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Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast.

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Today John Metter, lead pastor of Cross City Church, brings a message in the Origins series

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that helps answer the five most important questions in life.

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How you live today depends on how you answer these questions.

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Here's John Metter with the teaching on the five questions.

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Well it's great to see you today and I want you to take your Bibles and go to Genesis

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chapter 3 today, Genesis chapter 3.

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We're going to be talking about the very first sacrifice that ever has taken place on the

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planet.

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As you know the sacrifice is very important to the Christian walk, the ultimate sacrifice

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being the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross when he died for our sins.

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But how does that add up with everything else that we've read about in the scripture?

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Genesis chapter 3 today will help us understand that.

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We've been walking through the first three chapters of the book of Genesis and we will

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complete that journey today.

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We'll pick up Genesis chapter 4 in a few months after the Christmas season has come and gone

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and we'll be back in it again soon.

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Genesis chapter 3 has a great deal of theology today.

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Today I'm going to take you in a little bit of a deep dive when it comes to theological

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things that have to do with God.

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The first few chapters of Genesis have taught us about who God is and what truth is.

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They teach us how God deals with creation, how he deals with Adam and Eve.

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Today we're going to look at how God deals with sinners which Adam and Eve now are because

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Genesis chapter 3 is all about the temptation and the serpent in the Garden of Eden and

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the fall, the first sin and what Adam and Eve have as a result of that first sin.

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But we're going to answer other questions as well.

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The questions about the personality of God, the reliability of God, the predictability

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of God.

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And all these things are going to help us as we understand just how we relate to God.

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We'll stand together as we read God's word today beginning in Genesis chapter 3 and verse

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21.

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Last week we looked at the effects of the curse of sin.

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This week we began to look at the cure for sin.

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And in verse 21 the Bible says this, the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his

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wife and clothed them.

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Now if you remember in Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve have sinned.

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They've fallen from God.

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They realized they're naked and now they're ashamed unlike what they were when they were

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innocent, naked and not ashamed.

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And so now they stand before God with this sense of guilt and this sense of shame and

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they actually cover themselves with fig leaves which is that famous painting that you've

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seen or cartoons of that that you've seen from time to time.

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They try to cover their sin.

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But in verse 21 the Bible says that what God did was God made garments of skin for Adam

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and his wife and clothed them.

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Then the Lord God said, Behold the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil.

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And now he might stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and

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live forever.

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Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to cultivate the ground from

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which he was taken.

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So he drove the man out and at the east of the Garden of Eden he stationed the cherubim

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and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way of the tree of life.

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Every unusual scene in the Garden of Eden as man and woman are driven out from paradise,

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from this innocent state that they were in.

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Father today my prayer is that you will speak to us from this text and help us understand

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all that you did and why.

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But even more than that today Father my prayer is that we will understand you.

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That you will, we will know you.

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That you will reveal yourself to us in greater ways today and help us to grow in our knowledge

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of you and our trust of you.

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We ask this in Jesus name and all God's people said amen.

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Please be seated if you would.

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Now these verses move us from the cure or from the curse and the consequence of sin

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to the covering and the cure for sin.

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Very important journey that we're going to take today.

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Now this journey is going to help you not only know about what happened in the Garden

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of Eden but know how God deals with you today.

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How he deals with us when we have sin, when we have separation from him in our lives.

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They help us know how to move from rebellion and sin to a place where we're in God's presence,

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where we have his forgiveness, where we know that what we do is covered by what he's done

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for us.

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And I'm going to give you a thread today, a thread that will hopefully tie together

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everything that you know about the scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

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And by that thread I mean a common vein that you'll run all the way through the Bible with

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and you'll see it pop up from time to time in the books of the Old Testament or in the

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prophets or you'll see it in the gospels.

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You'll see it again in the book of Revelation, often referred to in the epistles as thread

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that runs through the Bible.

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And it's going to be an encouraging thread.

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It's going to tie things together.

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It'll show you how God mends the relationship between God and man and why it's so important

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for us to understand that.

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So to do that, we've got to go back to the Garden of Eden for just a few moments like

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our text has it there.

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We've got to go back to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from that garden and understand what

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God was doing.

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And at the end of the time today, you're going to understand how God deals with the original

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sinners, how God deals with all sinners and how he deals with you and I as sinners.

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And I promise you there's encouragement and hope at the end of this message for how God

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deals with all of us.

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So first of all, let's look at the first consequences.

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The first consequences.

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Last week we looked at a message that I call truth and consequences about what happens

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when Adam and Eve said.

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And so we're going to rehash that just a little bit today and remind you of those first consequences

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because if you don't appreciate the first consequences fully, you're not going to appreciate

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the cure for those consequences.

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You're not going to appreciate the reason for the sacrifice.

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So the first consequences have to do with what happened as a result of sin.

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And when you read Genesis chapter 3 verses 14 through 19, which we did in detail last

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week, you'll know five things take place.

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Spiritual separation takes place.

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Adversity that will be perpetual in our lives takes place.

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You'll know that conflict takes place in our life.

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You'll also know that hardship takes place in our lives by the sweat of our brow will

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earn a living.

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We also know that physical death takes place.

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All that happens in the Garden of Eden as a result of sin.

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And sin just keeps on giving.

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By the way, if you haven't experienced this yet, sin just keeps on giving.

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It gives you early consequences.

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It gives you late consequences.

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It gives you unexpected consequences.

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It brings you eternal consequences.

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Sin is not a good deal.

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No matter what it looks like at the beginning, it's always, always a bad bargain.

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Now, Adam and Eve have learned this already.

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But now in this passage that we read today, we see it goes even further.

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First I want you to notice they know and experience evil.

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Notice where God says about them, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and

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evil.

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You know, it's one thing to observe evil.

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It's another thing to know evil.

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It's the one thing to look at it in the life of the serpent that was trying to tempt them.

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It's another thing to experience it and to give into it and participate in sin.

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So at this point, man has chosen evil and he knows good and evil from an experiential

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side.

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Not a good thing.

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Secondly, they are forbidden from eternal life.

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God says, let's say, reach out and take also the tree of life to eat and live forever.

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We're going to take them out of the Garden of Eden.

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You say, isn't eternal life good?

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Isn't eternal life something that we like to talk about?

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And the answer is yes, as long as we are not eternally in sin and eternally separated from

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God.

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But at this point, Adam and Eve were not connected to God.

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They are separated from God.

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They have no longer the innocence that God gave them and they are dark with sin, weighted

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down with sin, and God said, I'm not going to let them live like that forever.

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I'm not going to let them have eternal life completely separated from me, which would

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be literally hell.

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That's what hell is, by the way.

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Hell is life eternal, separated from the God of love and the God of mercy and the God of

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holiness.

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God said, we're not going to let that happen.

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And then thirdly, they're banished from the perfect existence.

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And all these words are forceful.

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He sent them out.

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He drove them out.

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Literally, the idea is we're going to get them out of this garden because they cannot

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stand in this garden where my holy presence is because they're now sinful and I am holy.

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Now, Adam and Eve, in the meantime, are doing everything they can to cover their sin.

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Go back to Genesis chapter 3 and verse 7 and you see man's first attempt to cover sin.

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It says that the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew they were naked and they

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sewed thick leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

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The pictures that you see sometimes when an artist renders the Garden of Eden is that

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picture of Adam and Eve and they have these leaves that are covering them.

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They've made these garments.

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They have this thing that they put on them so that their nakedness and their shame can't

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be seen anymore.

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I just want to pause for just a moment and say, what a creative way to cover sin and

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what a creative idea to think that God might not be able to see their sin and their shame

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if they just put these leaves over them.

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But that never works.

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And I want you to know that all of our attempts to cover our sin today don't work either.

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Now, while we may be more complex and a little bit more sophisticated in how we try to cover

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our sin, we might try to cover it with religion.

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We might try to cover it with doing good works.

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We might try to cover it by just letting everybody outwardly know that we are spiritual, but

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deep inside we're really not too spiritual.

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We try to cover it in a lot of ways.

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A little bit more sophisticated than fig leaves, but the reality is we can never cover our

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sin before a holy God.

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He sees through us all the way.

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And I hope you know that.

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Now, sometimes that's an uncomfortable thought until you realize that God has also, along

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with his knowledge of your sin, made provision for your sin.

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And that's going to be an important part of what we talk about today.

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Man's first attempt was a massive failure to hide sin.

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They're still separated.

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They're still ashamed.

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They're still far from God.

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It's important for us to pause and kind of feel that for just a few moments.

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Sometimes when people talk to me about what God did with Adam and Eve and what he does

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towards sinners today, those who have not been saved, who have not had forgiveness of

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sins, people who try to come to God on their own righteousness or their own set of what

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they believe is right.

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They ask this question when I say, well, God does not accept that from them.

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He does not give them favor just because they come with maybe a sincere heart, but the wrong

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way to come to God.

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They ask this question.

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Isn't God cruel to banish men from the Garden of Eden?

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Is it kind of hard on them that God would be so vindictive that he would thrust them

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out of this perfect place that he created for them?

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Is God without mercy for man's sin?

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And is he still that way?

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Does he harshly deal with all the things that we do when we're imperfect and we have shortcomings?

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Just who is this God that acts this way between the man and the woman and himself?

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And I think these are valid questions that come from questioning minds.

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But today as we walk through this text, you're going to see something about the character

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of God that helps you understand how God interacts with us.

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And for the next few moments, I want to talk about what we've already learned about God's

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character and who God is from the creation account.

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As we go back to the creation account, we remember that in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1,

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the Bible says, in the beginning, God.

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We know something about God.

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We know God is eternal, first of all.

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God perceives everything else that you can't imagine.

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God is.

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God was.

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God always has been.

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God is eternal.

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We also learned that God was self-existent.

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His existence doesn't depend on anything else or anyone else.

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So we're talking about a mighty God, the almighty God.

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Elohim is the word that we use in the book of Genesis describe who he is.

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We know God is self-existent.

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We know God is eternal.

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We know God is almighty.

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But as we walk through the scriptures, we also learned that God made man in his own

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image, but we also know that God is clearly distinct and different from man.

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For example, God is omnipotent.

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God is omniscient.

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God is omnipresent, and we are not.

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Have you ever seen that old bumper sticker of years ago?

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We know there is a God and you are not him.

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Have you ever seen that before?

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And when you think about the character of God, you realize that that's true.

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There is a God and we are not him.

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And we know that because we're not self-existent.

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We're not eternal.

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We know that because we're not omniscient.

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We're not omnipresent.

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We're not everywhere at once.

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We don't know everything.

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We are not God at all.

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But God's character, as it's revealed in the scripture, is very helpful for us in knowing

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how he deals with us.

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I like this explanation because when I look at the character of God, it explains to me

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why he is the creator and why I'm not, why he deserves to be worshiped and why I don't,

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why he speaks and all of creation responds and why I speak and nobody really responds.

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It also explains to me why God cannot be the opposite of these.

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Now, think with me for just a few moments.

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Because God is omnipotent, he cannot fail.

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Because God is omniscient, he knows everything.

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Because God is omnipresent, he will never leave and never abandon us.

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And these unchangeable characteristics of God bring a very helpful predictability about

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God, the best kind of predictability.

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I mean, I live in a world and you live in a world that's completely unpredictable.

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We have no one to rely on, no system to rely on, no truth to rely on if you leave it to

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mankind, but God is eminently predictable.

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He is exclusively predictable.

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He is all places at all times.

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He knows all things.

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He knows the future, the past and the present.

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And all these things about God help us know his character and he's unchanging in that

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character.

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By the way, there's a theological word we use to describe that, lots of theology in

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today's message, but that theological word is immutability.

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God is immutable.

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You want to say that word with me?

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Immutable.

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God is immutable.

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And it simply means God is unchanging.

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And you're glad God is unchanging in a changing world.

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You're glad God is always the same yesterday, today and forever.

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That means that he can't fail so God will not fail you.

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That means that he doesn't miss a detail, past, present or future so you can trust him

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with counsel.

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Everything he says to you is reliable.

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He cannot and will not be absent so he's always everywhere you will be and everywhere you

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are and you are never alone from God.

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And the reason all those things are true is because that's his nature.

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That's who he is.

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But along with all those other characteristics of God, I want to introduce another one to

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you today and that is God also reveals himself to be holy.

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God is holy.

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Now when we come to the issue of sin and the banishment from the garden, heaven and hell,

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holiness is a big deal.

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And the holiness of God is seen throughout the scripture.

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The holiness of God refers to his purity, to his perfection.

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That reminds us that he is distinctly God.

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He alone is God.

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He alone is pure and perfect in every way.

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And as you read the Bible you see his holiness being introduced in a variety of places.

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For example, if you were to go to Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1 and following,

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you'll see a scene that's being painted for us.

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And I'm going to read the words out of Isaiah chapter 6 verse 1.

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It says, In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on the throne lofty

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and exhausted with the train of his robe filling the temple, seraphim.

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Now these are flaming angels.

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Seraphim stood above him, each having six wings.

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With two he covered his face, this angel did.

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With two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

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And one seraphim called out to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

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The whole earth is filled with his glory.

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Holy, holy, holy.

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That is the seraphim in eternity, see God and see his holiness, his perfection, his

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distinctiveness from every other part of creation.

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In fact, Isaiah in that very scene realizes that he's a sinful man.

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Do you remember his response?

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He says, Woe is me, for I am a sinful man, and I live among a people of sinful lips.

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Just knowing that the God of holiness was standing in that room for him and his vision

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caused him to be under conviction of sin.

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But you see this later on in the book of Revelation, chapter four, where the angels in heaven are

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saying the same thing.

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They're saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord.

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They're talking about his future holiness, uncompromised by anything that he has done

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or the world has done.

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Now we like to talk about the God of love, the fact that God is also love, but it's important

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for us to also say God is holy, and he will not be otherwise, or else he ceases to be

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God.

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Let me just remind you, if God is omniscient, he's not God.

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If he's not omniscient, if he's not omnipresent, he's not God.

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If he is not omnipotent, if he can't do everything, he's not God.

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If he's not love, he's not God.

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If he's not holy, he's not God.

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So God's character plays very heavily into what happened in the Garden of Eden and what

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has happened since that time in regard to us.

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And I want you to understand exactly how that looked.

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It's just his nature.

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Later on in the Bible, in Habakkuk chapter one, we see a verse where God is spoken of

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and talks about how he looks at sin and how he looks at rebellion.

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The scripture says, your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and you cannot look on wickedness

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with favor.

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And there's God would turn his face away from sin or rebellion.

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And the reason is not because he's angry, not because his wrath is being poured out,

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but because he's holy.

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God responds out of his holiness because sin is not holy.

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And if God doesn't tolerate sin in his presence because of his holiness, he could not by his

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nature tolerate man in the Garden of Eden.

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And that's why he can't tolerate sinners going to heaven without their sin being covered

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by God himself.

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And that's why the thing that was sown out of thick leaves did not suffice for Adam and

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Eve in the Garden of Eden.

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So just take away this idea, this point, this truth.

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It's not God's holiness or wrath that sends man out of the Garden.

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I mean, it's not his anger or wrath, but it's his holiness.

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It is God's love that inspires the first sacrifice for sin.

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So I'm going to talk to you for about five minutes, which I have about the difficulty

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of that garden situation, a few minutes about the character of God.

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And now I think we may be ready for the first sacrifice that takes place in the Bible in

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Genesis chapter three, verse 21.

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You see, it's his character that brings him to this place of the first sacrifice.

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Now jump down to verse 21.

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

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Now you need to see how significant this is.

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This is so significant because no death has taken place up to this point.

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God created heaven and earth and he loved it.

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He said it was good.

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He created Adam and Eve and said, it is very good.

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And now a few days later, most suppose, Adam and Eve have sinned.

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And now God looks at his creation and allows the first death to take place.

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When sin happened, a sacrifice had to be made.

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And that penalty for that sin is evident.

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That's why theologians call this moment in scripture the fall of mankind.

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It's all falling and man is helpless to do anything about it.

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But notice God's action.

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God moves quickly and immediately and sacrificially to cover the sin of Adam and Eve by shedding

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the blood of an innocent animal and taking his skin and creating a garment for them to

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cover their shame and their nakedness.

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And I happen to believe this is a big moment because God loved his creation and the uniqueness

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with which he created, the beauty with which he created all the animals and all the fish

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and all the birds in the air and the sky and the sea and everything else that God created.

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God loved his creation just like he loved us.

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And yet because of this division, this massive divide that took place because of sin, God

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took the first animal that he would sacrifice and put it to death.

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You do realize that before the flood, the man did not eat the animals.

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He did not kill the animals.

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He was vegetarian.

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I don't call that paradise, but apparently it was in the Bible.

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But no animal had yet died until this day.

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And God slew an innocent animal because his incredible holiness required it and his incredible

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love required that a sacrifice be made to pay for sin.

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So he sacrificed part of his creation and ultimately his own son later on, as we know,

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to cover our sin for us.

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God gave up something precious because he deemed our reconciliation to be more precious

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than we could imagine.

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That first sacrifice began to cover sin until the ultimate sacrifice would deal with it

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once for all.

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And the reason we know that is because we keep reading the Bible.

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Adam and Eve knew they recovered.

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They were forgiven for that sin because they continued to interact with God.

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They weren't in the garden anymore, but they could understand what God was saying to them.

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And they began to interact and hear God.

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And they passed this principle of blood sacrifice to their own children.

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Look at the first two children of Adam and Eve, Cain and Nabal.

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In Genesis chapter 4, we read this about them.

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So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from

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the fruit of the ground, which if you remember was cursed by sin.

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Abel on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.

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And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and his offering he

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had no regard.

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You see that blood sacrifice that's beginning to be something that is acceptable to God.

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He accepts that animal that was given, but not the fruit of the ground.

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You keep reading the Bible and you'll see the Old Testament sacrificial system as well.

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Look with me in Leviticus chapter 17 verse 11.

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It's probably one of the greatest verses in the Old Testament that explains that Old Testament

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sacrificial system.

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It says, for the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you on the altar

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to make atonement for your sin, for your souls.

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For it is by the blood, by reason of the life that makes atonement.

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You know what the word atonement means?

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It means payment for sin.

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It means buying back our unforgiveness so that we would be forgiven.

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And that principle is all the way through the Old Testament.

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The New Testament book of Hebrews summarizes the entire principle of blood sacrifice from

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Genesis all the way through Revelation with these words.

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According to the law, one may almost say all things are cleansed with blood and without

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the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

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Now, theologians call this the scarlet thread of redemption that ties together everything

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God did to bridge the divide, to mend the division between God and man all the way through

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scripture.

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And you see it everywhere.

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You see it in the Garden of Eden.

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You see it in the tabernacle as sacrifices were made there in that tent of meeting.

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You see it in the temple later on in Jerusalem and then you see it on Calvary where Jesus

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Christ died on the cross because God is distinct and because God is holy and can't look upon

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sin.

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Jesus died in our place so that God would give us favor through him.

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Maybe you remember that great moment where Jesus died on the cross and that awful moment

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where he said these words in Mark chapter 15.

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At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, my God, my God, why have you forsaken

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me?

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I can't read that passage without realizing what an excruciating cry that was coming from

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Jesus the son.

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And the phrase that sounds so foreign coming from his lips.

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But what was happening is Jesus was taking all the sin of all mankind on himself.

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He's bearing the weight of the sin of the world.

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It's so hard to imagine Jesus is doing what repulses him the most, letting sin be placed

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upon him because he's holiness and he did not sin and yet willing to let the sin of

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the world come upon him.

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Theologians tell us that God turned his face from Jesus.

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However, you might word that, it's difficult to grasp.

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But the truth is that a holy God at that moment took all of our sin on himself.

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It's hard to find that analogy.

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If you might imagine today me standing in front of a huge pit on a stage above this

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place that's lower and imagine this place being a pit filled with poisonous snakes.

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Now you and I don't want to imagine things like that.

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Occasionally a movie scene will come up where we're forced to think about it like that.

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But imagine that kind of scenario.

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I mean everything in me would be repulsed by the idea of being around poisonous snakes.

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I know they would bite me.

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I know they would ultimately put me to death.

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But just besides all that, just the hideousness of snakes and I just think there is no good

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snake upon the earth except a dead snake.

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But imagine that with me just for a moment.

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And then imagine that a child of yours would be in that snake pit having fallen in and

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you have a decision to make.

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And the decision is am I going to let my child be in that snake pit knowing the poison is

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coming from him, knowing that death is coming from him?

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Or am I going to place myself in there with every attempt to rescue them from that pit?

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Now that's not a great thing to imagine, but it's about as close as I can imagine human

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thinking paralleling what Jesus Christ actually did.

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Because what Jesus Christ actually did was he took the curse of the sun and the serpent

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on himself.

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He allowed that poisonous bite of the serpent not only to let him become sin on our behalf,

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but to taste death for every single one of us simply because he loved us in an ultimate

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way.

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He did that in spite of his holiness and his purity and the fact that he was the living

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Lord of life and he went through all that so that you and I might have our sin covered.

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And the picture of Genesis 3, 21 is the first picture of what ultimately happened through

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the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

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It's powerful.

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It's permanent what Jesus Christ has done.

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But the most important thing is it's personal.

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He did that on the cross for you and I.

468
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,320
Theologians tell me this as I read about this moment on the cross.

469
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:18,220
It was a manifestation of God's hatred of sin in some unexplained way that Jesus experienced

470
00:29:18,220 --> 00:29:20,240
in that terrible hour.

471
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:25,880
Martin Lloyd-Jones said this involved a separation from the face of the Father.

472
00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:32,640
He willingly goes through this along with physical death in our place.

473
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:38,440
Later on in the book of Hebrews chapter 9 we read this, it is much as it is appointed

474
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:44,620
for men to die once and after this comes the judgment, so Christ also, have you been offered

475
00:29:44,620 --> 00:29:50,700
once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time for salvation without reference

476
00:29:50,700 --> 00:29:53,680
to sin to those who eagerly wait for him.

477
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:55,880
Do you know what that verse tells me?

478
00:29:55,880 --> 00:30:00,280
It tells me that Jesus came the first time to deal with sin and the second time he comes

479
00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:05,400
back is not to deal with sin but to bring us to himself forever and ever.

480
00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:07,400
Jesus has conquered sin.

481
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:12,840
Jesus has done everything necessary for sin to be taken care of and this scarlet thread

482
00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:18,760
of redemption sews up the great divide between God and man beginning in the garden.

483
00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:24,000
So those animal skins are pictures of the salvation we have in Christ and you and I

484
00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:28,640
we have it all because of Jesus Christ and you have the picture of it in the book of

485
00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:29,900
Genesis.

486
00:30:29,900 --> 00:30:34,760
The innocent animal that is killed, the shedding of blood, the covering for sin and it mends

487
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:39,600
the rip and the fellowship between God and us in terms of our communion.

488
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:45,160
It begins as God immediate response to sin but it points to God's ultimate response

489
00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:48,480
to sin by placing Jesus on the cross.

490
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,880
In other words, look at what Jesus has done to bridge the gap.

491
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:54,440
Look at how he mends the divide.

492
00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:55,440
W.A.

493
00:30:55,440 --> 00:31:00,500
Criswell many years ago wrote about this scarlet thread of redemption and I really hope this

494
00:31:00,500 --> 00:31:05,880
becomes a phrase that you share from time to time that you remember from time to time

495
00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:10,000
because you will see it pop up in the scriptures as I said.

496
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:11,000
W.A.

497
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,280
Criswell said the scarlet thread of redemption is woven throughout the scripture.

498
00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:19,400
It traces God's unfolding plan of love to redeem fallen mankind.

499
00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:24,440
From Genesis to Revelation this red ribbon represents our need for an innocent blood

500
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:25,440
sacrifice.

501
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:32,280
Ultimately, God sent his Son to down the cross as a sacrifice for our sin.

502
00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:39,120
While sin means paradise is lost, sacrifice means paradise is found in Jesus Christ.

503
00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:43,280
Jesus created the first paradise but he is Lord over the greatest paradise.

504
00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:46,580
When you get to the book of Revelation you are going to read about the lamb that was

505
00:31:46,580 --> 00:31:52,040
slain from before the foundation of the world and all that ties together in the scarlet

506
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:53,960
thread of redemption.

507
00:31:53,960 --> 00:32:00,240
God's love for us, God's holiness satisfied by Jesus' death on the cross.

508
00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:03,880
So much to grasp, so many things to pass in a day.

509
00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:06,240
Here is what I want to bring you.

510
00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:11,200
I want to bring you to the cross for just a few moments and I want to end there because

511
00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,440
that is where Genesis 3 verse 21 ends.

512
00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:17,800
It really ends with Christ's perfect sacrifice.

513
00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:18,800
You remember that day.

514
00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:24,840
You have read about it, you have heard about it, you have heard messages by people who

515
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:29,240
share about the lamb of God that was hanging on the cross.

516
00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,760
Remember John the Baptist said when he first saw Jesus, behold the lamb of God that takes

517
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,840
away the sin of the world and now Jesus is hanging on that cross.

518
00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:44,440
And maybe you remember also, crucified on either side of Jesus are two thieves.

519
00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:49,080
You may remember that the entirety of the religious system is also there that day.

520
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:52,520
Judaism with its legalistic adherence to the law was there.

521
00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:54,920
Roman and Greece were represented there.

522
00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:59,960
Their exalted humanism and their quest for higher knowledge was there but none of them

523
00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:01,720
have any hope to offer.

524
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:07,680
So Jesus is there hanging on the cross and crucified with him are two thieves.

525
00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:13,080
Now if you read Matthew's account you see both of these thieves mocking him.

526
00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:18,560
But if you read Luke's account it says that one of them at some point ceased mocking Jesus

527
00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:20,200
and begins believing.

528
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:22,120
Do you remember the scene?

529
00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:24,520
It's a powerful scene.

530
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:28,920
So what he's beginning to believe is speaking to the one that's still mocking Jesus who's

531
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:30,720
hanging on that central cross.

532
00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:35,960
And he says indeed we're suffering justly for we are receiving what we deserve for our

533
00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:40,220
deeds but this man has done nothing wrong.

534
00:33:40,220 --> 00:33:45,640
And then this thief, this repentant thief looks at Jesus and says remember me when you

535
00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:47,280
come into your kingdom.

536
00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:53,080
And the Bible positions this moment as a big moment because Jesus, the Bible says said

537
00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:57,920
to him truly, truly today you shall be with me in paradise.

538
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:04,360
I want to remind you that thousands of years before that moment paradise was emptied of

539
00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:05,360
man.

540
00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:10,880
Adam and Eve were banished from the garden and God covered their sin.

541
00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:15,800
But then when Jesus was on the cross paradise comes back up where he says today you shall

542
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:22,200
be with me in paradise because of the blood sacrifice fully satisfied Jesus could offer

543
00:34:22,200 --> 00:34:25,520
this man paradise forever and ever.

544
00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:28,360
Keep in mind this man did not keep the law.

545
00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:32,080
Keep in mind this man was not a part of a religious group of any kind.

546
00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:35,160
Keep in mind this man was guilty in every way.

547
00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:37,020
He admitted it so.

548
00:34:37,020 --> 00:34:41,000
Keep in mind this man is not seeking out higher wisdom or greater knowledge.

549
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,540
He's not trying to work his way into salvation.

550
00:34:43,540 --> 00:34:48,120
He's not promising that he can do anything for Jesus in the future days at all because

551
00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:49,440
he's about to die.

552
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:54,400
He simply throws himself at the mercy of the one who's dying on the cross and says remember

553
00:34:54,400 --> 00:35:00,360
me and Jesus said today you shall be with me in paradise.

554
00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:09,120
What a picture of the blood sacrifice satisfied once and for all through Jesus Christ.

555
00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:15,080
The thief's sin was covered and he was saved by faith alone in Christ who died on the cross

556
00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:17,280
for our sins.

557
00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:20,960
And so are we.

558
00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:28,040
Do you know that your salvation rests completely on the blood of Jesus that died on the cross?

559
00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:33,640
Your only covering for sin is what he covers you with in forgiveness because of his payment

560
00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:34,640
for sin.

561
00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:36,920
There's nothing you can do to cover your own sin.

562
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:39,600
Nothing you do to earn your own salvation.

563
00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:43,760
Nothing you can do to make everything you've done in the past right when all of it's been

564
00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:44,760
wrong.

565
00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:50,080
There's nothing you do to make yourself any more attractive to God than you are because

566
00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:53,600
you and I are not attractive to God in our sinful state.

567
00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:55,720
He simply loves us anyway.

568
00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:57,640
There's nothing you can do religiously.

569
00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:00,080
You can promise about the future.

570
00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:03,880
There's nothing you can do tomorrow or the next day to earn your salvation at all.

571
00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:07,560
All you can do is what the thief on the cross did.

572
00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:12,280
Say Lord Jesus remember me on the basis of what you're doing right now by shedding your

573
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:17,880
blood, by satisfying God's holiness on that basis.

574
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:21,240
Remember me when you come into your kingdom, whenever that is.

575
00:36:21,240 --> 00:36:23,520
And Jesus said that's today.

576
00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:24,520
That's today.

577
00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,760
Today you shall be with me in paradise.

578
00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:31,640
I am so grateful that God bridged the divide, took the snake bite.

579
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:36,860
So glad that God took on death and overcame it three days after he was buried just so

580
00:36:36,860 --> 00:36:44,520
that you and I could be absolved, forgiven for both sin and sinfulness of mankind.

581
00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:49,920
All of that taken care of from the garden onward through Jesus Christ.

582
00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:55,920
And if you're trusting anyone other than Jesus Christ, by how you have misplaced your faith.

583
00:36:55,920 --> 00:37:02,720
And if you're confident in your own ways of trying to cover sin, oh how far you're missing

584
00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:04,400
what Jesus offers.

585
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:09,640
But if today you come and place all your confidence in Jesus, then you're just like that thief

586
00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:12,000
on the cross just like I am.

587
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:16,000
The promise of forgiveness and the promise of eternal life.

588
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:17,560
Have you done that?

589
00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:20,160
And if not, will you today?

590
00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:24,400
In just a few moments I'm going to close in prayer.

591
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:28,680
And what I want you to do is to consider the question, have you put your faith in Christ

592
00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:31,120
and Christ alone or have you not?

593
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:35,800
And if you haven't, will you do that today?

594
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:39,480
One of the most important decisions you make in your whole life, if not the most important,

595
00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:40,960
is this one right here.

596
00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:44,800
And this is the moment where you can make that decision.

597
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:48,940
At the end of our service we have people behind what we call our decision stations.

598
00:37:48,940 --> 00:37:53,760
As you make your way back to the back doors to exit today, you'll see those decision stations.

599
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:56,940
And all you have to do is stop and say, hey can I talk with you for just a moment because

600
00:37:56,940 --> 00:38:00,800
there are people there who want to talk to you about the very subject we've been talking

601
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:01,800
about.

602
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:05,360
They want to help you know how to put your faith and trust in Christ.

603
00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:09,840
It may be today God is leading you to make a different decision, a decision of rededication

604
00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:13,640
or a decision to deal with some aspect of your life.

605
00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:17,000
They're ready, they're prepared to talk to you about that decision today.

606
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:19,560
Stop by a decision station today.

607
00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:22,760
I also invite you to come meet me in the green room.

608
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:26,360
I would love to go to the guest reception room with you and just share a few things

609
00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:31,000
about our church and about what God is doing here and you make that spiritual decision

610
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:33,760
first and I would love to meet you afterwards.

611
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:37,880
I would also invite you to turn around and invite people when you leave this place to

612
00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:41,960
come back to our services week by week where we're seeing people come to faith in Christ.

613
00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:44,940
We're seeing people with disciples and growing in their faith.

614
00:38:44,940 --> 00:38:46,040
We want to be a part of that.

615
00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:50,000
We want you to be a part of that as you reach out to friends around you.

616
00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:54,720
Would you stand with me tonight today as we close in prayer?

617
00:38:54,720 --> 00:39:03,520
Father, today what an incredible demonstration Jesus has shown us by his act of sacrifice

618
00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:04,520
on the cross.

619
00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:08,960
Father, I thank you so much that you have shown us the scarlet thread of redemption

620
00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:14,360
that we read in the scriptures as a reminder that you've always been for our salvation.

621
00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:19,120
You've always been able to do what's necessary to cleanse us, to forgive us.

622
00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:23,360
And Father, it's our responsibility to respond to you today.

623
00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:26,760
I pray people will respond in faith to you.

624
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:29,560
Lord, thank you for all you've done.

625
00:39:29,560 --> 00:39:32,760
Thank you for the promises you hold with an open hand.

626
00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:34,760
Today Lord, let us respond to those in faith.

627
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:55,160
I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.