33:12.839 in the slave trade industry 00:33:12.839 --> 00:33:14.099 for a number of years. 00:33:14.119 --> 00:33:16.239 until after he came to faith. 00:33:17.899 --> 00:33:20.039 And he was a very broken man. 00:33:21.379 --> 00:33:22.799 And later on in life, 00:33:22.859 --> 00:33:23.839 he wrote a hymn 00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:24.659 that we now sing. 00:33:25.179 --> 00:33:26.439 We're not singing it this morning. 00:33:26.500 --> 00:33:27.119 I should have put it in. 00:33:28.959 --> 00:33:30.239 But you'll recognize it. 00:33:30.459 --> 00:33:31.139 He wrote later, 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:33.299 thinking about his ongoing involvement 00:33:33.299 --> 00:33:34.279 in such atrocity. 00:33:34.699 --> 00:33:35.219 He said, 00:33:35.220 --> 00:33:36.539 Our sins are many, 00:33:37.100 --> 00:33:39.000 but his mercy is more. 00:33:39.839 --> 00:33:41.180 Our sins are great, 00:33:41.400 --> 00:33:42.799 but his righteousness is greater. 00:33:43.579 --> 00:33:44.620 We are weak, 00:33:44.940 --> 00:33:46.120 but he is power. 00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:48.400 Let's pray. 00:33:48.500 --> 00:33:48.740 Father, 00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:53.819 we confess our sins. 00:33:53.920 --> 00:33:54.360 There are many. 00:33:54.759 --> 00:33:56.640 Your mercy is so much greater 00:33:56.640 --> 00:33:58.620 than what we've given you. 00:33:58.619 --> 00:33:59.139 And so, 00:33:59.459 --> 00:34:00.759 we confess this morning 00:34:00.759 --> 00:34:02.479 our snark 00:34:02.479 --> 00:34:03.219 and our attitude 00:34:03.219 --> 00:34:04.279 that broke the world. 00:34:05.139 --> 00:34:07.599 And we look for hope today 00:34:07.599 --> 00:34:09.799 and we thank you for forgiveness. 00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:10.699 And so right now, 00:34:10.759 --> 00:34:11.279 as we sing, 00:34:11.699 --> 00:34:12.920 we pray that the Holy Spirit 00:34:12.920 --> 00:34:14.380 would turn our eyes 00:34:14.380 --> 00:34:14.799 and our hearts 00:34:14.799 --> 00:34:16.139 to the power of the cross. 00:34:17.159 --> 00:34:18.500 And we pray this in Jesus' name. 00:34:18.500 --> 00:34:19.199 Amen.