1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,440 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. 2 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:18,800 Today John Metter, lead pastor of Cross City Church, brings a message in the Origins series 3 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,400 that helps answer the five most important questions in life. 4 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:26,080 How you live today depends on how you answer these questions. 5 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:30,240 Here's John Metter with the teaching on the five questions. 6 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:34,800 Do you have your Bibles this morning? 7 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,840 We are in our Origins series and we are in Genesis chapter 3 today. 8 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:43,800 Genesis chapter 3, the title of the message is the first sin. 9 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,600 So this will be exciting today, the first sin. 10 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:50,760 And Genesis chapter 3, you know if you've been walking with us through the book of Genesis 11 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:55,400 you know that we've been hitting the mountain peaks of theology and truth. 12 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,800 And we've uncovered a lot of firsts in the scripture. 13 00:00:58,800 --> 00:00:59,800 They've all been very, very important. 14 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,360 But we've been answering amazing questions. 15 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:08,160 Genesis chapter 1 is a chance to answer the most important questions on the planet. 16 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:09,960 Who is God? 17 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:10,960 What is truth? 18 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:13,800 Who was I created to be? 19 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:20,720 Last week we looked in Genesis chapter 2 at the theology of gender, the theology of sexuality, 20 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:22,060 the theology of marriage. 21 00:01:22,060 --> 00:01:25,380 What is God designed from the beginning? 22 00:01:25,380 --> 00:01:30,920 And now we're going to be looking at Genesis 3 at what I call a catastrophic divide, a 23 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:39,320 huge divide that takes place in Genesis 3 and is still present between God and man. 24 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:44,200 A few weeks ago my wife and I had the privilege of going to Colorado and spending some time 25 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,320 in a wonderful home there in the mountains. 26 00:01:47,320 --> 00:01:49,920 And much of what we did from day to day was drive. 27 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:51,160 We enjoyed driving together. 28 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:56,160 So we got in my truck and we drove the Continental Divide in several different ways. 29 00:01:56,160 --> 00:02:00,560 One of those roads was what's called Trail Ridge Road, which is 12,000 feet above sea 30 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:01,560 level. 31 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,000 And it's a paved road that many people go on. 32 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:08,600 And it has no guardrails and it has nothing to keep you from going off into the cliffs 33 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:09,600 below. 34 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:10,600 It's pretty exciting. 35 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,960 It keeps everybody awake as you drive Trail Ridge Road. 36 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:18,680 But when you go into a little bit of study about what the Continental Divide is all about, 37 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:23,080 it's very interesting because the Continental Divide of the United States of America also 38 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:28,040 takes place in Canada all the way to Alaska and all the way to South America. 39 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:33,880 And the Great Divide or the Continental Divide is that high mountain peaks, series of peaks 40 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:36,920 that go from north to south. 41 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:42,680 And it determines the direction that water flows either towards the Pacific or towards 42 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,600 the Gulf of Mexico and later on the Atlantic. 43 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:53,040 The snow that melts on the mountaintops goes down either towards the Pacific or towards 44 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:57,040 the Gulf of Mexico, depending on what side of the Continental Divide it's on. 45 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:03,000 It's really kind of amazing that all the massive water flows in America right there at that 46 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:08,280 point have their dividing point, one direction or the other. 47 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:12,560 Just a few steps this way and all the water flows towards the Gulf of Mexico or towards 48 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:13,560 the Atlantic. 49 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,560 It's just this way and it all flows towards the Pacific. 50 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:19,040 It is a great divide. 51 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:23,640 It really has a great deal to do with what I'm talking about today. 52 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:29,000 Because in Genesis chapter 3 we find Adam and Eve taking just a few steps in a different 53 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:30,960 direction from God. 54 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:36,520 And everything in their life from that moment on flowed away from God and away from God's 55 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:38,020 design. 56 00:03:38,020 --> 00:03:41,040 You want to know what that looks like. 57 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,640 Please stand with me as we read Genesis chapter 3. 58 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:46,680 We're going to read the first 13 verses today. 59 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:53,440 These 13 verses will reveal a great deal about this divide, about temptation, about the first 60 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:54,720 sin. 61 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:56,800 It opens up with these words. 62 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:01,280 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. 63 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:06,920 And he said to the woman, indeed has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden. 64 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,840 The woman said to the serpent, from the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, but 65 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:15,840 from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden God has said you shall 66 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:20,560 not eat from it or touch it or you will die. 67 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:27,080 The serpent said to the woman, you surely will not die for God knows that in the day 68 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:32,760 that you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and 69 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:33,760 evil. 70 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:34,760 Verse 6. 71 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:39,280 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and it was a delight to the eyes 72 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:43,760 and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate and 73 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:48,240 she gave also to her husband with her and he ate. 74 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:52,440 Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked and they 75 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:56,680 sowed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 76 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,000 They heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day and the 77 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:05,360 man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 78 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,680 Then the Lord God called to the man and said to him, where are you? 79 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,240 And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked 80 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:16,160 so I hid myself. 81 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:18,880 And he said, who told you that you were naked? 82 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,400 Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? 83 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:28,200 The man said, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree and I ate. 84 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,300 And the Lord God said to the woman, what is this you have done? 85 00:05:31,300 --> 00:05:36,280 And the woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. 86 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:37,280 We'll end it there. 87 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:40,560 Father, today in Jesus' name, thank you so much for your word. 88 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:45,400 I pray that you'll illuminate it, shine the light on it and shine the light on this word 89 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:47,240 in our minds and our hearts as well. 90 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:48,640 We ask it in Jesus' name. 91 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,320 God's people said, amen. 92 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,960 Please be seated if you would. 93 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,680 So many firsts in the book of Genesis, aren't there? 94 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,960 I mean everything is a first in the book of Genesis, right? 95 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:05,960 The first dividing of the water and the land, the first animals, the first fish in the sea, 96 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:12,320 the first clouds, the first beast crawling on the planet, the first fruit trees coming 97 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:13,320 up. 98 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:18,120 We tried to imagine a few weeks ago the beauty of that garden of Eden and what exactly that 99 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:19,120 looked like. 100 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:24,040 It must have been mesmerizing and amazing what God had created and placed Adam and Eve 101 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,200 in a beautiful place. 102 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:31,640 But as we read Genesis chapter three, we move into a place beyond what God created and we 103 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:34,120 look at the things that man creates. 104 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:41,760 The first doubt, the first selfish thought, the first deception, the first choice leading 105 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:43,800 to the first sin. 106 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:47,840 I mean the first divisive steps from God that take place right here, where they move away 107 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:52,280 from that mountain top experience that God has given them and they begin to move in a 108 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:54,560 different direction away from God. 109 00:06:54,560 --> 00:07:00,600 It really inspires my confidence in God and diminishes my confidence in man. 110 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,160 It should do that for you as well. 111 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,880 God is the only one we can rely on, the only one we can trust, but every time from the 112 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:13,880 beginning of the garden of Eden, the beginning of mankind, we just make the wrong choices 113 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,040 and we move in the wrong direction. 114 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,720 Today's text lets us see how it all unfolds. 115 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,480 The first I want you to note in this text, the presence of an enemy. 116 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:27,000 The presence of an enemy, it says in verse one, now the serpent was more crafty than 117 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:31,080 any beast of the field which the Lord God had made and all of a sudden there's this 118 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:34,680 unusual creature that makes his appearance in the garden. 119 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:40,240 Now it's unusual in that this is the first creature besides man and woman that is communicating, 120 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:44,280 he's talking and he's saying things. 121 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:49,200 So it begs the question, who is this snake and where does it come from? 122 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:53,520 And to this point here, we don't get the answer to it until later on in the scripture and 123 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:57,680 by the way we need to read all of scripture to be able to see all the secrets of the early 124 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,760 part of scripture as well, but we do know some things about this serpent and here are 125 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,160 some things that we know about this serpent. 126 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:09,040 It's clear that this serpent is unusual and it's clear that this serpent is hath out 127 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:14,120 to God because at this point in the garden there's nothing but harmony, nothing but 128 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:15,240 joy. 129 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,920 They're naked and not ashamed. 130 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:19,760 The man and his wife are together. 131 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:24,160 They see how God has created them to be together and they look at all of creation that God 132 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:30,640 has raised up and placed them into and they have nothing to do except rejoice and just 133 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:32,000 glorify God. 134 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:37,320 Their very first full day on earth is a day of resting and rejoicing in what God has done 135 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:43,480 until this moment in the garden when all of a sudden all the good things and all of the 136 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:53,600 very good things began to move towards doubts and dissatisfactions and disobedience. 137 00:08:53,600 --> 00:09:01,560 So who is this creature that enters into the garden so boldly and began to subvert what 138 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:05,000 God has made for Adam and Eve and for all that would come after them? 139 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:09,560 You know as you read your whole Bible you're going to find glimpses as to who this serpent 140 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:10,560 is. 141 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:15,640 In the book of Isaiah chapter 14 we have a very vivid description of who Satan is and 142 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:17,360 who this serpent is. 143 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,760 I want you to look in your Bibles at Isaiah chapter 14, a few verses there. 144 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:27,000 It says, How ye have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn? 145 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:31,320 You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened in the nations. 146 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:35,800 But you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the 147 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:41,080 stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of the assembly in the recesses of the north. 148 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:45,040 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. 149 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:47,920 I will make myself like the Most High. 150 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:53,680 Now you need to remember this text as we walk through Genesis chapter 3 because this is 151 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:59,240 the identity of that fallen, created angel who rebelled from God in heaven and was cut 152 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:00,960 out of heaven. 153 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:03,280 We know him as Lucifer, we know him as Satan. 154 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:07,680 He's the adversary because that's how he acts and that's what he does. 155 00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:13,120 Now since all the angels are created beings, this occurs sometime between the creation 156 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:18,220 of the earth and the heavens and the clouds and this moment of temptation that we read 157 00:10:18,220 --> 00:10:19,960 in Genesis chapter 3. 158 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,720 And if you keep reading the scriptures all the way to the end of Revelation you'll find 159 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:29,060 that Jesus actually names this serpent by saying, This is the serpent of old who is 160 00:10:29,060 --> 00:10:32,680 called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world. 161 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:38,600 Now in the garden this fallen angel, this deceiver angel takes on the embodiment of 162 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:46,000 a serpent and carries on a dialogue with Adam and Eve and his goal is to oppose God's plan, 163 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:52,600 to oppose God's ways and to subvert everything that God says. 164 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:58,280 He begins his deceptive work by focusing on the very first human being in a perfect environment 165 00:10:58,280 --> 00:10:59,800 and it continues to this day. 166 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:03,520 Now I've got good news for you but it's going to be a little bit later in the path 167 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:08,760 and that is one day God deals with Satan fully and completely and eternally and aren't you 168 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,120 going to be glad about that? 169 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:17,960 But until that time he still has power to tempt, to sway us away from God, to cause 170 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:23,920 us to take steps away from God's design off that mountain peak where he has designed for 171 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:28,840 us to walk on and down the mountainside in the wrong direction. 172 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:34,280 So as we look at this deceiver today we want to look at how he works and he always works 173 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:36,560 in a predictable way. 174 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:41,720 This first temptation, this first sin in the Garden of Eden is a prototype for how you 175 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,760 and I deal with temptation and sin today. 176 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:50,200 It's really important for you to pay attention when I talk about the path of sin. 177 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,880 Genesis 3 talks about the path of sin, the path of temptation. 178 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:59,000 And isn't it just like God to give us a warning about how temptation will occur and how sin 179 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:00,000 will occur? 180 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:04,000 It's almost like God is saying to us and all of those that read the Bible, look if you 181 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:08,520 want a forewarning, if you want an understanding of how temptation is going to unfold in your 182 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:13,360 life, if you want to have a little bit of a heads up of how you'll be tempted to sin 183 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:15,440 this is it right here. 184 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:19,880 Because I don't know of a passage that deals with temptation more plainly and a more step 185 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:23,760 by step way than this text right here at the very beginning. 186 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:29,080 So God prepares us through the revealing of this first temptation and this first step 187 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:34,280 of sin and we learn how they were enticed to go their own way and reject their creator. 188 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:39,200 And it's really amazing when you think about they're standing on the mountain top of creation. 189 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:44,480 They're on the pinnacle of being with God and understanding that intimacy and that knowledge 190 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:52,240 of God and yet it's still they take steps away from God down the mountain in the wrong 191 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:54,080 direction. 192 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:55,760 What do those paths look like? 193 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,160 What do those steps look like? 194 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:03,880 First of all step one is to question the truth. 195 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:06,440 To question the truth. 196 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:11,400 In verse one we see the serpent talking and he said to the woman, indeed as God said you 197 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:17,360 shall not eat from any tree in the garden. 198 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:22,360 And the very first thing you notice about this text is that the serpent, the enemy is 199 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,880 talking and he's talking to the woman. 200 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:26,880 It's really kind of amazing. 201 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:30,320 He's asking questions like is it really true what God said? 202 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:33,040 Questions like does God really say that? 203 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:35,040 Are you sure? 204 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:36,040 Why? 205 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,320 You know every temptation begins with a question mark. 206 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:42,200 It begins with what's wrong with it? 207 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,080 Why should I do that? 208 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,400 Woman's always going to question God's authority, always going to question God's 209 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:53,280 ways and sometimes somebody poses a question that makes us wonder well why can't I just 210 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:54,280 get away with that? 211 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:55,280 Other people do it. 212 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:56,680 Why can't I go that way? 213 00:13:56,680 --> 00:14:00,880 And that's exactly how it's unfolding here in the questioning of the truth. 214 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:07,640 By the way Satan is behind every voice that questions truth in your life. 215 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:12,600 You don't need a serpent talking to you to know that Satan is working through ideas and 216 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:14,760 thoughts and statements. 217 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,800 Communication is not as obvious as a serpent talking to you, hanging off a tree. 218 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:22,680 Sometimes it's subtle and deceitful but the reality is it's always going to question the 219 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:25,120 word of God. 220 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:29,480 That's why it's important to know that Satan speaks through serpents but he also speaks 221 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:35,320 through false doctrine, through temptations, through other people, through our desires 222 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:40,880 by words and thoughts placed in our mind by almost every avenue of communication. 223 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:44,360 And here in the garden they've eaten something very dangerous that's happening. 224 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:48,120 The woman is actually talking and conversing with the serpent. 225 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:50,160 It's their first mistake. 226 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:53,120 It's one thing to listen to somebody questioning God's word. 227 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:57,680 It's another thing to carry on a dialogue with them, reasoning with them and really 228 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:02,520 what happens is she begins to reason on the side of the serpent. 229 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:03,880 One commentator made it like this. 230 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:08,920 He said, the serpent succeeded in drawing the woman's attention to another possible 231 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,200 interpretation of what God said. 232 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:18,760 Oh, I wish I could tell you the number of people that are in that boat today who are 233 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:24,440 looking for any other possible interpretation about something that God has said, don't 234 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:29,640 go there, don't do that and yet they're looking for a way out of that. 235 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:35,200 And even when she dialogues with the serpent, with the adversary, when she recounts what 236 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:40,560 God says she removes details from the conversation of what God's command was. 237 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:42,840 She removes the idea of the generosity of God. 238 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,040 You can eat from all of the trees of the garden except this one. 239 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:52,200 She removes the idea of urgency out of the conversation because God says don't touch 240 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:56,680 it, don't eat of it lest you die. 241 00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:58,400 So we question the truth, step one. 242 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:03,720 At this point she's already began to lean towards sin. 243 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:07,280 Step two, we deny the truth. 244 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:11,640 In verse four and five, the serpent said to the woman, you surely will not die for God 245 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,880 knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God 246 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:18,400 knowing good and evil. 247 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:24,640 I want you to notice the quick jump from just asking a question to making a bold declaration 248 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:26,640 of denial. 249 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:27,640 And that's what happens. 250 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,120 Satan is making this bold declaration. 251 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:32,200 That's not true. 252 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:33,940 God said you'll die but that's not true. 253 00:16:33,940 --> 00:16:35,240 That surely will not happen. 254 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:39,440 And I can just see the reasoning going on in Adam and Eve's mind at this moment. 255 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:45,240 Well what he says is right because after all if God kills us who will be there to multiply 256 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:46,880 and replenish the earth, right? 257 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,360 I mean there won't be any more humans if we die. 258 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:53,520 So God's not going to kill us and so it must be okay to do this. 259 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:58,480 Maybe what the serpent is saying is not so bad after all. 260 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:04,160 Reality is that when we begin to deny the truth we don't do it outright but we reinterpret 261 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:11,440 it or we change something about what we understand to be true or we begin to doubt it. 262 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:15,640 And our minds thoughts like this well I want to do it but I shouldn't do it. 263 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:18,640 I want to and I'm going to rationalize it. 264 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,160 I'm going to explain it away. 265 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:26,160 You know when we face temptation we talk ourselves into disobedience by minimizing the severity 266 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:31,320 of it or by minimizing the penalty of it. 267 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,880 This is not going to hurt as bad as it seems that it will hurt. 268 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:40,600 And we begin to rationalize away the idea that it's actually a sin but more of a misunderstanding. 269 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:43,640 Maybe people just misunderstand what God is asking. 270 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:45,880 Surely it must be why would this be sin? 271 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:47,880 Why would God bring these circumstances? 272 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:49,600 Why would we die? 273 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:55,880 So Satan's bringing an argument that many people have today in deconstructing what God 274 00:17:55,880 --> 00:18:00,480 said and meant to interpret it where it's more acceptable to our own desires. 275 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:02,280 Isn't that what our culture does today? 276 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:04,160 Isn't that kind of the direction of the world? 277 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:07,840 Flowing away from God by the way and not in the direction of God. 278 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:13,120 Asking, questioning, deconstructing and they're progressive in their thinking. 279 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:15,720 They're just not biblical. 280 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:18,160 Folks that's part of the temptation. 281 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:20,720 That's part of the tempter. 282 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:25,880 So all these things are unfolding here in the beginning to deny the truth and then step 283 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,040 number three replacing the truth. 284 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:31,520 So here's what you read in verse six. 285 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:35,280 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the 286 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:40,440 eyes and that the tree was desirable to make one wife, she took from his fruit an aid and 287 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:43,520 she gave also to her husband with her and he ate. 288 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:49,160 As you look at those words on the screen you'll notice the highlighting of a few words that 289 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,640 have to do with her feelings and the things she was thinking. 290 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:55,240 The tree was good for food. 291 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:57,000 It was a delight to the eyes. 292 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,960 The tree was desirable to make one wife. 293 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:02,760 That's what this third step is really all about. 294 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:08,680 This third step of replacing the truth is to change the focus from the creator's truth 295 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,400 to creation's desire. 296 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:15,260 Now that's what we looked in Romans chapter one and we looked at several verses in Romans 297 00:19:15,260 --> 00:19:22,260 one where it says that a group of people began to deny God sexually and deny what he said 298 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,800 sexually and began to move in their own directions. 299 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:32,600 The phrase used there is that they began to worship and serve the creature instead of 300 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:33,600 the creator. 301 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:38,560 In other words, what mattered is what the creature felt, what the creature wanted instead 302 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:44,720 of what their creator told them and how the creator created them. 303 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:48,240 It was a pretty big deal when we began to replace the truth like that. 304 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:53,640 When we move further and further away from absolute truth the more radical we make decisions 305 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:58,280 based on something we feel that may be here for a little while but not long. 306 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:03,080 We make those decisions based on something other than truth. 307 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:05,920 John later on wrote about temptation in 1 John chapter two. 308 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:06,920 It's so great. 309 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:11,040 It talks about the difference between thinking in an eternal way and thinking in a temporary 310 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:12,040 way. 311 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:13,040 Here's what he says. 312 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:16,680 He says, for all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes 313 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:22,000 and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father but from the world. 314 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:26,720 The world is passing away and also is blessed but the one who does the will of God abides 315 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:28,160 forever. 316 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:30,040 Think about those things. 317 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:36,080 Desires the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life. 318 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:41,120 When you read those phrases you now know where that point of decision is. 319 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:46,000 This is precisely the point at which choices are made and sin is embraced. 320 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:51,000 The choice made by Adam and Eve was not inevitable but became that way when they began to reason 321 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,000 independently from God. 322 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:54,400 They were in a perfect environment. 323 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,320 They did not have to sin but that's what they did. 324 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:01,480 For you, you need to know today this is the tipping point of life. 325 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:06,160 This is the tipping point of all decision making where you begin to question what God 326 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:11,520 said, deny what God said and then replace what God said with your feelings, your emotions 327 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:16,000 and the things that you filter through your mind the way you do with whatever sources 328 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:17,400 you listen to. 329 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,480 That is the tipping point. 330 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:25,600 We begin to move further and further away from God to the point of simply disobeying 331 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:27,680 Him. 332 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:34,200 I describe this tipping point as a time when we consider sin more and we spend less time 333 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:35,680 considering God. 334 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:39,720 When we're thinking about sin more than we're thinking about God. 335 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:43,520 We're thinking about what we want more than what we're thinking about when it comes to 336 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:44,520 God. 337 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:50,440 What happens is that sin's attraction, its allure grows and increases when we 338 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,320 give it space and time. 339 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:57,680 That's why Jesus said don't even lust after a person in your own heart. 340 00:21:57,680 --> 00:21:58,680 Why? 341 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:03,680 Because you're focusing on what ultimately you cannot have and still be in obedience 342 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:04,680 to God. 343 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:08,400 Eve's focusing on this with her desires. 344 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:09,680 It looks good to her. 345 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:12,720 It seems desirable to make one wise. 346 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:18,360 Notice how quickly the story moves from Eve's focus to Eve's disobedience. 347 00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:26,320 She actually begins to see this fruit in an entirely different light. 348 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:31,280 Sometimes we put a bright lens on and we look at a situation and we don't see it the way 349 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:33,400 God wants us to see it. 350 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,480 I've got a pair of sunglasses with me here today. 351 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:37,920 It's a very unusual set of sunglasses. 352 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:42,520 I bought this pair of sunglasses when I was playing golf in West Texas a few months ago 353 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:44,120 and it was incredibly hot. 354 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:49,800 106 degrees every day, no wind, the sun was beating down upon us in a hot, hot, heavy 355 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:53,760 humidity. 356 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:58,960 Some guy in the clubhouse, some enterprising clubhouse employee, super salesman, sold me 357 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:04,600 a pair of sunglasses that would help me with my golf game. 358 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:05,600 Talk about gullible. 359 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:06,600 I bought into it. 360 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:11,400 The unusual thing about these sunglasses is it's not a typical gray shade but it's an 361 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,960 amber type lens where you can see the movement on the green, the highs and the lows of the 362 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:17,520 green so that you can putt better. 363 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:21,920 I said, I bought these sunglasses and sure enough when I put them on everything was more 364 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:23,460 beautiful. 365 00:23:23,460 --> 00:23:29,360 The greens were more green, the blues were more blue, the whites were brighter whites 366 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:30,360 and I could. 367 00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:32,760 I could see the undulating surface of the green. 368 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:34,800 I could actually tell where I needed to putt. 369 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,560 It didn't have any help for me when it actually came to putting but I could see where I was 370 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,600 going wrong. 371 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,720 Did everything look better with these sunglasses? 372 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,360 You look better with these sunglasses. 373 00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:48,360 And I looked in the mirror. 374 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:52,700 I look better with these sunglasses. 375 00:23:52,700 --> 00:23:57,300 But these sunglasses do not give me a picture of reality. 376 00:23:57,300 --> 00:24:03,720 I'm looking at things through colored lenses and the contrasts are stronger and brighter. 377 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,440 They're more attractive but they're not real. 378 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,080 That's what's going on in Eve's life. 379 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:14,840 She looks at the fruit that God said in black and white terms, you'll die. 380 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,680 And she said, but it's so good looking. 381 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,040 It's desirable to make one wise. 382 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:21,480 I can't wait to taste it. 383 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:25,440 Look how beautiful it is in comparison with everything else in the garden. 384 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:30,680 And she had those lenses on as she ate the fruit and sinned. 385 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:35,880 But the moment she sinned, she saw what she had done. 386 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:41,800 And all of a sudden it wasn't as beautiful because shame and guilt and nakedness and 387 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,800 regret came into her lives. 388 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:49,440 You see we live life sometimes with these kind of lenses on thinking everything's going 389 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:50,440 to be fine. 390 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:54,360 I mean after all it's so attractive and it fits so well with what everybody else is saying 391 00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:55,360 in the world. 392 00:24:55,360 --> 00:25:01,360 And after all if everybody else can do that, why can I not do that? 393 00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:05,720 But if you're wise enough to take the lenses off, you'll know why. 394 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:07,400 You'll see reality again. 395 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,000 It's not as a little room. 396 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:10,480 It's not as attractive. 397 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:11,880 It's not as appealing. 398 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:13,280 It's not beneficial at all. 399 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:17,240 But right now Eve is seeing what she wants to see, the appealing part. 400 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:21,880 And she's missing the real part and the penalty and the shame and the separation. 401 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:26,640 Be sure you're looking at every temptation with clarity. 402 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,680 Be sure your eyes are not being deceived. 403 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:34,960 Make sure you see not only the act that you're considering, but every penalty and every possible 404 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,240 complication that could come on the other side of that. 405 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:42,680 Otherwise you are deceived just like she was. 406 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:52,760 So step three is that rejecting the truth after denying the truth, replacing the truth. 407 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:59,680 By the way, when we question God's truth, we elevate self and we embrace the no absolute 408 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:00,680 truth idea. 409 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:04,760 We really move into a category from which it's really difficult to come back. 410 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:10,880 We open ourselves up to any ideas, all ideas about religion or morals or law or education 411 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:12,560 or marriage or morality. 412 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:15,080 And when that happens in an individual it's called deception. 413 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:19,320 But when it's happening in a culture we call it relativism. 414 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:24,960 Now relativism is kind of a term that has been around for a while. 415 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,480 The Wikipedia, the secular definition of it is an important definition. 416 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:35,320 It says relativism is the concept that points of view have no absolute truth or validity, 417 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:40,000 having only relative subjective value according to the differences in perception and consideration. 418 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,840 In other words, what you think is truth and what I think is truth, even though they're 419 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:49,880 diametrically opposed, can still be truth because all truth is relative, which is a 420 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:50,960 lie. 421 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:52,700 Truth is not relative. 422 00:26:52,700 --> 00:26:53,700 Truth is absolute. 423 00:26:53,700 --> 00:26:55,440 It's either true or it's not. 424 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:58,960 It's not any of these shades in between. 425 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:04,360 So relative truth teaches that when it comes to moral choices people can do their own thing. 426 00:27:04,360 --> 00:27:08,280 Relativism changes the rules based on whim or convenience or culture. 427 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:12,280 It says there are no rules but mine and dramatically impacts how people live. 428 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:16,360 And I'm going to submit to you a document and I'm going to submit to you something 429 00:27:16,360 --> 00:27:17,720 that you are knowledgeable about. 430 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,460 I present to you 2022 America. 431 00:27:20,460 --> 00:27:23,400 This is the result of relative thinking. 432 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:27,840 Everywhere you look, everywhere you listen, we've moved away from truth. 433 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:28,880 And how did it all begin? 434 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:35,360 It all began right here in the garden with the first sin and the first temptation and 435 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:38,000 that first adversary to God. 436 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:42,720 The serpent of old is what started this whole movement, by the way, and they are one and 437 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,560 the same with what's happening today. 438 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:52,600 And our sin literally is the result of considering truth to be relative rather than absolute. 439 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:55,160 It's so easy. 440 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:59,840 Someone the other day asked me this question as we were talking about the text. 441 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:06,360 If Eve could so easily sin in a perfect world, could we not easily fall in an imperfect world? 442 00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:09,760 By the way, how many of you know you live in an imperfect world? 443 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:11,360 Would you raise your hand if you know it's imperfect? 444 00:28:11,360 --> 00:28:13,760 It's messed up. 445 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:19,600 If she fell in the perfect world, how easy is it for us to get the wrong idea about truth 446 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:20,920 in an imperfect world? 447 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,120 My answer to you is it's extremely easy. 448 00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:29,040 That's why the scripture warns us. 449 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:33,640 Step four, we're talking about steps into temptation, steps away from God's best in 450 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:34,640 our life. 451 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:36,240 Step four, forget the truth. 452 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:37,240 Forget the truth. 453 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:41,840 Because see, you question the truth and then you deny the truth and then you replace the 454 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,280 truth and after a period of time you forget it. 455 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,600 In verses seven through 10, the eyes of both of them were opened, they knew that they were 456 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:53,160 naked and they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord. 457 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:57,480 When he came looking for them, Adam, why are you hiding? 458 00:28:57,480 --> 00:28:59,840 And Adam said, I was afraid. 459 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:07,400 Nakedness, shame, hiding from their sin, separated from God and in destruction. 460 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:09,800 They're now in an entirely different world. 461 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:12,440 They're beginning to live in a very, very different way. 462 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:16,400 It's broken, it's fallen, it's cursed and they have seemingly forgotten the intimacy 463 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:20,320 and the closeness of creation, the goodness and the generosity of God. 464 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:24,360 All that God had provided for them as he placed them in the garden and they're forgetting 465 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:26,560 everything God gave them. 466 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:35,400 But I have to tell you today, I see that in people's lives almost every day where people 467 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:40,620 step by step walk away from truth and soon live in a reality where there's no awareness 468 00:29:40,620 --> 00:29:44,880 of God, no awareness of right or wrong, no memory of truth. 469 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:48,480 You know, you read the Bible long enough, you're going to find that happening in several 470 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:53,080 nations that were people who were supposedly the people of God. 471 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:57,580 The book of Judges, the last chapter, the last verse is one of the most revealing verses 472 00:29:57,580 --> 00:30:02,680 in the Bible and it says this in that verse, in those days there was no king in Israel, 473 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:06,480 that everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 474 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:08,160 Wow. 475 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:11,480 I'm telling you, that's not a great place to be. 476 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:13,480 But that happens over and over in our lives. 477 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:16,480 It happens over and over in nations today. 478 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,840 Everyone does what's right in their own eyes. 479 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:27,480 So all the more reason to be warned and to be prepared for temptation towards sin. 480 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:32,400 Finally, if you keep reading this text that we've been reading, you get to the pain of 481 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:33,400 consequences. 482 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:39,960 Notice what it says in verse 11, and he, that is God said, who told you that you were naked? 483 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:43,600 Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you not to eat? 484 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:49,240 It's amazing that in one sentence, in one phrase, God clarifies everything that happened 485 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:54,520 in the garden and it's all about, did you eat from the tree that I told you not to eat 486 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:55,520 from? 487 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:56,520 It's that simple. 488 00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:58,720 Did you disobey me? 489 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:03,800 Now regardless of who tempted whom, regardless of who sinned first, all that is just sideways 490 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:04,800 energy. 491 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:11,080 The main is disobedience in the first sin, guilt, shame, blame, then the curse. 492 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:15,920 The consequences of the first sin lay the pattern for the consequences of sin since 493 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:16,920 that time. 494 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:17,920 Listen to me very carefully. 495 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:21,480 You can choose the sin, but you cannot choose the consequences. 496 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:28,720 And they're always the same, separation, shame, guilt, and you drive a wedge between yourself 497 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:30,560 and God. 498 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:36,560 The grief in the garden that day is a documented next, but the grief and pain passed down to 499 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:42,160 all humanity is written in a history of 6,000 years of human history. 500 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:46,680 Read the Bible, but even go further than that, read the history books of the ages, and you're 501 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:52,480 going to find documented the picture of this separation, this heartbreak, this sin, rebellion, 502 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:54,360 hatred, and bloodshed. 503 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:59,180 Now I really hate ending a message in such a bad note. 504 00:31:59,180 --> 00:32:03,800 The Genesis chapter 3 ends at this point in a really, really bad note. 505 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:09,280 It doesn't end well because of the consequences of sin, but I do need to tell you that God 506 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:12,080 will still win the day. 507 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:13,080 Did you hear me? 508 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:14,080 God will still win the day. 509 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:20,400 It's bleak, it's dark, it's sinful, it's separated, but God will still win the day. 510 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:24,360 He will. 511 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:27,360 If you just keep reading, and we'll be there next week. 512 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:32,680 You find right after the documenting of the first sin, there's a first mention of the 513 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:35,640 first and final solution. 514 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:41,260 That final solution would be, he will send a king, he will bruise the head, crush the 515 00:32:41,260 --> 00:32:43,280 head of the serpent. 516 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:50,400 He will send one, he will be the Messiah, he will build a bridge from mankind's sinfulness 517 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,600 to God's holiness in the peak where we started. 518 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:57,880 It's going to be a powerful picture that we read and know about. 519 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:02,880 Jesus himself will build a bridge back to God, cross the great divide, cross sin, cross 520 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:07,640 rebellion, and he builds that bridge with his broken body and his shed blood. 521 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:08,960 That's what the gospel is all about. 522 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:10,480 That's what the good news is all about. 523 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:17,640 Jesus Christ can bridge that massive divide between ourselves and God. 524 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:21,160 He sends his son, Jesus, to do that. 525 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,200 Here's a verse you need to walk out with. 526 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:27,120 First Peter chapter two, verse 24. 527 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:35,080 And he himself bore our sin in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and 528 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:42,320 live to righteousness for by his wounds you were healed. 529 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:46,660 You know why I know that I'm not going to receive the consequences of sin in my life? 530 00:33:46,660 --> 00:33:49,240 Because by his wounds I was healed. 531 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:52,600 You know how you can know that you're not going to have all those consequences of sin 532 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:57,040 in your life because by his wounds you were healed if you put your faith and trust and 533 00:33:57,040 --> 00:33:58,880 confidence in Jesus Christ. 534 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:04,800 Boy, you do need to remember today it's not only that he saves us and he pays for our 535 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:10,480 sin, he builds that bridge back, but you need to be aware that there is an adversary. 536 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:12,920 There is such a thing as temptation. 537 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,040 There is such a thing as sin and deception. 538 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:20,360 And you need to be forewarned that it's always the wrong way to go. 539 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:23,760 It'll never bring the promise that it proclaims it will bring. 540 00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:27,920 It will never be as beautiful, never be as colorful, never be as alluring, never be as 541 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:31,000 magnificent as it promises. 542 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:36,520 It'll bring you away from the God who put you on a mountain top through his son Jesus 543 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:40,080 and promises you all things pertaining to life and godliness. 544 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:44,200 Do not walk away from that one. 545 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:46,200 Stay with that one. 546 00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:49,840 Here today we may need to make some decisions. 547 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:52,440 You may need to make a decision in your life. 548 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:57,480 One of the decisions, the most primary decision for you to make today is to make sure that 549 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:00,600 you're on the bridge that Jesus built. 550 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:06,160 Make sure you put your faith and trust and confidence in Jesus' broken body and his 551 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:07,160 shed blood. 552 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:10,000 It took place on the cross and he did that for you. 553 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,600 And you must put your faith and trust in him. 554 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:15,240 People are not saved because they know about it. 555 00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:20,960 They're saved from sin because they placed trust in him and in that work on the cross. 556 00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:23,840 Today if you've never done that, if there's never been that moment in your life where 557 00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:28,840 you made a decision to trust Jesus today, I urge you to do it today. 558 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:33,080 We have decision stations that are stationed as you leave today. 559 00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:36,840 When you see that decision station lit up and you see somebody standing behind the table, 560 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:41,080 they're there to talk to you about decisions that you need to make. 561 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:48,240 I urge you to make decisions today that will put you on that bridge that Jesus built himself. 562 00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:52,280 I have a second appeal to you today and that second appeal is that we have a guest reception 563 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:56,080 center that I would like to invite you to to continue a spiritual conversation to tell 564 00:35:56,080 --> 00:36:00,960 you more about what makes this church different and what we want you to know about Cross City 565 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:01,960 Church. 566 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:02,960 I'd love to visit with you. 567 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:03,960 Welcome you to our services. 568 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:06,680 And you can do that in just a short space of time. 569 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:10,160 We spend about five or ten minutes in there just outside the center exit doors and across 570 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:11,160 the hallway. 571 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:15,080 There's a third appeal I make to you and that is invite someone to come back with you 572 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:16,080 next week. 573 00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:17,560 We actually have an open house next week. 574 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:20,120 You have invite cards that are available for you. 575 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:24,960 This is a chance for people to see what God is doing here, what's going on around us 576 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:28,360 and to be able to hear a message that will point them to Christ. 577 00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:30,880 And next week we're going to point them to Christ. 578 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:34,000 And I want to encourage you to reach out to those around you. 579 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:39,280 Such an important opportunity for us to do that with a world that needs answers. 580 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:41,480 We have them in the word of God don't we? 581 00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:42,720 I am so glad we do. 582 00:36:42,720 --> 00:36:43,720 Would you stand with me? 583 00:36:43,720 --> 00:36:49,600 I want you to bow your heads for just a moment as we have this closing word of prayer. 584 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:55,240 Father my gratitude to you for the incredible truths you give us in Genesis 3. 585 00:36:55,240 --> 00:37:02,080 Lord I'm so thankful for the bridge that you built to you through Jesus for all of us. 586 00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:03,720 Because all of us are in need of a savior. 587 00:37:03,720 --> 00:37:05,960 All of us are in need of forgiveness. 588 00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:11,280 Father today my prayer is that we will be bold and courageous enough to make decisions. 589 00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:14,560 That would be spiritual decisions in trusting you. 590 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:20,320 And Father that we would be bold enough to reach out to others around us with an invitation 591 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:22,160 to hear good news. 592 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:25,400 Father use this message today in the lives of all present. 593 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:27,600 I ask this in Jesus name. 594 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:28,600 Amen. 595 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:29,600 God bless you. 596 00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:36,600 Amen.