Derek Grier - Let Me Cover You
Genesis chapter three in verse one. "Now the serpent". It is said that a dog will look down when he's done wrong, but a snake will look you right in the eye. Satan chose his hosts very carefully. Now, Satan was more cunning, more clever, more current. Our kids might say he was more dope or sick. Swagged out. Lit, thank you. "Than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made".
You see, the devil is drawn to our particular area of genius. He wants to leverage whatever makes you special and whatever it is that makes you stand out and use it for his purposes. You see, Satan doesn't really want to possess your weaknesses half as much as your talents. He uses your weaknesses, but only to corrupt your gifts. And the snake said to the woman, and by the way, did humans and animals talk at one time? I really don't know. I can't answer that question. I just know that if cats could talk, they probably wouldn't. How many of y'all have had a cat? Yeah. And if a dog could talk the world would lose the greatest listener mankind has ever had.
One guy said that he was jealous of Harry Potter's, I never watched him, so, but he said he was jealous of Harry Potter's ability to speak to snakes. But then he looked at his friends and realized he's been doing it for years. Keep looking forward. And the snake said, "Has God indeed said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden"? The first thing the snake did was question God's word. The biggest faith question you will answer after accepting Jesus Christ is not choosing which church you will attend, but answering the question, do you trust God's written word? Because how you answer that question will determine which church you attend.
Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will by no means ever pass away". Every week we go line by line, word by word. Not because as a preacher I can't think of anything else to say, 'cause a lot of folks saying a whole lot of other stuff from behind this desk. But because I understand you need a anchor that will hold in any storm that might try to come and trouble you, any wave that might want to toss you, or any wind that might wanna blow you. I've come to understand as a pastor Grace Church is not for everyone. But if God's word is what you're looking for, you have found the right place. I got a couple amens in the room. Y'all gonna wake up here before I'm done. Y'all gonna wake up before I'm done here. "And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden".
So we see here that God is generous and gracious. He's always been. And he allowed them to eat from every other tree in the garden, except one or really two. But the problem was they began to focus on the one tree God told them to let alone. There's so much in life God allows us, but then the devil has us focus on those one or two areas. God says, "Thou shall not". God says, "Keep the 90. Gimme the 10". But we still trip. The theologians and the scholars were correct in that, yes, God gave us this tree to help establish free will. But I want to add, God also planted this tree to establish godly discipline.
You see, motivation gets us going, but it's discipline that will keep us growing. "But the fruit of the tree which is in the midst". So you can eat all the other trees. It's just this one tree. One tree. Leave it alone. It's haram. It's sacred. It's mine. "God has said". This is the woman answering, and because of time, I can't keep going back up to establish, but. "You shall not eat". Now, though again, she's speaking. Nor shall you what? Touch it. This is why we need to know God's word and be careful not to add to it.
Okay, let me read it one more time. "And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of all the trees in the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden". Meaning they had to travel from where they were to get to the middle of it. It takes more than a minute to get to sin. You don't just fall into sin. You gotta you gotta be intentional. All right. "But God has said, you shall not eat, nor," watch what she said, nor shall you what? Touch it.
Now, let's look at what God actually said. Genesis two and verse 16. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden, you may what? Freely eat. So she got that right. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not, what, eat, for in the day you eat it, you shall what? Surely die. Notice God said nothing about touching the tree. Now, Adam loved his wife. Adam probably intended to protect Eve. And what he said on the surface seemed wise. On the surface his addition seems spiritual. But the problem is it was not God. This is why religious people always stayed mad at me. It's because I have too much respect for God to change his stuff.
If David danced, why should I teach not to? If Jesus turned water into wine, who am I to prohibit its drinking? I hear the emails coming. I can feel the emails. If women should never wear pants, why did Paul wear what looks like a dress today? I lost some of you. Here's what I've learned over the years. We face enough opposition over what the Bible is clear about. Stop adding stuff God did not say. I will die on the hill of God's word, but not on the hill of the doctrines of men. Stay with me. I'll get you mad, but then you'll be happy in a little bit, so stay with me. Three and four. "Then the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die".
Now, this is what the ancient rabbis taught. They taught that the serpent touched the fruit and didn't die. And when that happened, Adam immediately lost credibility with Eve. And credibility is a leader's primary currency. You see, the devil is looking for any loophole to undermine God's message. So make sure you're standing on God's word, not just the good advice of your particular denomination, background, or history. "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil".
How many of us in this room would be mad if in a perfect world all we knew was good? How many of y'all have a problem with that? But see, it's so easy to forget how good we got it till it's gone. And curiosity's about to kill the cat. "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food". Now how can you look at something you've never eaten and know how it will taste? This temptation obviously started in Eve's imagination.
And I have found in my life, imagination is a great servant, but a very dangerous master. So she imagined in her mind, the devil's working on her. That's why you gotta sometimes guard the things you look at and sometimes even the folks you talk to. So she imagined that it was pleasant to the what? Eyes, so it was attractive. And by the way, the devil is just really good.
And I know I'm talking too much about the devil, but this is what this is about. We're talking about the devil here, all right? But the devil is a master at making the most deadly stuff look good. So it was good for food. Looked good to the eye. And a tree desirable to make one what? Wise. Now, we lose this here, but if we want to apply it to today, eating from that tree would make Eve current.
You see, the snake was like, I'm touching it and I'm as dope as I've ever been. Now you're missing it. Eve wanted to be current and the snake was sliming around and he was crafty. The Bible describes him, he was hip. There was a swag about him. I'm losing words. Gimme some words. You're a child of the '80s. You know, what do I know? Thank you. Said, good try. Thank you, thank you.
But the snake was still looking all sharp, touching on the fruit that Adam told Eve not to touch. So she was like, well, if he's okay, and that's what the devil will do. He'll make people look like they're okay. But behind the scenes, people know how to put on a show. People know how to act. And they will pretend. They will put on a show. So the devil is acting like, well, I'm touching it and I'm good. He knows he's going to hell. He knows the bitterness, the rage, the anger, the jealousy in his heart. But he's wearing this mask of hip. And she took of his fruit and ate.
How many of us have ever swallowed some stuff that you've regretted? Yeah. "And she also gave to her husband". I've often said it in different times of teaching that God gives man in the home authority, but he gives women influence. And in a marriage, you gotta learn to work your gift. Okay, that, see, see, see. Y'all gonna make me... "And she also gave to her husband," watch this, "with her". A lot of people miss this. We read the Bible, but we don't read the Bible. Adam was standing with her all the time.
The problem is not just women. It's deadbeat men that let stuff happen that shouldn't. I'm not gonna get no help here today. I feel like I'm out here by myself. I'm gonna talk to this side of the room. Sometimes women have trust issues because men have not telling the whole truth issues. I'll sell you up in a minute. How about Adam saying, "Honey, I know God only spoke to me. He didn't speak to you. I recognize that, but I need you to trust me on this". But you see, credibility often takes a lifetime to create, but only a few bad choices to destroy. And when Adam added to God's word with Eve, he lost credibility. Not only with Eve, it seems like with himself, 'cause the Bible says, "and he ate".
Now here's a challenge with this message. It could take me about two hours if we take every side journey here. So I'm not gonna turn there, but Romans five and 12 tells us this. Humanity did not fall when the woman ate, but when Adam ate. May I digress just for a moment? You know, in a house, you know, a window can be busted. You might have some problems on the roof. But a house can still be functionable and the state will allow us to live in that home. But if a house's foundation is cracked, it is condemned. The problem in the garden happened not on the house level, but the foundation level. And when the foundation broke down, the house broke down.
Men, the reason why God gave you broader shoulders is because we carry greater responsibility. I know six of you will applaud, and the rest say, "I didn't hear that on Oprah". That's why you're in church today. You see, the more directly God speaks to you, the greater your level of responsibility and accountability. Here's an important spiritual principle we're just gonna gloss over. God bears witness in the heart, but speaks to the head. I just said something rich. But we are gonna move.
Verse seven, "Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew". The way this is worded is very, very, very important. It doesn't say that they saw they were naked, but they knew they were naked. So whatever happened, they knew it before they saw it. That's important. Stay with me. "And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings". Humans are odd. We are the only bipedal creatures on earth without a natural covering, without a body full of thick hair.
Now some of y'all got some hair, but I'm talking about monkey hair. You said, "My husband clothed". Stop it. But this side of the room keeps pulling stuff outta me. This is why zoologists call humans the naked apes. Psalms 104 and verse two tells us something about how God dresses. It says, "The Lord wraps himself," NIV, "in light as with a garment". According to scripture, God doesn't wear Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Gucci, but he's forever clothed in his own glory.