Greg Laurie - Never Try to Catch a Falling Knife (01/21/2018)
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Pastor Greg Laurie explains the origin of Satan from Genesis 3, showing how Lucifer, a perfect guardian cherub, fell through pride in his beauty and rebelled against God, taking one-third of the angels with him. Satan subtly questions God's Word and love, twisting truth to deceive Eve into sin, but God promises a coming Redeemer who will crush the serpent's head—fulfilled in Jesus Christ on the cross.
Never Catch a Falling Knife
And the title of the message is, "Never Catch a Falling Knife". And I will explain why I chose such a bizarre title in a few moments. But you know with the birth of our grandson everyone is wanting to know information so I have sent a lot of emails out. And a lot of texts out to people updating them. Oh by the way he was 8 pounds 8 ounces. I know people always want to know that. So he is a strapping young man. 100% boy.
But speaking of sending emails out, I heard that God recently sent out an email. As it turns out one day the Lord was looking down on the earth and saw the evil that was going on. But he needed a little more intel. So he sent an angel down to check it out. And the angel came back and said, You know what Lord, things are really bad down there. As it turns out, 95% of the people are bad and only 5% are good.
Well the Lord sent another angel to confirm it. And sure enough it was the same thing. 95% were bad. Only 5% were good. So the Lord thought, Well, I want to encourage the 5%. So he shot up a quick email to them. Did you get it? Oh, you didn't get it either? It is a joke. It is a joke. The whole thing was a joke. And obviously not a very good one.
But I want to talk a little bit about that supernatural world. Because we are dealing with it so much in Revelation. The world of God and Satan. The world of angels and demons. And since we are going to be looking a bit at the devil in our next message in Revelation, in chapters to come, he plays a prominent role in the book of Revelation. We also see his defeat in Revelation. I would like to answer a few questions about him. Such as, where did the devil come from? Where did the angels come from? Where did the demons come from?
So the answer to that is found back in Genesis chapter 3. So turn there with me if you would. And let's read what the Scripture says. As the enemy makes his appearance here in the garden.
The Serpent Enters the Garden
Genesis 3. "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? The woman said to the serpent, When we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die."
"Then the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die. For God knows in the day you eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to meek and wise, She took of the fruit and ate. She gave to her husband with her, and he ate."
"Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord in the trees of the garden."
"Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? So he said, Well I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself. God said to him, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you you should not eat?"
"The man said, Well it is a woman you gave to me with me. She gave me of the tree and I ate. And the Lord said to the woman, What is it that you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me and I ate."
We will stop there.
So here are Adam and Eve placed in the garden. I mean it was paradise like we can't even begin to imagine. Think of the most beautiful place you have ever visited. Like San Bernardino or something. And no think of a tropical paradise you have seen. Or maybe something you have seen in a film or a photograph. And then you just take that without any flaws, without any imperfections, and you get a glimpse of the glory of the garden of Eden.
This is pre-sin, pre-fall, perfection. And what was Adam's job? It was to discover what God had created. You know when we read that God had called Adam to tend the garden it doesn't mean he was sort of like just a gardener you know pruning and trimming and mowing the lawn. No really the word that is used there for tend means to discover.
Imagine the amazing things Adam saw as he walked through that garden that the Lord had made. And so it was just the most perfect situation one could imagine.
The Origin of Satan—Lucifer's Fall
Enter Satan. Which raises the question, where did the devil come from? He is introduced to us here as a serpent. But where did he come from? Or as it is often phrased, how could a God of love create someone as horrible as a devil?
Well first of all God did not create the devil per se. He created a powerful majestic angel with the name of Lucifer that made a really bad choice. Lucifer ultimately became Satan.
You see as we come to Genesis chapter 3 we see the devil appearing. But he wasn't there in the very beginning. So this angelic fall happened somewhere after Genesis 1 and before Genesis 3.
Lucifer was once this glorious high ranking angel. Speaking of him Ezekiel 28 says, "You were the model of perfection. You were full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. You were anointed as a guardian cherub. So I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God. You walked among the fiery stones and you were blameless in your ways. From the day you were created until wickedness was found in you."
"And through your widespread trade you were filled with violence and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God. And I expelled you, O guardian cherub. From among the fiery stones your heart became proud on account of your beauty. And you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth and I made a spectacle of you before kings."
Amazing series of statements about Lucifer. One thing that strikes us is he was a guardian cherub. Now remember we already looked at the cherubim in Revelation chapter 5. They are one of the angelic beings. There is a seraphim. There is a cherubim. And so forth. And they are before the throne of God worshipping.
Satan was the guardian cherub. So he had an exalted position. In fact it was guardian cherubim that were placed at the tree of life after Adam and Eve sinned lest they eat of that fruit and live forever.
But there he was in the garden of God. God says he was the model of perfection. So what was the sin that caused Satan to fall? Listen. His heart was lifted up because of his incredible beauty. He was beautiful.
We often envision the devil as having pointed ears and red skin and a pitchfork and a goatee. Which personally offends me. Because I have one. You can't probably see it. Because it is basically gray. But there is a hint of a goatee here. And of course he has hooves and a pointed tail and all that. This is a caricature that has come of Satan over the years.
But if he were to appear to us, God forbid, he would be awe-inspiring. He would not be as evil as we might envision. He would be awesome and amazing for us to look at. But he was deceived by his own beauty. Have you ever seen a person that can't get enough of their reflection in a mirror? Have you ever been like in a restaurant that maybe has a window and the outside is like reflective so it is like a mirror. But you can see through it and someone walks right up to the window and they are checking themselves out.
Or you know they are walking by and they are just kind of looking like hey. You know everybody has their little pose. You ever notice that when a photo is taken? You know they always have the same look. I mean whatever it is you have got your look. Maybe your head is to one side and you do this. Or you kind of put your head down. Or you turn to the side. Or you I don't know what you do. You raise one leg up. Whatever you do. That would be a dog. That was wrong. Okay. Strike that. That's not going to the next service. Okay.
But here is the thing. You have got your look and you probably think that is your best profile. Or that is your best angle. Or you look better when you use that pose or whatever. Strike a pose. Right? Well Satan was just enthralled by his own beauty. His perfection was the cause of his corruption. So judgment came on him as as a result.
Isaiah 14 says, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer son of the morning. How you are cut down to the ground. For you said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of the congregation. I will be like the most high."
God says actually you will be brought down to Sheol to the lowest parts of the earth. You see Lucifer's problem was he was not satisfied worshipping God. He himself wanted to be worshipped.
So Lucifer became Satan when he fell to the earth. Lucifer means son of the morning, which he once was. Satan. means accuser, which he now is.
Jesus said I beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven. And when the devil fell, he did not fall alone. He took one-third of the angels with him. We will find that out as we get to Revelation. 12 and 13. How the devil led these angels in rebellion.
And it is mind boggling to me that one could be an angel of God with access to the presence of the Lord and yet use that free will God gave to the angels to rebel. But indeed they did that.
So that means there is a lot of fallen angels. Or demons as we call them. How many? Millions and millions with rankings. There is higher and lower ranking demons.
So that is the bad news. The good news is we have a whole lot more angels on our side. So two-thirds stay. So that is good. That is that story in the Old Testament of the prophet Elisha who is with the servant Gehazi. And the enemy forces were closing in. And Gehazi starts to freak out. And wakes up Elisha from his nap.
Elisha says, Lord open his eyes. And we read that. his eyes were opened and he realized that there were far more with them than those that were with the enemy because he saw the angels of the Lord and chariots all around them. And so that is true of us as well.
But more importantly than the majority of the angels being on our side is the fact that Jesus Christ who conquered Satan at the cross is on our side.
So we fast forward. One person got that. Good. Okay. That is right, Jesus. Yes. The rest are... Yeah, I don't know. Is that important? Yeah. Real important. Okay now.
Satan's Subtle Tactics in the Garden
We fast forward to the scene now. We are in the Garden of Eden. Now before we deal with what happened we know they ate of the forbidden fruit. We often call it an apple. And it has been said that the problem was not the apple on the tree but the pear on the ground. Get it? Pear.
Now to the point it was not an apple. Oh maybe it was an apple. I can't say it wasn't. I just can't say it was. The Bible never says they ate an apple. But everybody is fixated on this. And that is how we remember it. It just says they ate a forbidden fruit.
It seems to me that it had to be something that would have really drawn your attention. Probably a fruit that we have never seen since then. It probably pulsated with light and had its own theme song. I don't know. But I am sure it was quite dazzling to the eye. As the Scripture says it was pleasant to the eyes.
But here is what I want to bring to your attention. We are in the Garden of Eden and we don't know how much time passed. after we start the account of Adam in the garden enjoying what God made before the temptation at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
But remember God had issued a warning to Adam and evil. Ok here is what He said. Ok you guys you can enjoy all of it. It is all yours. Go wherever you want. Check it out. Enjoy it. But there is one restriction.
And God says in Genesis 2. 16 Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for the day you eat of it you will surely die.
Now the devil was eavesdropping on that. He heard that information with his pointed ear if you will. And so it almost seems like he immediately comes because we start the narrative here is Adam in the garden and boom we are right at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
How much time transpired we don't know. But it seems like it happened rather quickly. Which reminds us of a very important spiritual truth. Whenever God is blessing us the devil will be there immediately to challenge it.
So know that. Expect it. Anticipate it. Brace yourself for it. Don't be surprised by it. Remember in the parable of the sower Jesus talked about the sower that threw out seed that fell on the roadside and the little birds came and scooped it up immediately.
And then he went on to say this. These are they that hear the word of God. But Satan comes immediately to take away the word that was sown in their heart. Immediately.
If you have ever been to like an In-N-Out burger. Or a McDonald's. You know there are birds that hang out there. They are smart birds. Because they know life is good. Because it is only a matter of moments until food is going to hit the ground. Especially if little kids are involved. Right?
So they just sit there and they wait. And so a fry drops. And a lot of times they will catch those things before they even hit the ground. They are so fast. And then there are those seagulls on the beach. They are just outright thieves. They ought to have little masks around their feet. You know like little striped shirts like burglars. Right? Don't burglars all wear striped shirts? Black and white stripes? Anyway.
Because that is what a seagull is. He is a thief. He waits for you to go out into the water. And he will come and steal your lunch. And then he will maybe fly off with one of your small kids if you don't watch. And you know that is the way they are. And then as you are leaving they will hit your car. Ok. That is the second reference to animals. Ok.
But here is the thing. That is what the devil does. He comes immediately. And that will happen to you as well. This is why we really need to pray for people that come to Christ. Because the attacks come quickly as you recall. For those that will come to the Lord in these upcoming crusades. We want to really be praying for them that night and the next day and the week ahead. Because we know the attacks are going to come against them.
But isn't it interesting? God says you can go anywhere in the garden. But don't go over here. Scene 2. Adam and Eve standing at the tree. I mean what? Why are they there? But isn't that human nature? You tell a child whatever you do don't go in that room. Where are you going to find the child? No. They are going to go to the one place you tell them not to go.
So here they are at this tree God told them to stay away from. And Satan's first words end in a question Mark designed to doubt God's love. Verse 1. Has God indeed said? I want you to notice that Satan is quoting God. Yet he completely twisted what the Lord had said.
This is the same thing he did with the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. After tempting the Lord with turning a rock into a piece of bread. And casting himself from the pinnacle of the temple. Then he goes on to say, Why don't, excuse me, Showing all the kingdoms of the world. And the rock turning into bread. Then he said why don't you throw yourself off the top of the temple. And then Satan quotes the Bible. Psalm 91. His angels will have charge of you concerning you in all your ways.
So here the devil is quoting Scripture. But he is twisting Scripture. Satan takes his positive imitation from God to eat of every tree with only one exception and turns it into a negative prohibition designed to cast doubt on God's goodness.
And that is what he will do. He will twist the word. Oh man if God really loved you He would let you do whatever you want. If God really loved you He wouldn't say no in this area. No. Because God really loves you He gives you parameters.
We are teaching our youngest granddaughter Allie to not walk into the street. And she is just a little toddler walking along. And we say no don't go in the street. Why do we do that? Because we want to restrict her from the freedom of walking in the street? No. Because we don't want our life to be in danger.
And in the same way God was putting a warning sign at the tree. Stay away from this. You will regret it. Guaranteed. Just like we have warning labels on so many things now. And I am always fascinated by warning labels. Because it seems like they get stranger and stranger.
And you know the reason those labels were put there is because someone somewhere did the thing they are telling you to not do. Right? So I came across a list of warning labels recently. These are ones I have not done before. I have done others. So here are some that are real warning labels. I am not making any of these up.
A label on a baby stroller. Warns. Remove child before folding. A brass fishing lure with a three pronged took. And at the end it warns harmful if swallowed. Yeah. That is what I was kind of hoping would happen when the fish swallowed it. So I could catch him.
A flushable toilet brush has this warning. Do not use for personal hygiene. Come on. Someone did that? The label on a bottle of drain cleaner warns, If you do not understand or cannot read all directions, cautions, and warnings, do not use this product. Well how would I know if I can't read?
A cartridge or a laser printer warns, do not eat toner. A thirteen inch wheel and a wheelbarrow warns, not intended for highway use. Really. So there was a guy on the freeway pushing a wheelbarrow. Probably going faster than the Prius in the fast Lane I am sure. They always seem to go slowly in the fast Lane don't they?
A popular manufactured fireplace log warns, caution, risk of fire. Right. Hoping for that. A household iron warns users, never iron clothes while they are being worn. Now that seems obvious, but I have to say that I actually probably should have read that warning.
How many of you have ever ironed something that you are wearing? Come on. Here is how it works. You get the shirt ironed, right? But there is a wrinkle. So what do you do? You get it up there. Like this. How many of you have done this? Raise your hand. It is okay. I will mock you. I have done it. But it is even worse for me. It is even more stupid than that. Because I have this like heavy duty iron that blasts steam. I mean it really, it is like boom! You know with steam.
So if you have got a wrinkle it will take it out. So I was, I ironed a shirt and there was a wrinkle right in the middle. So I thought I will just spray it with the steam. But oh I was smart. I did this. I healed it out like that. So I went, shh. And I screamed so loudly. And it was not until later when I took my shirt off my wife said, what happened to you? I had a big red welt right here.
So I should have heeded that warning. And then one that actually won the warning label of the year award, never try to catch a falling knife. Hence the title of the message. I mean if you are, if you have a knife and you drop it, let it go. You know your inclination is to catch something in there. You drop a knife. Don't try to catch it. Just let it get to the ground. Pick it up after it is on the ground again.
Why? Because you can cut yourself. It is a warning there for your own good. So God effectively put a warning label at the tree. Warning. If you eat this you will die. Couldn't be any more plain. Couldn't be any clearer.
Four Ploys Satan Still Uses Today
So Satan comes and tries to challenge the whole premise. And make bad look good. And make good look bad. Now there is four ploys the devil uses here that he still uses today. You can write them down if you are taking notes.
Number one, Satan came subtly. He came subtly. Verse one, the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field. He did not present himself, hello I am the devil. I hate you. I rebelled against God. And I am trying to destroy your life. No. He does not do that. He may be wicked but he is not stupid.
He knows how to sell his product. He knows how to market his stuff. He knows how to get your attention. He knows how to pull you in. He came subtly.
Number two, he questioned God's Word. He questioned God's Word. I want you to know he did not deny that God had spoken. He simply questioned whether God had really said what he thought he had said. He wanted her to think perhaps she misunderstood God's command. And he will do the same with us.
Oh do you really believe the Bible is true? Do you really believe it is inspired by God? Do you really think you are saved? Do you really think God loves you? He will always question God's Word to us.
And thirdly, he questioned God's love. He questioned God's love. He wanted to make Eve think that God was holding something back from her. When in reality God Himself would place these restrictions to keep them from sinning. In the same way He will challenge God's love in our life.
And fourth and lastly, he substituted his own life. He substituted his own life. He led Eve to believe that as she ate of the tree she would become like God. Why did he do this? Because he knows if he can get us to think about it we will do it. Hey man, you will be like a god. You will be a goddess.
Here is an important principle of satanic attack. Satan works from without to within. Which is the very opposite of God's method. God begins His work in our heart. And then the changes affect our outer lifestyle. But the devil goes from the outside to the inside.
Look at this. Think about this. Look at this. Try it on first eyes. Look at this. Ponder it. Sort of like a free sample. You know, can I have a sample of that? You know there have been times I have gone and gotten free samples and I don't want the product anymore.
If you have ever been to Pinkberry they offer free samples. I will try the peanut butter. Oh can you try that? Oh I will try the peppermint. I will try this new liver flavor. You know that I made that one up. It is not there. But you know so you try these things. But the idea is to get you to want to buy the product.
So the devil says try a free sample. Take a taste. Take a look. Put it in your mind and consider it. And that is what we do. And then it leads to the actual act.
The Consequences of Sin and God's Covering
Having eaten of the forbidden fruit something unusual happens to Adam and Eve. Verse 7. The eyes of them both were open. The eyes of them both were open. You know sometimes ignorance is bliss. And by that I mean when we don't know something it can actually be helpful at times.
Adam and Eve were not schooled in wickedness. They didn't know the ways of the world. Their eyes were closed to the wickedness of sin. To the horrible things that are out there. But now their eyes are open. Sort of like when a child loses their innocence. When they are exposed to something that are far too young of an age.
And Adam and Eve had their eyes open. I think sometimes we know far too much about this wicked world. And we know far too little about God's word. We need our eyes open to God's word. Not this world and its wickedness.
Romans 16:19 says, I would have you well versed and wise as to what is good. And innocent and guileless to what is evil. So now Adam and Eve effectively opened the Pandora's box up. And their eyes are open to earth. Yes. But they are closed to heaven.
Let me repeat that. Their eyes are open to earth. But they are closed to heaven.
Then God showed up. Verse 8. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Now, from the way this is stated, it sounds as though this were perhaps a regular occurrence. The Lord would show up every day. Something they would normally look forward to.
You know, when you are in fellowship with God, you look forward to fellowshipping with His people. The word of God is attractive. Worship is desirable. But when you are living in sin, those very things that were desirable, now are dreaded.
It comes down to how you feel on Sunday morning. When you wake up in the morning, Oh, it is church. How do you feel about that? Well obviously you guys feel pretty good because you show up first service. What can I say?
But some people say, Oh, church today. What else is going on? How is the weather looking? You know, maybe I can get a golf game going. Or maybe, Is there any kind of a swell going on? Is it a good beach day? Maybe we will go out to lunch? You know, you start thinking of all the other options. You start making up excuses that you can offer as a reason as to why you can't be in church in that day.
Or there is a drop of rain. Oh, there is rain. Yeah, I can't go. That is just too treacherous. And you don't really want to go. Just say it. And you don't really want to be around Christians. You don't want to be around people that love the Lord. Well that is an indication something is wrong with you spiritually.
And that is how it was with Adam. He didn't want to spend time in God's fellowship. In God's presence rather. In fellowship.
Notice that it says that the Lord came in the cool of the day. I love that because that is my favorite time of the day. You know when the sun is setting. It is not quite dark yet. And everything is cooling down. So if it was a hot day. It is cooling down. Often there is a breeze. And dinner is right around the corner. It is a good time. Right? I love that time of the day. That and early morning.
And so the Lord comes in the cool of the day. The Lord didn't show up first thing in the morning. As though he couldn't wait to get to Adam. Nor did he show up late at night. As though he didn't care. He came in the cool of the day.
Maybe this was a time that Adam met the Lord. And I don't know how God came. If he was just speaking to Adam. Or if the Lord took on some kind of human form. And walked with Adam. But prior to his fall. Adam's fall. This must have been his favorite time of the day.
He could share a new discovery with the Lord. Lord I was in the garden today. And I came across this flower. And it is really interesting. Oh right. Yeah. Let me tell you about that Adam. Hey Lord I had this question. I was out you know kind of snorkeling today. And I saw this amazing fish. These two colors. What were you thinking? Well let me tell you why I put those two colors together. Okay. Lord I had another question about this bird. This really interesting bird. They could talk about anything.
But now Adam is dreading it. And God comes to him. And it is interesting what God says to Adam. Adam where are you? Why did God call out to Adam? Among other things it was meant to convince of sin. Because sometimes when we have sinned we manage to rationalize it.
Here is how that happens. I commit a sin. I want to keep committing that sin. And nothing bad happens dot dot dot yet. So I think eh. You know maybe God is okay with it. Maybe God doesn't really care about this as much as the preacher says. Or as much as Christians say. Maybe it is really okay.
And then in my own self deception I go a step further and say actually maybe God is cool with this. Maybe the Lord has no problem. And then we even go a step further and say maybe God approves of this. Oh you think that is far fetched to you? You wouldn't believe things people tell me. That the Lord told them.
You know people living together. They are not married. Well how does that work? Well you know we love each other. And the Lord spoke to us and said it is okay my child. No. No He didn't. You say well how do you know that Greg? Because God will never contradict His word. And He has spoken clearly in His word about these things. You see.
So we will rationalize it. Because sin is deceptive. You see that is the whole thing with sin. It deceives you. And so God is calling out to make Adam aware of what He has done.
When God says, where are you? You wonder how He said it. Did you think God said, Adam, where are you? Or did He say, Adam, Adam, where are you? As though He was ignorant of His whereabouts. No. He said it with a tone of firmness and love. Adam, where are you? Or He might have said it this way. Adam, where are you?
There is a lot of ways you can interpret that statement. In other words God might be saying, Hey Adam, where are you? Or to put it in the modern vernacular, Where are you at? Where are you at? And that is a way of asking, So where are you in life?
Well Adam, how did that work out for you? Remember I gave you a warning. Just wondering how that worked out. Has sin been great? After you ate of the forbidden fruit was it everything you had hoped it would be? Or did it happen as I said it would happen?
Now God was not asking this for information but for confession. He wanted Adam to come clean. He wanted Adam to admit what he had done. And so Adam said, Well Lord I am over here. I hid myself because I was naked.
In Adam's defense he came out from hiding. And he said, Alright here I am Lord. And then he says, I was naked. God says, Who told you you were naked?
Now why did God ask this question? Because He didn't know who told him this? No. He knew exactly who Adam had been speaking with him. But He wanted Adam to know too.
We do the same thing with our kids. They go and do something wrong. And what do we ask them? Why did you do this? Do we ask them because we don't know why they did it? We know why they did it. But we are wanting them to know. We are wanting them to give some kind of an explanation. Why did you do this? Do you think it is okay for you to do this?
That is why God was asking this. He wanted him to admit what he had done was wrong.
You know when my boys were smaller, I had this little tactic I used. Where I knew they had done something wrong. But I thought it might be a good opportunity to get other information from them. So I would sit them down and say, Okay I know what you did. Alright I know what you did. So I am going to give you a choice. You can tell me what you did now. And admit it and there will be a certain punishment. But if you lie the punishment will be greater. So it is your choice. So tell me what you did.
Now I did not tell them what I knew. Because I thought I might find out something else they did. And you know what? Sometimes it worked. And sometimes it did not. Because they sort of got wise to this strategy after a while. And were very careful what they would disclose to me. But I was trying to get information.
Why have you done what you have done? Once when Jonathan was a little boy. He had a little bit of a problem with video games. He was like addicted to them. He had this little handheld game I gave him. And he would play it constantly. And so I put him in bed. And read to him. And we prayed together. And I said, now Jonathan. Don't play your video game. I want you to go to bed. Okay. Don't play the video game. Because you have to get up in the morning for school. Okay Dad.
Shut the door. Walk out. Come back up ten minutes later. Under the door blue light is coming out. You know. So I opened the door and he is there with the game. I said, Jonathan. What are you doing? I told you not to play the video game. Here is what he said to me. He said, Dad. I couldn't resist myself.
That is actually theologically very accurate. I couldn't resist myself. Then he said, I am dedicted. I thought that was such a cute answer. I just laughed. I didn't even... There is no punishment. I just let him play. I thought, that is so cute. I will use that in a sermon someday.
But you see that is the whole idea. You couldn't resist yourself. It is a combustible nature within that causes us to sin. God is asking a question. It is interesting to look at the questions that God asks people in the Bible.
Here is God asking Adam, where are you? Who told you you were naked? Remember when God found Elijah who was hiding? After Mount Carmel. After the fire fell in the sacrifice. After the prophets of Baal were slain. After Jezebel issued a threat on his life. He went into hiding. And there in a cave God came to him and said, Adam. Excuse me. Wrong person. Elijah. What are you doing here?
Good question. What are you doing here? Have you ever had God ask you that question? What are you doing here? Maybe you are in a setting that you shouldn't be in. Maybe it is a party. And people are getting drunk. And using drugs. Immoral things going on around you. You are kind of there trying to blend in. Be cool. Hey. And the Lord speaks to your heart and says, Quick question. What are you doing here? Why are you here?
That is a good question to ask. We could ask the same thing of being in church. Why are you here? Why are you here? Well I am here because it is Sunday morning. Or I am here because my wife said if I didn't come she wouldn't feed me again. Or I am here because my parents forced me to come. Or I am here. Well no. You should be here because you want to worship God. Because you want to hear the word of God. That is why you are here.
Then there is the story of Elisha with Gehazi. I referenced him a moment ago. That servant that saw the supernatural world. Well Gehazi went out and sinned against the prophet. And he returned thinking he had covered up his sin. And Elisha asked him, What are you doing? Excuse me. Where have you been? It was actually Elisha. Not Elisha. Excuse me. Elisha asked Gehazi, Where have you been? Where have you been?
Because he knew where he had been. He knew that he had just been trying to profit off the healing of Naaman. That God had miraculously touched. And the servant Gehazi was making some money off of him in the side. But he wasn't going to disclose it to Elisha. So Elisha says, Where have you been? He knew where he was. But he wanted him to admit it.
How about Jesus with Judas in the garden? When Judas approaches Jesus he has a question. Friend, why have you come? Do you think Jesus knew why Judas was in the garden? With a bunch of soldiers behind him? Of course he did. Jesus had said in the upper room, Whatever you do, do it quickly. And then he went on to say, One of you is going to betray me. And he identified Judas as the betrayer. So he knew.
But the reason he was asking Judas that question, Was if Judas had been smart he would have said, I am sinning. And I am doing the wrong thing. And I repent. And if Judas had repented right on the spot, I believe Jesus would have forgiven him. But he did not. Friend, Jesus asked, Why have you come? Judas doesn't answer. He betrays him with a kiss.
Instead of acknowledging his sin, Adam offers the first recorded excuse in human history. Verse 12, It is the woman you gave me. We always laugh when we read that. Don't we? So typical. It is not my fault. It is her fault. You know one thing a lot of people aren't aware of, Is a conversation that happened with God and Adam.
After God made Eve, Adam asked the question, Lord why did you make the woman so beautiful? And God said, So you would love her. And then Adam said, Why did you make the woman so soft? God said, So you would love her. Then Adam said, Lord why did you make her so stupid? God said, So she would love you.
Just a joke. She is mad. She said, I am not stupid. I know. It is a joke. She is laughing now. It is okay. You were glaring a moment ago at me, ma'am. Blue shirt. Blue shirt. Second row. Right there. Yes.
So God wanted him to admit it. He admitted that he had eaten of the forbidden fruit.
Now I want you to notice one final movement and we will wrap up in this story. Adam and Eve try to cover up their sin. That is always our inclination when we sin. To cover it up. Am I right?
You know when my wife is having friends over for dinner, it seems like people always show up late and I am hungry. Right? So she puts the dips out. Oh. I want to start eating the dips. Greg don't eat those dips. Save them for the guests. Oh I am hungry. Well that is too bad. You have to wait until people get here.
So you know what I do? I am just going to admit it right now. I take food right out of that dip. Then I go in with a chip and I artfully conceal. An untouched chip. It is not, you know. I do not double dip. Ok. Let us make that clear. But I cover up where I took food out.
That is what we all do in life. You sin, the first thing you want to do is cover it up. You do something wrong. What do you do? You do it and then you go like this. Did anyone see that? Right?
That is what Moses did. He killed the Egyptian. The Bible says he looked to the left and he looked to the right. Why? Did anyone see that? He should have looked up. God saw it. Then he covered him in sand and walked away. Yeah, that is brilliant. In sand? The wind blows? There is the body. Yeah, that did not work out so well. Probably should have thought that through a little bit better.
Your sin will always be revealed. As Alan Redpath used today, secret sin on earth is open scandal in heaven. It is always going to come out.
Now I want you to notice what Adam did. He covered up his sin with fig leaves. In other words, okay, well we are naked so we will put these fig leaves on. It seemed like that would be rather uncomfortable actually. But we do the same thing. We try to cover up what we have done.
The most common covering would be good works. Well I will do a bunch of good works and this will compensate for the wrong that I have done. But here is what we need to know. God is the one who must do the covering, not us.
Verse 21, And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and Eve. Now we do not really know what animals God killed. But they must have been known to Adam and Eve. It must have been an eye opening thing to see two of these creatures lying dead.
See God said, If you eat of this tree you will die. You are going to bring death into the human race. Oh we have got these fig leaves. That is not going to work. God said. I will cover you now. Animal skins. What does that mean? It means animals died. There had been no death up to this point.
I am sure Adam and Eve felt a great affection for all those animals that they had named. And now to see two corpses lying there of animals that had died. It should have been Adam and Eve who had died immediately. But instead it was these two animals that were sacrificed for the sin of Adam and Eve.
And what is this foreshadowing? Jesus. Who would ultimately be the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.
The First Messianic Promise
And then God issues the first messianic passage in the Bible. The first scripture that speaks of the Messiah. No it is not Isaiah 9.6. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. No. It is not Micah 5.2. You Bethlehem. Though you be little among the thousands of Judah. Yet out of you will come forth one whose origins have been from everlasting. No.
The first messianic scripture given in all of the Bible is right here in Genesis 3. 14 and 15. The Lord said to the serpent, because you have done this, you are cursed more than all the cattle, more than every piece of the field. On your belly you will go. You will eat dust all the days of your life.
Listen. Listen. I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He will bruise your head and you will bruise his heel.
So who was God speaking of? Messiah. There is coming one, God is saying to Lucifer, who is going to crush your head. But you will bruise his heel.
And that is exactly what happened. What does the scripture say in Isaiah about the death of Jesus? He was bruised for our iniquities. Satan thought he had all his ducks in a row when he took control of Judas Iscariot and brought about the execution of Jesus Christ.
And in reality the devil helped to fulfill the purposes of God. Because the scripture says it pleased the Father to crush him or to bruise him. God took no pleasure in watching his son suffer and die. But God took great pleasure in knowing what his death would accomplish. The salvation of the world.
Jesus was the fulfillment of what was touched on here. That which was lost in a garden at a tree was regained in a garden at a tree. At a tree Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. At another garden, the garden of Gethsemane, a decision was made that was carried out on another tree. The cross. Where Jesus died for the sin of the world.
For the Bible says, Cursed is every man that hangs on a tree.
So here is what we need to ask ourselves as we close today. Where are you? Where am I? Where am I at spiritually?
Let's say you were trying to find your way to harvest here today. So I answered the phone. And by the way, if you ever want directions, don't ask me. I always say, Kathy, you give... Because I always get people lost. I am not good navigationally.
But let's just say you got me on the phone. Greg, I want to come to harvest. Alright. You know what I would ask you next? Where are you? Why? Because I am trying to pry into your private information? No. Because I can't tell you how to get here until I know where you are.
Oh well I am in Corona. Ok. Well here is what you need to do. And then I give you directions. Oh. I am over here. Alright. Then you need to go up this road here and turn right there. I am going to give you directions. Tell me where you are, so I can tell you how to get here.
God asks us where we are, so He can tell us how to get home. And if I am not where I ought to be, the Lord would say, then turn from that sin and come to me, or come back to me.
Closing Prayer and Invitation
Let's pray. Father, we have heard your word today and we are all hearing. But really the question has to be asked, where are we? Where are we at spiritually? Where are we at in our walk with you? Are we dreading being with your people and being in your presence as Adam was after he sinned? Or are we looking forward to it?
Lord, I pray for any person here who may not be right with you. I pray that today they would make a recommitment to you. And that we would long to be in your presence. And long to be in fellowship with you. And long to discover all that you have for us.
And I pray, Lord, for those who do not yet know you. I pray that they will come to believe in Jesus today. And leave here a changed person on the inside. We ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.