11.07.2010 The Story of The Bible - Pt. 2 - It's About Relationship

11.07.2010 Grace Summit Sermon - The Story of The Bible - Pt. 2 from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

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Heavenly Father – thank You that You are the One who is always there. The one who gives us life. As we look at the Story of the Bible – help us to comprehend – just how much You love us and how much You have given us – that You would give Your life for us that we might have a relationship with You – help us to be a grateful people because You have done so much for us. We give thanks – as it is appropriate to do. Help me to communicate Your word – and may our hearts be prepared to hear from You. May we continue to discover the relationship You have brought us to.

Quick review of last week – we started in Genesis 1 – looking at the Old Testament – the story of God's relationship with His people. It is not a book of Laws and moral codes, yes – those are in there – but it is primarily the story of God's relationship with His people.

These 5 books were written (mostly) by Moses – after the Exodus – and God is telling the story of His people. This is how God has done it and related to us over the centuries.

Yahweh is the all-powerful, all-wise Creator of everything. He is over all other gods. God reigns over all.

Man is the pinnacle of God's created – in His image and likeness – the purpose of all of God's creation. God created man for a relationship with Him – that He might have a love relationship with His people. And finally – we are to be His representatives on the earth.

Last week we left out one day – we will start with Day 7.

2 And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

The 7^th day is unique. The seventh day never ends – no morning and evening – it is meant to go on and on. He wants this holy day – and relationship with Man to live within that seventh day. The seventh day is made holy – sanctified – set apart – made holy. God took the seventh day and made it holy – special – a day of rest for God.

What is interesting – man was blessed – very good – but not sanctified – People are not made holy immediately – but there is a probation period where they will demonstrate their loyalty and faithfulness to God.

Gen. 2:15 defines the probationary period:

15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die. "

God puts Adam and Eve in the garden and He FIRST gives them permission – to eat from any tree in the garden. Then He gave them ONE prohibition – can you imagine that? You can do ANYTHING – but that one thing.

The Fall – the Original Sin – the story of Adam and Eve and the serpent – and this is critical to the rest of the story.

Gen. 3:1 begins that story – I am telling the big story – and there is a lot in this story – temptation, etc – but we are not going to examine each of those things – we will focus on the big story.

3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, `You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.

We know that Eve had a partial misunderstanding of God's command...

5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

When we talk about the temptation and the serpent's craftiness – what the serpent says here is completely true – and that is what is so dangerous about it. He takes truth – and gives it to us in such a way that we come to the wrong conclusion about that truth. We miss the real truth because we have the facts! Adam and Eve WERE like God – made in His image and likeness. God created them to be like Himself – there was one way that God did not want people to be like Him -and that was in knowing Good and Evil. To this point, they were completely innocent. The serpent was convincing Eve that God was withholding something from them. When we are tempted, we believe there is something out there that we don't have – believing that God is not concerned about us in every way. If we understood that – that God loves us in every way – we would do much better in fighting off temptation.

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

We have the beginning of a rebellion. Adam and Eve are revolting against God. We think, Oh, they were just eating a piece of fruit and it shouldn't be that big of a deal. What they are doing is usurping God's authority – they want to take God's place – determining life for themselves without God setting the boundaries. We miss that that is what sin is. When we sin, we are rebelling against God – it is a revolution against God's authority in this world – a complete revolt – that is heavy. No, no, we say – I just got tempted and did this thing – but no – that is what happened to Eve – and it was a revolt.

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Their eyes were opened. And instead of finding some power – they found guilt and shame. It is like that for us – when we fall into the temptation – what happens? Guilt. Shame. It is promoted as something good -that will make us feel good and make life better – and it never fulfills its promise. Temptation is never what it claimed to be – it produces guilt and shame.

They didn't know they were naked – no guilt – no shame – and then they realized they were naked and it all rushes in at once.

Then in verse 8 – what is amazing here is God's response – it is incredible – put yourself in God's position -

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day,

The gardener does not give up His garden...God comes in...

and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

They had this perfect life and it has all evaporated because this one decision ruins their life.

God takes the initiative – and pursues Adam and Eve.

They hide from God.

And it shows there is nothing in us that longs for God – it is God longing for us.

Where are you?

Who told you?

Have you eaten from the tree?

What is this you have done?

These can be looked at in two ways – first, they are rhetorical – He knows the answer! But think of your kids making a mess and you coming in saying – What have you done? You know what they have done – but you want them to acknowledge what they have done.

There is a second way – when someone you love does something really bad – and we have all had situations like that – where people have hurt us deeply – and you see – there is this disappointment in these questions – it is not silly kid stuff – but WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? A deep disappointment and hurt that His people have rejected Him – the ones He loves have rejected Him.

When we sin against God – our tendency is to see Him as the judging God – but we need to see His disappointment and hurt – the pain that He experiences from His people turning away – just like a parent when a child does something hurtful.

Curse

Judgment -

and that which is sometimes missed – an incredible overwhelming grace.

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

The serpent is cursed, forever.

What is interesting – in the curse, we see a blessing – God's favor toward man – He is cutting the legs off the serpent – in this curse – he is cutting the serpent's power over the human race by making him crawl on the ground.
And I will put enmity – conflict – between you and man. This begins a spiritual battle – conflict between mankind and the serpent.

There is a promise of a future descendant of this woman who will deliver a fatal blow to the serpent. In the curse, God promises His people that they will someday win this battle.

Next, he judges the woman:

16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."

Do you see the blessing and grace? With painful labor, you will give birth to CHILDREN – at the end of the pain, there is children – He is blessing the woman with children.

There is grace and favor being bestowed by God.

You talk to most women – going through labor and all the pain – but once the baby is there – it is different. So within judgment, God demonstrates and gives grace.

“Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."

And God brings a conflict between men and women in -

It is part of the judgment – BUT – within that judgment, there is this amazing grace as the man and woman can fill the earth and represent Him in this world.

He judges Adam:

17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, `You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

So the next curse is on the ground – but even in that – where do we get all of our food? From the ground. There is judgment – but there is also grace.

21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

It is this loving parent – whose child has done wrong – and the parent does scold, and there are some consequences – but there is a parent who loves His child and begins to meet every one of His child's needs. We need to see God that way when we blow it.

We have a God who still longs, by His grace, to love us through the difficulty.

22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Even in this we see God's grace – what would happen if they were able to live forever? They would not be able to be redeemed. Through death we are brought back to God.

Chapter 4 – we have Cain and Abel – Cain kills Abel – Adam and Eve's sin is passed to the offspring – there is alienation.

8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?" 10 The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.

God asks the same question – where are you?

Then there is the story of the Flood:

Gen. 6:5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

This one sin overtakes the human race – their hearts are evil all the time. He shortens their lifespan to 120 in His grace.

When they had 8-900 years, they just had that long to do evil!

Gen. 9:4 "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. 6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. 7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."

God sets up – in His grace – believe it or not – GOVERNMENT! Think what it would be like without it – constant evil.

Then we come to the Tower of Babel – they are usurping God's authority – and God must think – they are doing it again – so He separates people and gives them different languages.

Gen. 11:1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

All this goes back to that original sin.

So what?
We as people cannot enter into this sanctification in our own effort – we need the favor and grace of God. The only way to Christ is by His grace – there is nothing we can do to earn God's favor – even the first two imperfect people were able to obtain God's favor by their deeds.

We need to understand the true condition of the world – the true evil in this world. There is no solution in this world. No political solution – no social solution -

The only solution lies in God in Jesus Christ.

In this world we live in a time of conflict.

Jesus said we will have tribulation – conflict – and we see it spiritually and relationally – it is a part of this world – a conflict on the inside.

Elections won't change any of that – ever – it is not meant to happen! The world will be conflict oriented until it is recreated. It causes us to live differently in this world.

Jesus came into the world and talked about bringing in a new kingdom. In this world of conflict, there is another kingdom – the Kingdom of God – stuck inside the world of conflict and sin.

Then He tells us how to live in that conflict. Don't live like a person in this world lives to be successful – don't live that way at all – I want you to live differently -

What He is calling us to – to be different in this fallen world – and to not live trusting in any of the systems of this world.