WEBVTT 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.300 Thank you for listening to this message from 00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:34.039 Lifehouse Church. Thank you for being here. If 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:35.840 you're joining us online this morning, thank 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:38.259 you for being part of worship gathering. And 00:00:38.259 --> 00:00:41.020 this morning, I do want to continue on in this 00:00:41.020 --> 00:00:44.520 message series about family. Family is incredibly 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:48.200 important, isn't it? It's a mainstay. It is the 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:52.479 foundational institution in our society, and 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:54.560 it is incredibly important. But I want to start 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:56.780 off talking a little bit about something that 00:00:56.780 --> 00:00:59.579 James Clear says in his best -selling book, Atomic 00:00:59.579 --> 00:01:04.620 Habits. James Clear, he argues the idea that 00:01:04.620 --> 00:01:08.879 right systems, structures, and environments are 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:11.739 what create good habits in our life or even great 00:01:11.739 --> 00:01:14.260 habits in our life. And that's versus the idea 00:01:14.260 --> 00:01:18.340 of a lot of self -will to change a good habit, 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:20.920 right? And he even argues that it is the systems, 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:24.099 the structures, the environments that actually 00:01:24.099 --> 00:01:28.859 help us break bad habits. And move into those 00:01:28.859 --> 00:01:31.340 good habits. For instance, let me give you a 00:01:31.340 --> 00:01:34.519 for instance for what I'm talking about. A lot 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:36.359 of us a lot of times talk about changing our 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:38.780 eating habits. How many of you committed January 00:01:38.780 --> 00:01:42.900 1 this year? Yeah, why are you laughing? That's 00:01:42.900 --> 00:01:45.620 what I want to know, all right? I am going to 00:01:45.620 --> 00:01:49.560 change my eating habits. Statistically, by January 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:52.540 19th, you forgot all about it already, all right? 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:55.260 But, you know, a lot of times when we do that, 00:01:55.299 --> 00:01:56.840 we're going to say, I'm going to muster up enough 00:01:56.840 --> 00:01:59.379 willpower to do this. I am going to stay away 00:01:59.379 --> 00:02:01.659 from the cookie. It is going to happen, right? 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:05.260 It will take place. And that seems to never work. 00:02:05.739 --> 00:02:07.680 It's really about changing your environment, 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:10.469 your structure, your system. To keep you away 00:02:10.469 --> 00:02:12.889 from the cookie. To eliminate it, right? If you 00:02:12.889 --> 00:02:14.770 don't want to eat sweets, how many know you don't 00:02:14.770 --> 00:02:17.870 go hang out at Chocolate World? Come on, it's 00:02:17.870 --> 00:02:19.389 true. You don't stand there. If you don't want 00:02:19.389 --> 00:02:21.629 to eat the cookie, you don't put it in a clear 00:02:21.629 --> 00:02:24.189 cookie jar, set it on the countertop, right? 00:02:24.310 --> 00:02:26.129 You give it to your spouse, tell them to put 00:02:26.129 --> 00:02:27.750 it in the safe and tell them to change the lock. 00:02:28.289 --> 00:02:30.949 Combination on the safe, right? Clear strategies. 00:02:31.449 --> 00:02:33.270 And this is something actually that neuroscience 00:02:33.270 --> 00:02:36.539 has known. and actually the Bible has stated 00:02:36.539 --> 00:02:38.900 for thousands of years. And it really is the 00:02:38.900 --> 00:02:41.319 systems, it's the structures, it's the environments 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:44.379 that we put ourselves in that begin to lead us 00:02:44.379 --> 00:02:46.180 in the right direction. It can lead us to God. 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:49.379 It can bring our families together. And even 00:02:49.379 --> 00:02:55.370 in the family, it's God's systems. It's his structures. 00:02:55.650 --> 00:02:58.550 It's the environments we put ourselves in for 00:02:58.550 --> 00:03:01.550 family that move us closer to God himself, and 00:03:01.550 --> 00:03:04.129 it moves us closer to each other. God is the 00:03:04.129 --> 00:03:08.150 inventor of family. He is the engineer. He is 00:03:08.150 --> 00:03:11.210 the architect. He is the original design, right? 00:03:11.310 --> 00:03:14.629 The design for family. And it is the systems 00:03:14.629 --> 00:03:17.310 and the structures and really the plans of God 00:03:17.310 --> 00:03:20.750 that are within God's word that help us build 00:03:20.750 --> 00:03:24.979 family. A family that first glorifies God, because 00:03:24.979 --> 00:03:27.580 everything we do should glorify God, and then 00:03:27.580 --> 00:03:31.300 a family that is a system of support and help 00:03:31.300 --> 00:03:33.979 for one another. So this morning, I'm going to 00:03:33.979 --> 00:03:36.280 do something I don't think I've ever done since 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:38.080 I started preaching, and some of you may gasp 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:39.919 at this. I'm going to preach through an entire 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:43.659 chapter of the Bible, all right? You're like, 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:45.340 oh, we're gonna be here till three o 'clock. 00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:47.199 I promise you it won't be. All right, so if you 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:48.879 got your Bibles, turn to Genesis chapter two. 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:51.680 Genesis chapter two, it's a short chapter. Thank 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:53.919 the Lord, right? And I'm gonna pray while you're 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:55.520 turning there. Father, I thank you for this day. 00:03:55.719 --> 00:03:57.580 God, we thank you for your word. God, we thank 00:03:57.580 --> 00:03:59.300 you for Genesis, that first book of the Bible. 00:03:59.539 --> 00:04:01.699 God, that is a revelation of all things that 00:04:01.699 --> 00:04:04.199 started as we know it. So Lord, I pray that you 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:06.759 would guide us, direct us, help us to pull out, 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:09.719 extrapolate the principles, God, the systems, 00:04:09.979 --> 00:04:12.060 the structures that you have there so that our 00:04:12.060 --> 00:04:14.080 family, These might be strong. And God might 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:16.100 bring glory to you. And we give you praise and 00:04:16.100 --> 00:04:18.680 glory and honor in Jesus' name. And everybody 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:21.389 say it together. Amen. Amen. That was a great 00:04:21.389 --> 00:04:24.629 hearty amen. Well, Genesis chapter 1, of course, 00:04:24.649 --> 00:04:28.350 is creation. And Genesis chapter 1, as you come 00:04:28.350 --> 00:04:30.490 to the culmination or the end of that chapter, 00:04:30.649 --> 00:04:33.350 explains the seven -day creation that God talks 00:04:33.350 --> 00:04:36.149 about. And chapter 2 is kind of a recap, a little 00:04:36.149 --> 00:04:38.810 bit of that, or in addition to. So that's what 00:04:38.810 --> 00:04:40.269 we're going to pick up. And it says this, thus 00:04:40.269 --> 00:04:42.709 the heavens and the earth and all the host of 00:04:42.709 --> 00:04:45.199 them were finished. God finished his creation. 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:47.639 And on the seventh day, God ended his work in 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:50.160 which he had done. And he had rested on the seventh 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:52.860 day from all his work, which he had done. Then 00:04:52.860 --> 00:04:55.259 God blessed the seventh day. He sanctified it 00:04:55.259 --> 00:04:57.699 because in it, he rested from all his work, which 00:04:57.699 --> 00:05:00.399 God had created and made. This is the history 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:02.819 of the heavens and the earth when they were created. 00:05:02.939 --> 00:05:05.160 And in the days that the Lord God made the earth 00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:08.079 and the heavens before any plant of the field 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:10.220 was any earth and before the herb of the field 00:05:10.220 --> 00:05:12.600 had grown for the Lord God had not caused it 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:15.839 to rain on the earth. And there was no man to 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.600 till the ground. but a mist went up from the 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:20.779 earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:23.019 Now, we could stop here in park and talk a lot 00:05:23.019 --> 00:05:25.699 about what they believe some of this meant. It 00:05:25.699 --> 00:05:28.560 appears that God had a subtropical environment 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:31.439 set up while creation was taking place and while 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:33.439 he was putting all this together that's around 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:35.959 us. And verse seven says this, and God formed 00:05:35.959 --> 00:05:38.720 man from the dust of the ground and he breathed 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:41.220 into his nostrils the breath of life and man 00:05:41.220 --> 00:05:44.449 became a living being. The Lord God planted a 00:05:44.449 --> 00:05:47.430 garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the 00:05:47.430 --> 00:05:49.930 man whom he had formed. And out of the ground 00:05:49.930 --> 00:05:52.670 the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant 00:05:52.670 --> 00:05:55.970 to the sight and good for food. The tree of life 00:05:55.970 --> 00:05:58.290 was also in the midst of the garden, and the 00:05:58.290 --> 00:06:00.970 tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now listen, 00:06:01.069 --> 00:06:03.029 God creates Adam from the dust of the ground. 00:06:03.069 --> 00:06:06.430 He places him in this area that God names Eden, 00:06:06.569 --> 00:06:09.170 and he puts him in a garden in this location. 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:12.639 And verse 10 begins to describe a little more 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:14.800 about the garden. We got a little bit on the 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:16.160 front end. I'll give you a little more here in 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:36.779 verse 10. It says, The name of the second river 00:06:36.779 --> 00:06:39.579 is Gihon. It is one which goes around the whole 00:06:39.579 --> 00:06:42.139 land of Cush. The name of the third river is 00:06:42.139 --> 00:06:45.620 Hittikal. It is one which goes toward the east 00:06:45.620 --> 00:06:48.220 of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 00:06:48.500 --> 00:06:51.600 And then the Lord God took the man and he put 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:54.620 him in the garden of Eden to tend it and to keep 00:06:54.620 --> 00:06:58.160 it. I want you to picture what we just read. 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:00.839 I want you to get in your mind, and you can be 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:02.899 a little creative with this, what this might 00:07:02.899 --> 00:07:05.779 have all looked like. God creates the heavens 00:07:05.779 --> 00:07:08.019 and the earth, and everything that's included 00:07:08.019 --> 00:07:11.180 in that, all the plant life, all the animals, 00:07:11.379 --> 00:07:14.480 right, the clouds, everything that's in the heavens 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:18.279 and on the earth. And then God creates man. From 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:21.399 the dust of the ground, God creates Adam, and 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:25.360 he breathes life into him. Now, I know you probably 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:27.600 have the same plaguing question that I do at 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:30.519 this very moment. Did Adam have a belly button? 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:34.959 Come on. I know this has been a deep theological 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:36.839 discussion for a long time. We don't believe 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:39.620 he does, right? Because he was the first. But 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:41.379 some of you can look that up a little later. 00:07:41.740 --> 00:07:45.160 But God designs a place for Adam to dwell. He 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:48.939 puts together a garden in this place called Eden. 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:52.680 And the verses describe this. And amongst all 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:56.550 the trees and the fruit and the... Plant life 00:07:56.550 --> 00:07:59.069 and the food that he's provided for Adam. He 00:07:59.069 --> 00:08:02.170 mentions two trees in particular. One, the tree 00:08:02.170 --> 00:08:03.970 of the knowledge of good and evil, right? And 00:08:03.970 --> 00:08:06.550 one, the tree of life. Two trees in particular 00:08:06.550 --> 00:08:08.829 that God puts in the garden, and we're going 00:08:08.829 --> 00:08:10.589 to get to those a little later. And then he talks 00:08:10.589 --> 00:08:13.209 about the four rivers. He talks about Pishon, 00:08:13.250 --> 00:08:16.110 Gihon, Hittichel, and Euphrates. Two of those 00:08:16.110 --> 00:08:18.629 exist today, the Euphrates, and actually the 00:08:18.629 --> 00:08:20.930 Hittichel is now called the Tigris River. So 00:08:20.930 --> 00:08:22.589 he gives us some information about where the 00:08:22.589 --> 00:08:24.689 Garden of Eden might have actually been on the 00:08:24.689 --> 00:08:28.100 face of the earth. Many scholars debate this, 00:08:28.180 --> 00:08:29.800 but they believe it might've been in an area 00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:31.939 of Mesopotamia, which is now modern day Iraq, 00:08:32.100 --> 00:08:36.500 or it may have started or sprung from the Armenian 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:40.100 highlands, which is in East Asia, or I'm sorry, 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:45.139 West Asia. So we have an area. God places Adam 00:08:45.139 --> 00:08:48.860 in this untainted, right? No sin in the world 00:08:48.860 --> 00:08:52.320 yet, in this incredible garden setting and tells 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:56.200 Adam to do one. in these scriptures that we read. 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:01.720 He says, keep it and tend it. He creates this 00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:05.500 place of no pain, no sin as of yet, right? He 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:07.799 has all the provision that he needs. There's 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:10.820 no sickness, there's no death. Adam has everything 00:09:10.820 --> 00:09:13.820 that he needs to sustain his life and even more. 00:09:14.100 --> 00:09:19.659 And then God tells Adam to go to work. He says, 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:24.940 keep it and tend it. This is family. God gives 00:09:24.940 --> 00:09:32.340 family the gift of work. Can I get an amen? Right? 00:09:34.139 --> 00:09:36.019 Tell somebody, look to somebody right beside 00:09:36.019 --> 00:09:37.840 you. Tell them, get to work. Come on, get to 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:43.480 work. Get to work, right? Too many times we look 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:47.070 at work in the home. and out of the home, strictly 00:09:47.070 --> 00:09:49.409 from a curse perspective. We look at God's word, 00:09:49.529 --> 00:09:51.210 and if you go further in God's word, you'll see 00:09:51.210 --> 00:09:53.830 that when sin takes place, that there is curse 00:09:53.830 --> 00:09:56.129 that is added into work, and it's a difficulty 00:09:56.129 --> 00:09:59.169 that we experience in work. But God gave Adam 00:09:59.169 --> 00:10:02.149 this gift of work. And a lot of times we're like, 00:10:02.289 --> 00:10:06.389 oh, I gotta go to work, right? I gotta do these 00:10:06.389 --> 00:10:09.830 tasks. I've gotta manage this, it's so stressful. 00:10:10.110 --> 00:10:12.809 And you're like, I gotta do this because I gotta 00:10:12.809 --> 00:10:15.110 get a paycheck, and I gotta get a paycheck. to 00:10:15.110 --> 00:10:18.309 sustain life so I can buy food. And it's such 00:10:18.309 --> 00:10:22.210 a grind. It's such a ball and chain in my life. 00:10:22.309 --> 00:10:26.909 And we need it for important things. How many 00:10:26.909 --> 00:10:30.529 of you like to eat food? Yes, right? How many 00:10:30.529 --> 00:10:33.330 of you like to live in your house? Enjoy electricity, 00:10:33.669 --> 00:10:35.929 right? You have to pay for all these things. 00:10:36.470 --> 00:10:40.289 We like all these things. We have to go to work 00:10:40.289 --> 00:10:44.090 or we'll die, basically. It's true. We won't 00:10:44.090 --> 00:10:47.769 make it. But in the beginning, God made a perfected 00:10:47.769 --> 00:10:51.169 environment where Adam had every single thing 00:10:51.169 --> 00:10:54.190 that he needed. All the food he was ever going 00:10:54.190 --> 00:10:57.230 to eat was already there. He had every provision 00:10:57.230 --> 00:10:59.950 that he was ever going to need in his lifetime. 00:11:00.190 --> 00:11:04.990 And God tells Adam, get to work. Go to work. 00:11:06.629 --> 00:11:09.409 Now, Adam might have been thinking, Lord, you 00:11:09.409 --> 00:11:12.460 can hook me up here, right? God could have placed 00:11:12.460 --> 00:11:15.539 a beach right in Eden somewhere. He could have 00:11:15.539 --> 00:11:17.940 made a beach chair, put Adam on a beach chair. 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:20.620 He could have cracked open a coconut, drank coconut 00:11:20.620 --> 00:11:24.000 water out of a bamboo straw, and everything would 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:27.980 have been good. Right? He could have. But God 00:11:27.980 --> 00:11:33.179 told him, get to work. Go to work. Ten. Because 00:11:33.179 --> 00:11:35.940 God designed us to do something. He designed 00:11:35.940 --> 00:11:39.879 us to produce. He's designed us to manage, right? 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:42.659 He's designed us to use our heads and to use 00:11:42.659 --> 00:11:45.940 our hands and to use our feet and to use our 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:51.210 backs. And he's designed us to work. He's designed 00:11:51.210 --> 00:11:54.409 us to produce, to do things, right? God himself 00:11:54.409 --> 00:11:58.629 as creator and manager of all that we see around 00:11:58.629 --> 00:12:01.110 us worked. The word of God said he worked six 00:12:01.110 --> 00:12:05.450 days and rested the seventh, right? And Genesis 00:12:05.450 --> 00:12:08.129 chapter 127 tells us another thing, that we are 00:12:08.129 --> 00:12:11.070 made in God's image. And in an image of God, 00:12:11.090 --> 00:12:13.669 he created a male and female. He created them. 00:12:14.300 --> 00:12:17.899 So we are created in God's image. God works, 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:20.659 and he told Adam, when he got it all done, he 00:12:20.659 --> 00:12:23.159 said, Adam, now it's time to go to work. I need 00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:25.480 you to attend this. I need you to manage this. 00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:27.059 As a matter of fact, in another set of scriptures, 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:30.519 he says you have dominion over all of this. This 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:32.779 is not just a God thing, and this is not just 00:12:32.779 --> 00:12:36.539 an Adam thing. This is a family thing. As a family, 00:12:36.659 --> 00:12:40.059 we should go to work at something. We should 00:12:40.059 --> 00:12:44.139 be engaged in something. If you're unable to 00:12:44.139 --> 00:12:47.220 physically work, engage your mind, engage your 00:12:47.220 --> 00:12:49.799 brain in something, right? Engage in some kind 00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:53.279 of work. Now, I messed this guy's name up, but 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:55.559 I think I'm going to say it right. It's Nick 00:12:55.559 --> 00:12:58.100 Vulacek. I should have looked this up ahead of 00:12:58.100 --> 00:12:59.799 time for the pronunciation, but I don't know 00:12:59.799 --> 00:13:01.320 how many of you have ever seen him. He ministers 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:05.019 all across the world. He has no legs and no arms 00:13:05.019 --> 00:13:08.600 at all. He was born without any arms or any legs. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:11.899 This guy goes all over the world and preaches 00:13:11.899 --> 00:13:14.940 the gospel, ministers. How many of you have no 00:13:14.940 --> 00:13:18.240 excuse now, right? It's true. We should teach 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:21.139 our children to work. We should teach them. We 00:13:21.139 --> 00:13:23.679 should teach them what the reward of work really 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:27.840 is, the satisfaction of work, the gift that comes 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:30.259 along with work. And I'm not talking about child 00:13:30.259 --> 00:13:32.139 labor. I'm not talking about putting your kids 00:13:32.139 --> 00:13:33.919 in the factory like in third world countries, 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:35.980 right? And go make it, tell them to make a living. 00:13:36.059 --> 00:13:37.919 That's not what I'm talking about here, right? 00:13:37.980 --> 00:13:40.500 I'm talking about the joy. How many know the 00:13:40.500 --> 00:13:43.620 joy of completing a task? Isn't there satisfaction 00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:46.419 sometimes when you complete something? The benefit 00:13:46.419 --> 00:13:49.039 that comes along with production and management 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:53.000 and creating something or engaging a sense of 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:55.460 accomplishment that comes. You know, there's 00:13:55.460 --> 00:13:58.700 this thing involving yourself, helping out in 00:13:58.700 --> 00:14:02.860 some kind of way. Sometimes our kids are so disengaged 00:14:02.860 --> 00:14:05.720 because we don't engage them in something that's 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:08.080 important and true, right? Something that's going 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:11.549 to be rewarding for them. Put them to work. Some 00:14:11.549 --> 00:14:15.889 of you should be going, amen. Hallelujah. Come 00:14:15.889 --> 00:14:18.750 on. There's a sense of purpose that goes along 00:14:18.750 --> 00:14:21.370 with this. Now, it shouldn't be your identity. 00:14:21.590 --> 00:14:24.730 Our identity should be in Jesus Christ. But we 00:14:24.730 --> 00:14:26.889 should have a sense of purpose. And part of that 00:14:26.889 --> 00:14:29.990 purpose is to go to work. Sometimes people struggle 00:14:29.990 --> 00:14:33.049 when they hit retirement because they quit working, 00:14:33.169 --> 00:14:35.750 right? They're no longer at their job anymore. 00:14:35.950 --> 00:14:38.149 Listen, retirement, it's just moving from one 00:14:38.149 --> 00:14:40.309 job to the other. You just get to call the shots 00:14:40.309 --> 00:14:42.429 in the second one, all right? You just get to 00:14:42.429 --> 00:14:44.049 decide when you're going to work and when you're 00:14:44.049 --> 00:14:46.169 not going to work. That's what retirement is. 00:14:46.389 --> 00:14:50.629 Work is a God -given gift to the family, and 00:14:50.629 --> 00:14:55.309 our family should go to work. Back in 2009, when 00:14:55.309 --> 00:14:58.090 we started Lifehouse Church, I did not start 00:14:58.090 --> 00:15:00.750 this church. Dixie and I did not start this church. 00:15:00.889 --> 00:15:04.250 Our family started this church. We were in a 00:15:04.250 --> 00:15:07.909 house. We started in a living room. And my kids 00:15:07.909 --> 00:15:10.090 used to think it was so lame. We'd slide the 00:15:10.090 --> 00:15:12.809 furniture back and have church, right? But do 00:15:12.809 --> 00:15:15.350 you know who our first worship team was made 00:15:15.350 --> 00:15:18.110 up of? Dixie was the worship leader. And my children, 00:15:18.269 --> 00:15:21.110 they all recruited kids from high school. We 00:15:21.110 --> 00:15:23.309 had junior high kids. We had senior high kids. 00:15:23.429 --> 00:15:25.509 And they all came to my house because I fed them 00:15:25.509 --> 00:15:29.490 pizza. Seriously. And we'd set up instruments, 00:15:29.590 --> 00:15:31.210 and there were instruments all over the house, 00:15:31.230 --> 00:15:34.009 and they would play. They were incredible. And 00:15:34.009 --> 00:15:37.929 they went to work. My children, all three of 00:15:37.929 --> 00:15:41.129 them still, are engaged in working here at Lifehouse. 00:15:41.289 --> 00:15:43.210 And one of them lives in a different state, and 00:15:43.210 --> 00:15:45.570 one lives in a different city. They're engaged, 00:15:45.850 --> 00:15:48.970 right? Families go to work. You should work together. 00:15:49.190 --> 00:15:52.210 Start them young. Find projects, right? Well, 00:15:52.250 --> 00:15:55.700 listen, make memories. I remember working with 00:15:55.700 --> 00:15:59.740 my dad. My dad, he's a quiet man. He's not like 00:15:59.740 --> 00:16:02.700 me at all. He doesn't talk hardly at all, but 00:16:02.700 --> 00:16:05.299 he engages in work. He's a craftsman. I remember 00:16:05.299 --> 00:16:07.120 standing with him and working and him showing 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:09.240 me things. I remember being in my grandfather's 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:12.519 wood shop and working, right? Teach your children, 00:16:12.580 --> 00:16:16.899 give them the gift of work. Embrace it. Teach 00:16:16.899 --> 00:16:19.600 them to embrace it. Colossians 3 .23 says this, 00:16:19.700 --> 00:16:21.980 and whatever you do, do it hardly as to the Lord 00:16:21.980 --> 00:16:25.259 and not to men, knowing that. From the Lord, 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:27.659 you receive the reward of your inheritance, for 00:16:27.659 --> 00:16:31.139 you serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Every time you 00:16:31.139 --> 00:16:33.700 go to work at anything, do it with all your might, 00:16:33.860 --> 00:16:36.860 because you're doing it for him. He's going to 00:16:36.860 --> 00:16:39.220 reward you. Even if your boss overlooks you, 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:42.059 he's going to reward you. It's true, amen? It's 00:16:42.059 --> 00:16:44.460 part of God's family system. It's part of his 00:16:44.460 --> 00:16:47.740 design. It's part of his structure. I love when 00:16:47.740 --> 00:16:49.620 Dixie and I go to work on something. We like 00:16:49.620 --> 00:16:52.440 refinishing stuff sometimes, and we get busy 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:55.779 doing that. We enjoy it. right? Embrace the gift 00:16:55.779 --> 00:16:59.399 of work. God's got a plan for the family. He's 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:02.360 got a system. He's got a structure, and it involves 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:06.099 work. Genesis 2 .16, we're going to go on a little 00:17:06.099 --> 00:17:07.400 further. I'm going to take you a little further 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:09.920 in this journey through Genesis chapter 2. And 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:12.460 the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every 00:17:12.460 --> 00:17:16.039 tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:17.839 the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:19.160 told you we're going to get back to this tree, 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:21.759 right? These trees. You shall not eat, for in 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:23.400 the day that you eat it, you shall surely die. 00:17:24.360 --> 00:17:26.940 God puts Adam in the garden, tells him to get 00:17:26.940 --> 00:17:29.660 to work, all right? Tend it, keep it, gives him 00:17:29.660 --> 00:17:33.019 the gift of work. And then he tells him, hey, 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:35.299 by the way, there's a tree I placed in the garden. 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:37.960 And the tree, I named the tree, the tree of the 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:40.460 knowledge of good and evil. And you're not allowed, 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:42.680 I don't want you touching that tree. That's forbidden 00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:45.539 fruit, stay away from that tree. Now, believe 00:17:45.539 --> 00:17:48.059 it or not, this was a gift to Adam and this was 00:17:48.059 --> 00:17:50.299 a gift to his family. And you might think, well, 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:53.579 how's that so? Because this tree is actually 00:17:53.579 --> 00:17:58.140 the gift of love for Adam's family. Part of God's 00:17:58.140 --> 00:18:03.079 system and structure is love. And love in family, 00:18:03.140 --> 00:18:07.759 love in anything, always is accompanied by a 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:13.039 choice. You cannot have love and not have a choice 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:16.640 to love. Love is always accompanied by a choice. 00:18:17.259 --> 00:18:22.730 Love is never lived out by demand. You can't 00:18:22.730 --> 00:18:26.470 demand love. You can, you can try, but that's 00:18:26.470 --> 00:18:31.789 manipulation. You can't have demand in love, 00:18:31.869 --> 00:18:35.710 but you can have commands in love. Love is always 00:18:35.710 --> 00:18:38.970 accompanied by a choice. And God loves Adam and 00:18:38.970 --> 00:18:42.049 is providing for him. He's got food, he's got 00:18:42.049 --> 00:18:43.990 safety, he's got shelter. He's got the gift of 00:18:43.990 --> 00:18:46.250 work. And now he gives him the gift of love and 00:18:46.250 --> 00:18:48.849 he says, Adam, you got a choice in the form of 00:18:48.849 --> 00:18:52.380 a tree. And this is what love, this is love. 00:18:52.700 --> 00:18:55.039 Adam, you can, and I worked on this rhyme. You 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:57.900 gotta listen to it, okay? It's terrible. Adam, 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:02.799 you can choose to love the forbidden tree or 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:05.420 you can choose to love me. What's it gonna be? 00:19:05.819 --> 00:19:07.279 That's as good as it gets with me, all right? 00:19:08.099 --> 00:19:12.420 Yeah, thanks. That's all I got in the poetry 00:19:12.420 --> 00:19:15.519 area, all right? Adam, you can choose to love 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:17.980 the forbidden tree or you can choose to love 00:19:17.980 --> 00:19:23.680 me. What's it going to be? You can engage in 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:26.980 a relationship and have it all, or you can choose 00:19:26.980 --> 00:19:30.240 to break that relationship by choosing the tree. 00:19:31.319 --> 00:19:33.180 Breaking the command. You can have a command 00:19:33.180 --> 00:19:38.140 in a relationship. You can't have a demand. Adam 00:19:38.140 --> 00:19:41.720 and Eve will have the opportunity in this garden 00:19:41.720 --> 00:19:45.990 to choose. to reciprocate God's love back in 00:19:45.990 --> 00:19:49.809 the form of complete obedience to what God said 00:19:49.809 --> 00:19:53.690 about one tree. He gave him all the other trees 00:19:53.690 --> 00:19:56.710 on the face of the earth, fruit everywhere. He 00:19:56.710 --> 00:20:00.970 says, just one tree. Don't touch this one. Don't 00:20:00.970 --> 00:20:03.349 leave this one alone. This is the tree of the 00:20:03.349 --> 00:20:06.329 knowledge of good and evil. If you love me, you 00:20:06.329 --> 00:20:11.160 won't touch this tree. Love always has commands, 00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:15.500 but not a demand, right? Love always has commands 00:20:15.500 --> 00:20:18.420 in relationship and not a demand in relationship. 00:20:18.819 --> 00:20:21.440 I don't demand my wife's love and affection. 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:25.099 That would not go well, all right? I don't tell 00:20:25.099 --> 00:20:29.519 her, you will love me. Go ahead and make that 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:31.019 declaration in your house once and get ready 00:20:31.019 --> 00:20:34.319 to get slapped, right? Yeah, you don't do that. 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:37.680 But there's a command in our love. right? Well, 00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:40.299 when we said, I do, when we got married, here 00:20:40.299 --> 00:20:42.000 was the command. You're not going to date other 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:44.319 women. And I told her, you're not going to date 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:47.900 other men, right? That's the command. I expect 00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:50.400 that to be kept, right? She expects that to be 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:53.480 kept on my side. And if we break that, how many 00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:56.940 of that breaks the relationship? Because it begins 00:20:56.940 --> 00:20:59.700 to break that. It's the command, right, of our 00:20:59.700 --> 00:21:03.930 relationship. Love always has a choice. Love 00:21:03.930 --> 00:21:08.329 has commands and not demands. Love for my spouse 00:21:08.329 --> 00:21:11.069 dictates that I follow the commands and my affection 00:21:11.069 --> 00:21:15.970 stays fixed on her and her alone. God gave Adam 00:21:15.970 --> 00:21:20.970 and Eve the gift of love in the form of a tree. 00:21:21.750 --> 00:21:24.349 People ask this question all the time. Why did 00:21:24.349 --> 00:21:26.680 God put that forbidden tree in the garden? Why'd 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:28.480 he stick that there? Why'd he put that temptation? 00:21:28.740 --> 00:21:31.660 Was that some, you know, sick, twisted, sadistic 00:21:31.660 --> 00:21:33.960 thing that God did just so Adam and Eve would 00:21:33.960 --> 00:21:37.680 fail? No, God had to do that because God is love. 00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:40.440 1 John 4, 7 tells us that, Beloved, let us love 00:21:40.440 --> 00:21:42.500 one another, for love is of God, and everyone 00:21:42.500 --> 00:21:45.079 who loves is born of God and knows God. He who 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:48.240 does not love does not know God, for God is love. 00:21:48.859 --> 00:21:51.740 It doesn't say he just loves. He is love. Come 00:21:51.740 --> 00:21:56.119 on, it's true. He loves. There had to be a choice. 00:21:56.700 --> 00:22:00.000 Love dictated that there was a choice. Jesus 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.599 said in John 14, 15, if you love me, keep my 00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:10.339 commandments. Keeping his commandments is the 00:22:10.339 --> 00:22:13.500 evidence of the love that you have for him. That's 00:22:13.500 --> 00:22:16.700 how Jesus sees it. If your passionate words for 00:22:16.700 --> 00:22:20.079 Jesus are not matched up with obedience to his 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:22.339 word and what he says, you're just talking out 00:22:22.339 --> 00:22:24.059 loud. You're just talking to yourself, right? 00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:26.839 If you have a deep desire to serve and do the 00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:30.420 work of God, and it's nothing more than religious 00:22:30.420 --> 00:22:34.500 activity if it is not coupled with a deep desire 00:22:34.500 --> 00:22:37.380 to follow God's commands, because that's the 00:22:37.380 --> 00:22:41.509 commands in this love relationship. God put command 00:22:41.509 --> 00:22:45.250 there, a choice, a tree, and it was in the first 00:22:45.250 --> 00:22:49.750 family, and it was all about love. Isn't it interesting 00:22:49.750 --> 00:22:54.130 that when man did fail, it was Jesus on the tree 00:22:54.130 --> 00:22:58.470 who reconciled us back to him, amen? It's true. 00:22:59.470 --> 00:23:02.509 Love for God, love for each other. Ephesians 00:23:02.509 --> 00:23:05.170 6 .1 says this, children, obey your parents in 00:23:05.170 --> 00:23:07.829 the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father 00:23:07.829 --> 00:23:09.470 and mother, which is the first command with promise, 00:23:09.650 --> 00:23:11.789 that it may be well with you and that may you 00:23:11.789 --> 00:23:16.089 live long on the earth. They need to choose. 00:23:16.769 --> 00:23:19.569 They need to choose. There's commands in your 00:23:19.569 --> 00:23:21.690 family. There should be commands in your family, 00:23:21.769 --> 00:23:24.089 right? How many know if you're the husband and 00:23:24.089 --> 00:23:27.490 the wife, you are the king? Yeah. Some of you 00:23:27.490 --> 00:23:29.109 need to declare that in your home. You're the 00:23:29.109 --> 00:23:31.809 king and she's the queen, right? You need to 00:23:31.809 --> 00:23:33.690 talk about how things are going to work in your 00:23:33.690 --> 00:23:37.230 home and what things look like. Well, God continues 00:23:37.230 --> 00:23:42.490 with this provisional plan for Adam and for Eve. 00:23:43.329 --> 00:23:46.329 Worship team, if you'd come. That doesn't mean 00:23:46.329 --> 00:23:47.809 I'm quitting yet. That just means they're coming. 00:23:48.809 --> 00:23:50.849 But it says this in Genesis 2 .18. We're not 00:23:50.849 --> 00:23:53.829 to the end yet. We've got 25 verses. And the 00:23:53.829 --> 00:23:55.670 Lord God said, it is not good that man should 00:23:55.670 --> 00:23:58.470 be alone. Now, God sets out some things, right? 00:23:58.670 --> 00:24:01.720 He already puts in place provision. He already 00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:04.660 puts down some work. He gives Adam love, understands 00:24:04.660 --> 00:24:07.460 what choice is. And then God adds in something 00:24:07.460 --> 00:24:11.519 else. And he begins to grow what would be a family. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:14.000 As God said, it's not good that man should be 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:16.160 alone. I will make him a helper comparable to 00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:18.900 him. And out of the ground, the Lord formed every 00:24:18.900 --> 00:24:21.119 beast of the field and every bird of the air 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:23.440 and brought them to Adam to see. what he would 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:25.619 call them. He put them to work again. And whatever 00:24:25.619 --> 00:24:28.240 Adam called each living creature, that was its 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:30.640 name. So Adam gave names to all the cattle, to 00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:32.980 the birds of the air, to every beast of the field. 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:35.880 But for Adam, there was not found a helper comparable 00:24:35.880 --> 00:24:38.920 to him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep 00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:41.779 to fall on Adam and he slept and he took one 00:24:41.779 --> 00:24:43.980 of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:46.380 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from 00:24:46.380 --> 00:24:49.400 man, he made into a woman and he brought her 00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:53.950 to the man. Now up to this point, Right? Every 00:24:53.950 --> 00:24:56.390 living creature that was on the face of the earth 00:24:56.390 --> 00:24:58.029 was made from the dust of the ground, including 00:24:58.029 --> 00:25:00.990 Adam. God took some dust, took some mud, put 00:25:00.990 --> 00:25:04.390 it together and created these creatures. And 00:25:04.390 --> 00:25:07.809 in God's continued engineering genius for the 00:25:07.809 --> 00:25:10.170 family, he doesn't do the same for the woman. 00:25:10.349 --> 00:25:13.930 For the woman, he puts Adam into a deep sleep. 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:17.119 A divine anesthetic. I don't know what it was 00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:19.480 that God put on Adam, but I think one day he 00:25:19.480 --> 00:25:22.579 just got really sleepy, right? And while Adam 00:25:22.579 --> 00:25:25.960 is asleep, God removes one of his ribs from his 00:25:25.960 --> 00:25:29.200 side. And from that rib, the Word of God says 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:32.359 that he makes a helper that is comparable to 00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:35.309 Adam. Right? Now, I want you to just imagine 00:25:35.309 --> 00:25:37.410 this a little bit. You know, Adam being in the 00:25:37.410 --> 00:25:39.430 garden, there's the plants, there's the animals. 00:25:39.710 --> 00:25:42.490 He's in charge. God gave him a plan to work, 00:25:42.569 --> 00:25:44.569 right? All these things are placed. The tree's 00:25:44.569 --> 00:25:46.769 there, the knowledge of good and evil, the tree 00:25:46.769 --> 00:25:49.410 of life. He's got this choice. And all of a sudden, 00:25:49.430 --> 00:25:52.910 he gets sleepy, right? And he doesn't know why, 00:25:53.049 --> 00:25:55.849 but God's just putting him to sleep. And he goes 00:25:55.849 --> 00:25:58.930 into this deep sleep, deeper than he's ever been 00:25:58.930 --> 00:26:02.279 before, right? And then he begins to groggily 00:26:02.279 --> 00:26:05.200 wake up. And all of a sudden he feels his side. 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:07.279 He's like, what's going on, man? My side hurts. 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:10.799 He starts feeling around in his grogginess, and 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:13.400 he's missing a rib. I don't know if he counted 00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:14.960 them or not. The Word of God doesn't tell us. 00:26:15.140 --> 00:26:17.440 But then he begins to rub his eyes just a little 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:21.079 bit like, man, this is a rough morning, right? 00:26:22.019 --> 00:26:25.480 And there she is, Eve, wearing nothing but a 00:26:25.480 --> 00:26:31.029 smile. Come on. Adam's like, this is a good day, 00:26:31.150 --> 00:26:34.470 right? That's what happened. It's what the word 00:26:34.470 --> 00:26:39.589 of God says. And he brings a comparable helper. 00:26:40.190 --> 00:26:43.410 And Genesis 2, 23 says, and Adam said, this is 00:26:43.410 --> 00:26:46.089 now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She 00:26:46.089 --> 00:26:48.450 shall be called woman because she was taken out 00:26:48.450 --> 00:26:51.779 of the man. And in God's infinite wisdom and 00:26:51.779 --> 00:26:54.200 his design and his system and his structure and 00:26:54.200 --> 00:26:56.640 environment that he's creating, he includes provision, 00:26:56.859 --> 00:26:59.420 he includes work, he includes the gift, right, 00:26:59.539 --> 00:27:03.099 of love and choice. And now he includes a helper, 00:27:03.099 --> 00:27:08.000 a comparable helper, an equal to Adam. He takes 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:11.480 her out of his side to be beside him, right? 00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:15.980 God knew Adam didn't have all the goods. He knew 00:27:15.980 --> 00:27:18.660 Adam didn't have everything he needed to run 00:27:18.660 --> 00:27:21.779 and to manage all that was around him. So he 00:27:21.779 --> 00:27:23.740 brings this comparable. He knew Eve wouldn't 00:27:23.740 --> 00:27:26.259 have enough on her own. He brings them together 00:27:26.259 --> 00:27:30.680 to become this man and woman to manage that everything 00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:33.619 that God places in front of them. It is God's 00:27:33.619 --> 00:27:36.740 system. It is his structure. It is his design 00:27:36.740 --> 00:27:38.619 and his word. And I know, listen, I know there 00:27:38.619 --> 00:27:40.380 are plenty of people in the world trying to redefine 00:27:40.380 --> 00:27:42.579 the family. They're trying to change it up, right? 00:27:42.680 --> 00:27:45.190 But this is what the word of God says. This is 00:27:45.190 --> 00:27:47.589 biblical. This is scriptural. This is the only 00:27:47.589 --> 00:27:50.069 core prescription, right, for family and the 00:27:50.069 --> 00:27:53.630 design for family. And it is foundational. And 00:27:53.630 --> 00:27:56.650 if you move on to verse 24, you start to see 00:27:56.650 --> 00:28:08.450 the depth of this. And 24 says, The creator of 00:28:08.450 --> 00:28:11.450 the universe and his core structure of the family. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:16.420 Bring something that glues all the family together. 00:28:16.900 --> 00:28:21.619 And it is unity. It is being in one. This happens 00:28:21.619 --> 00:28:24.980 in a marriage relationship. It happens in a family 00:28:24.980 --> 00:28:28.960 relationship. The glue, the God glue. Say God 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:31.599 glue. There's such a thing, all right? Not gorilla 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:35.859 glue. God glue. Unity is the God glue of the 00:28:35.859 --> 00:28:39.890 family. Unity is the God glue that holds a family 00:28:39.890 --> 00:28:42.029 together. And that starts with the husband and 00:28:42.029 --> 00:28:45.069 wife and goes right down to the children. And 00:28:45.069 --> 00:28:47.710 in the provision and in the work and in the choice 00:28:47.710 --> 00:28:50.309 and in the love and all the things that he provides, 00:28:50.430 --> 00:28:53.150 he says the two are gonna become one flesh. They're 00:28:53.150 --> 00:28:55.589 gonna come in unity with one another. And you 00:28:55.589 --> 00:28:58.630 can begin to dive into this in God's word and 00:28:58.630 --> 00:29:01.529 you see unity all through God's word. And this 00:29:01.529 --> 00:29:05.220 is gonna be the glue that holds the family. And 00:29:05.220 --> 00:29:07.900 he goes one verse further, which is the last 00:29:07.900 --> 00:29:11.039 one in this chapter. And he gives the depth, 00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:14.000 he gives a picture of what this looks like. And 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:16.279 it says this, and they were both naked and the 00:29:16.279 --> 00:29:20.440 man and the wife were not ashamed. The unity 00:29:20.440 --> 00:29:23.500 of love for God and the unity for love for each 00:29:23.500 --> 00:29:27.880 other ran so deep with Adam and Eve pre -sin, 00:29:27.980 --> 00:29:31.779 right? That they were naked and ashamed in front 00:29:31.779 --> 00:29:36.240 of one another and before God. unashamed nakedness 00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:39.279 to their existence and unity with one another 00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:43.319 and with God. There was nothing hidden in this 00:29:43.319 --> 00:29:47.119 relationship. There was nothing hidden from the 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:49.839 creator. There was no hidden agendas of sin. 00:29:50.039 --> 00:29:52.519 There were no evil thoughts of one another. There 00:29:52.519 --> 00:29:55.099 were no judgmental glares at one another, right? 00:29:55.180 --> 00:29:57.920 There were no sinful thinking or actions to cover 00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:02.119 up and no divided affections for something else 00:30:02.119 --> 00:30:05.369 or someone else. There was none of that. I have 00:30:05.369 --> 00:30:07.950 grandchildren. I have five grandchildren and 00:30:07.950 --> 00:30:10.730 several of them are under the age of four. They 00:30:10.730 --> 00:30:13.329 will get buck naked and run around the house 00:30:13.329 --> 00:30:15.789 like a bunch of banshees, right? Saying anything 00:30:15.789 --> 00:30:20.630 and doing anything. They are unashamed, completely 00:30:20.630 --> 00:30:24.789 unashamed. They will. And this was Adam and Eve 00:30:24.789 --> 00:30:29.390 before the creator. Because one of the first 00:30:29.390 --> 00:30:33.029 indicators of sin in someone's life is cover 00:30:33.029 --> 00:30:37.019 up. It is. When the glue starts to come apart, 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:40.900 cover up. Sin always brings division, it always 00:30:40.900 --> 00:30:45.319 brings disunity, and it always brings cover up. 00:30:46.039 --> 00:30:49.019 Cover up of some kind. Shame, guilt, right, hidden 00:30:49.019 --> 00:30:51.440 agendas, all of it, you want to cover it up. 00:30:52.180 --> 00:30:55.559 Disunity in a relationship. And when Adam and 00:30:55.559 --> 00:30:58.940 Eve eventually sin, and they do, they disobey 00:30:58.940 --> 00:31:01.319 God, they go eat from the tree that God said 00:31:01.319 --> 00:31:04.640 not to eat from, right? They buy into the idea 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:07.059 that the enemy brings, that all the benefits 00:31:07.059 --> 00:31:08.660 of the tree are going to bring them is far more 00:31:08.660 --> 00:31:10.779 than the creator of the universe is going to 00:31:10.779 --> 00:31:13.940 bring them. They engage in this sin. And if you 00:31:13.940 --> 00:31:15.980 go into Genesis chapter three, verse eight, it 00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:18.319 says this, then they heard the sound of the Lord 00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:20.619 God walking in the garden. God used to come down 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:22.359 and walk with Adam and Eve physically every single 00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:25.359 day in the garden in the cool of the day. And 00:31:25.359 --> 00:31:29.559 Adam and Eve hid themselves from the presence 00:31:29.559 --> 00:31:32.980 of the Lord. God among the trees of the garden. 00:31:33.299 --> 00:31:35.640 And then Lord God called to Adam and said, where 00:31:35.640 --> 00:31:38.480 are you? So he said, now God knew, right? But 00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:41.440 he's calling Adam out. So he said, I heard your 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:43.819 voice. This is Adam talking. I heard your voice 00:31:43.819 --> 00:31:46.660 in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked 00:31:46.660 --> 00:31:50.940 and I hid myself, right? And he said, who told 00:31:50.940 --> 00:31:53.200 you that you were naked? Have you eaten from 00:31:53.200 --> 00:31:55.640 the tree, which I commanded you, you should not 00:31:55.640 --> 00:32:01.019 eat. They hid, they covered up. They started 00:32:01.019 --> 00:32:03.299 covering their bodies up. They started covering 00:32:03.299 --> 00:32:09.480 up. They hid in the trees. Unity is the glue, 00:32:09.779 --> 00:32:15.039 right? Unity. You cannot have division, divided 00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:19.579 ideas, divided directions, division of any kind 00:32:19.579 --> 00:32:21.700 and commit to unity. They're complete opposites, 00:32:21.740 --> 00:32:25.839 right? Die, if you say division or divorce or 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:29.019 any of those words, die means two. It means two 00:32:29.019 --> 00:32:32.960 different directions. It is unity. Unity with 00:32:32.960 --> 00:32:36.319 God and then one another that begins to be the 00:32:36.319 --> 00:32:38.960 glue in your family. I'm going to ask you to 00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:49.680 stand. Thank you for tuning in to this message 00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:52.819 from Lifehouse Church. We pray that you were 00:32:52.819 --> 00:32:56.089 impacted powerfully by this message. If you have 00:32:56.089 --> 00:32:58.670 been personally affected by our ministry and 00:32:58.670 --> 00:33:00.970 you would like to partner with us as we love 00:33:00.970 --> 00:33:04.130 God, love people every day, visit our website 00:33:04.130 --> 00:33:08.730 at www .lifehousecog .com.