WEBVTT 00:00:01.309 --> 00:00:03.950 Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton, 00:00:04.129 --> 00:00:07.269 the official podcast of Cross Christian Fellowship, 00:00:07.290 --> 00:00:10.769 Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 00:00:10.990 --> 00:00:14.150 where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:19.870 here. Lord, we thank you for this time together. 00:00:20.070 --> 00:00:22.429 We thank you for this time in praise, worship 00:00:22.429 --> 00:00:25.829 and fellowship with you and one another. We ask 00:00:25.829 --> 00:00:27.710 that you open our hearts and minds to what you 00:00:27.710 --> 00:00:31.149 have to speak to us. and give us the wisdom and 00:00:31.149 --> 00:00:33.429 understanding to apply it in our lives as we 00:00:33.429 --> 00:00:37.149 leave here today. All these people said, amen 00:00:37.149 --> 00:00:40.630 and amen. Again, good morning, everybody. Welcome 00:00:40.630 --> 00:00:42.609 to the sanctuary. Welcome to everybody joining 00:00:42.609 --> 00:00:49.409 us online. As we get started out this week, I 00:00:49.409 --> 00:00:51.670 want to point out we're on the Easter Highway. 00:00:52.950 --> 00:00:54.670 Actually, before I even get there, if you see 00:00:54.670 --> 00:00:56.590 me kind of doing this a lot, I'm sure you all 00:00:56.590 --> 00:00:59.289 notice I have new glasses. I don't wear glasses. 00:00:59.850 --> 00:01:01.869 And they got like the different layers and all 00:01:01.869 --> 00:01:04.049 that stuff. Those of you who wear glasses, you 00:01:04.049 --> 00:01:06.010 know exactly what I'm talking about. So you're 00:01:06.010 --> 00:01:07.590 going to see me doing a whole lot of this, trying 00:01:07.590 --> 00:01:09.370 to see my notes and figure out where I'm supposed 00:01:09.370 --> 00:01:11.530 to be focusing. Because this is all new for me. 00:01:11.909 --> 00:01:13.489 I'm like a little kid right now. It's weird. 00:01:13.609 --> 00:01:17.569 I'm, you know, oh, thanks. So my wife just said 00:01:17.569 --> 00:01:24.049 I'm old. Like a kid, but old. Anyway, we're on 00:01:24.049 --> 00:01:26.409 the road to Easter. You know, we're on the highway. 00:01:26.549 --> 00:01:28.450 We're cruising along. It's coming. It's coming 00:01:28.450 --> 00:01:30.629 up quick. It's coming up real quick. Matter of 00:01:30.629 --> 00:01:33.370 fact, we just had St. Paddy's Day. That came 00:01:33.370 --> 00:01:35.950 up on us really quick too, didn't it? It seems 00:01:35.950 --> 00:01:37.310 like every year it's like boom, boom, boom. And 00:01:37.310 --> 00:01:38.629 this year with everything going on with the school 00:01:38.629 --> 00:01:41.209 and the community and all that, it's up and in 00:01:41.209 --> 00:01:45.890 your face. And Easter itself, it's one of the 00:01:45.890 --> 00:01:48.549 three biggest days for churches. It's actually 00:01:48.549 --> 00:01:53.310 the second biggest. Of course, you know, Christmas 00:01:53.310 --> 00:01:56.189 being number one. That's the biggest one, right? 00:01:56.769 --> 00:01:58.349 If you're looking at sports, Christmas would 00:01:58.349 --> 00:02:00.810 be like the FIFA World Cup. Easter's the Super 00:02:00.810 --> 00:02:04.469 Bowl. You know, here in America, we don't like 00:02:04.469 --> 00:02:05.489 hearing that. It's like, what are you talking 00:02:05.489 --> 00:02:07.969 about? Soccer, football. Actually, on a worldwide 00:02:07.969 --> 00:02:11.030 scale, that is the number one. Our Super Bowl 00:02:11.030 --> 00:02:13.530 comes in right after that. And, of course, the 00:02:13.530 --> 00:02:15.870 World Series, which would be, believe it or not, 00:02:15.909 --> 00:02:17.830 the third biggest day for the church is Mother's 00:02:17.830 --> 00:02:21.150 Day. Imagine that, right? That's coming up pretty 00:02:21.150 --> 00:02:28.639 quick, too. Mothers. But it's a big day. It is 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:32.699 a big day. We talk about it a lot, leading up 00:02:32.699 --> 00:02:35.379 to it. And, of course, you know, it's a big day 00:02:35.379 --> 00:02:39.460 for us as believers. So I encourage everybody, 00:02:39.740 --> 00:02:42.120 start making your plans for Easter. Come in here. 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:45.919 Bring a friend. Bring family. Bring a stranger. 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:48.780 I don't care. Grab them all. Drag them in. Right? 00:02:49.580 --> 00:02:51.439 It's Easter. We want people to hear about Jesus. 00:02:53.370 --> 00:02:55.830 And really, you know, that's what we're going 00:02:55.830 --> 00:02:59.930 to be talking about leading up to Easter. A lot 00:02:59.930 --> 00:03:02.129 of places, you know, they want to go and they 00:03:02.129 --> 00:03:04.889 want to just kind of have a slow build, and then 00:03:04.889 --> 00:03:07.050 boom, here's the Easter story. But there's so 00:03:07.050 --> 00:03:11.729 much more to it, right? There's a lot going on 00:03:11.729 --> 00:03:15.870 for Easter and why it's so important to us as 00:03:15.870 --> 00:03:19.289 Christians. Unfortunately, we don't spend enough 00:03:19.289 --> 00:03:22.479 time focusing on what it really is. and what 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:25.000 it's about, and all that it entails. So for the 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:27.379 next few weeks as we go up to it, that's actually 00:03:27.379 --> 00:03:29.419 what we're going to be exploring, right? It's 00:03:29.419 --> 00:03:32.919 going to be a series of sorts, of course. Right? 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:34.639 Everybody's like, oh, man, Pastor, really? Another 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:41.840 series? Yes. Yes. Yes, it is. As opposed to just 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:43.139 kind of going through a book like we've been 00:03:43.139 --> 00:03:50.969 doing. I like to mix it up once in a while. You 00:03:50.969 --> 00:03:53.729 know, we're going to be looking, like I said, 00:03:53.770 --> 00:03:55.349 what it's all about, what's important about it, 00:03:55.349 --> 00:03:57.370 what's so important about the cross, the crucifixion, 00:03:57.370 --> 00:03:59.990 the resurrection, right? As Christians, these 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:02.689 are things that are really at the cornerstones 00:04:02.689 --> 00:04:07.870 of what we believe and why we believe them. So 00:04:07.870 --> 00:04:10.389 it's very important for us to look at them to 00:04:10.389 --> 00:04:12.889 find out what Easter means for us as we dive 00:04:12.889 --> 00:04:16.050 in together and we start working down the Easter 00:04:16.050 --> 00:04:18.610 trail. All right, don't worry, I'm not going 00:04:18.610 --> 00:04:21.089 to make you all do a bunny hop. I'm not that 00:04:21.089 --> 00:04:24.509 mean. So as we're going to start, though, we 00:04:24.509 --> 00:04:27.689 need to actually go all the way back to the beginning. 00:04:28.990 --> 00:04:30.610 And when I say the beginning, I mean the beginning. 00:04:30.730 --> 00:04:32.970 We're all going to go to Genesis. So for all 00:04:32.970 --> 00:04:34.250 the eager beavers, I'm sure you already saw it 00:04:34.250 --> 00:04:35.689 up there for a second because the button kind 00:04:35.689 --> 00:04:37.870 of got hit prematurely. We're going to go to 00:04:37.870 --> 00:04:42.470 Genesis 3. And we'll see how this all ties in, 00:04:42.509 --> 00:04:45.870 I promise. So Genesis 3, and we're going to start 00:04:45.870 --> 00:04:53.300 with verses 1 through 7. Genesis 3, 1 through 00:04:53.300 --> 00:04:58.060 7. The word says, Now the serpent was more cunning 00:04:58.060 --> 00:05:00.879 than any beast of the field which the Lord had 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:04.720 made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:08.439 said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 00:05:09.819 --> 00:05:13.399 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat 00:05:13.399 --> 00:05:17.579 of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit 00:05:17.579 --> 00:05:20.779 of the tree which is in the midst of the garden. 00:05:21.209 --> 00:05:24.209 God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall 00:05:24.209 --> 00:05:31.149 you touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent 00:05:31.149 --> 00:05:35.069 said to the woman, You will not surely die, for 00:05:35.069 --> 00:05:38.329 God knows that in the day you eat of it, your 00:05:38.329 --> 00:05:42.470 eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, 00:05:42.529 --> 00:05:49.220 knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw 00:05:49.220 --> 00:05:52.740 that the tree was good for food, that it was 00:05:52.740 --> 00:05:57.060 pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to 00:05:57.060 --> 00:06:01.060 make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. 00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:08.500 She also gave to her husband with her, and he 00:06:08.500 --> 00:06:11.519 ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, 00:06:11.620 --> 00:06:15.959 and they knew that they were naked. And they 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:18.550 sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves 00:06:18.550 --> 00:06:23.269 coverings. So at the very beginning, this is 00:06:23.269 --> 00:06:26.449 what we refer to as the fall, the fall of man. 00:06:27.170 --> 00:06:34.149 This is when man turned from God, when man fell 00:06:34.149 --> 00:06:39.649 from grace, hence the fall. And from the very 00:06:39.649 --> 00:06:43.089 start here, we see Satan hard at work. He's already 00:06:43.089 --> 00:06:45.269 in one of his disguises. He's disguised as a 00:06:45.269 --> 00:06:52.160 serpent. And what he did was he introduced doubt. 00:06:55.019 --> 00:07:01.000 That's his oldest and greatest tool, doubt. And 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:04.980 he introduced doubt in a cunning way that made 00:07:04.980 --> 00:07:11.500 Eve doubt God's word, doubt his goodness. She 00:07:11.500 --> 00:07:20.199 called into question his very character. And 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:22.959 it's a sign of youth, really. Because you think 00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:24.800 about when we're young, and not to say that we're 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:26.560 not naive when we're older, but especially when 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:30.500 we're young, we're really naive, right? We don't 00:07:30.500 --> 00:07:32.160 know what we don't know, and we think we know 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:34.759 a lot. Of course, the older we get, the less 00:07:34.759 --> 00:07:42.519 we realize we know. We're more likely to question 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:46.629 things when we're young. because of our own limited 00:07:46.629 --> 00:07:50.490 experiences, our own limited knowledge. We're 00:07:50.490 --> 00:07:52.629 still craving knowledge. We're still trying to 00:07:52.629 --> 00:07:57.769 figure things out. However, the older we get, 00:07:58.009 --> 00:08:05.569 the less we question. It's kind of funny because 00:08:05.569 --> 00:08:07.269 you think about it. We think about older people, 00:08:07.389 --> 00:08:09.670 right? We say, oh, he's setting his ways, that 00:08:09.670 --> 00:08:14.250 grumpy old guy. Oh, lady, she's just sick. Nothing's 00:08:14.250 --> 00:08:16.930 going to change with her. We tend to look at 00:08:16.930 --> 00:08:19.910 it in a negative light, don't we? But we shouldn't, 00:08:19.910 --> 00:08:25.649 especially not when it comes to our faith. Because 00:08:25.649 --> 00:08:27.949 statistically, anybody right now could pull out 00:08:27.949 --> 00:08:30.490 their phone, go to Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, 00:08:30.610 --> 00:08:36.590 or whatever, and you can research it. Older people 00:08:36.590 --> 00:08:40.610 don't question their faith nearly as much as 00:08:40.610 --> 00:08:43.580 younger people. They know what they know. They've 00:08:43.580 --> 00:08:46.379 seen what they've seen. They know how God has 00:08:46.379 --> 00:08:48.159 worked in their lives and the lives of others. 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:52.279 And so their belief is set very firmly. They're 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:57.779 not going to question it nearly as much. The 00:08:57.779 --> 00:09:00.539 statistics for older people believing and going 00:09:00.539 --> 00:09:04.500 to church are much higher than the younger, which 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:06.899 is a big part of why I was talking earlier about 00:09:06.899 --> 00:09:10.490 our Casa Hermosa visits, right? Because it's 00:09:10.490 --> 00:09:12.669 interacting with our youth. We need to get our 00:09:12.669 --> 00:09:15.009 youth spun up. We need to tell them about the 00:09:15.009 --> 00:09:18.570 goodness of God and introduce them to Jesus so 00:09:18.570 --> 00:09:20.570 that they know what he's all about as well so 00:09:20.570 --> 00:09:22.909 that they can actually have true hope and know 00:09:22.909 --> 00:09:25.610 what the freedom is to be broken away, to have 00:09:25.610 --> 00:09:28.690 those chains of sin broken, right? It's really 00:09:28.690 --> 00:09:34.529 important. So, you know, older people, like I 00:09:34.529 --> 00:09:38.389 said, that experience comes with age. and they're 00:09:38.389 --> 00:09:43.230 much more confident in what they believe. And 00:09:43.230 --> 00:09:45.570 they have a better idea of what they're understanding 00:09:45.570 --> 00:09:49.509 and how they're applying it to their lives. Now, 00:09:49.509 --> 00:09:52.090 there's two things I'd like to point out right 00:09:52.090 --> 00:09:58.049 away with this passage. And some pastors, they'll 00:09:58.049 --> 00:09:59.570 hit on it very quickly. Some of them will hit 00:09:59.570 --> 00:10:03.190 a little bit of it. But I want this to stick. 00:10:05.250 --> 00:10:10.330 First, And foremost, the Bible doesn't tell us 00:10:10.330 --> 00:10:12.990 what fruit it was. We like to say it's an apple, 00:10:13.090 --> 00:10:17.129 right? Actually became centuries later, it's 00:10:17.129 --> 00:10:19.809 attributed to a painting. But we don't know that 00:10:19.809 --> 00:10:22.370 it was an apple. We have no idea what the fruit 00:10:22.370 --> 00:10:25.830 was. It could have been an apple, sure. Or a 00:10:25.830 --> 00:10:28.970 coconut, or a banana, or orange, or a nectarine, 00:10:28.990 --> 00:10:31.990 Senegal, right? Could have been a coconut. We 00:10:31.990 --> 00:10:34.830 don't know. We have no idea. It could be something. 00:10:35.370 --> 00:10:41.690 That never left the garden. We don't know. Yeah. 00:10:42.350 --> 00:10:44.529 I see some smiles. I'm hearing some chuckles. 00:10:45.009 --> 00:10:47.830 But there you go. Could have been a lime, an 00:10:47.830 --> 00:10:51.549 avocado. We don't know. Any kind of fruit. Don't 00:10:51.549 --> 00:10:54.830 get hung up on the fruit. A lot of people do. 00:10:54.929 --> 00:10:58.070 It's legalistic. Just understand it's fruit. 00:10:59.789 --> 00:11:01.830 It could have been a tomato for all we know. 00:11:02.700 --> 00:11:04.360 I know tomatoes grow on a vine. You don't have 00:11:04.360 --> 00:11:10.220 to tell me. Not the point. Kiwi, who knows? So 00:11:10.220 --> 00:11:12.399 that's the first thing to keep in mind. The second 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:17.240 thing, Adam knew what he was being given. He 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:20.659 was there. He knew good and well. He could have 00:11:20.659 --> 00:11:27.000 said no. What are you doing? Get out of here. 00:11:27.559 --> 00:11:30.179 God, she's making me eat stuff that you said 00:11:30.179 --> 00:11:34.220 not to. Right? A lot of things could have happened 00:11:34.220 --> 00:11:38.679 here. But what did he do? Oh, you ate it? You're 00:11:38.679 --> 00:11:41.240 okay. You're not dead. It's good for the goose. 00:11:41.259 --> 00:11:46.019 It's good for the gander. Why not? He's just 00:11:46.019 --> 00:11:51.100 as guilty. What an idiot. Everybody wants to 00:11:51.100 --> 00:11:54.039 say, woman is the downfall of man. No, they both 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:57.879 did it. They're both stupid. Young and naive, 00:11:58.179 --> 00:12:04.669 right? They both knew good and well. So don't 00:12:04.669 --> 00:12:06.370 get hung up on that other aspect that people 00:12:06.370 --> 00:12:08.769 like to just beat to death. Oh, it was the woman. 00:12:08.889 --> 00:12:15.250 It was her. Pointing the finger, right? And as 00:12:15.250 --> 00:12:16.830 you actually go in a little bit further, those 00:12:16.830 --> 00:12:17.990 of you with your Bibles, I hope you'll actually 00:12:17.990 --> 00:12:22.269 see Adam does just that. It was her. It was both 00:12:22.269 --> 00:12:24.549 of them. They both knew. And they were both stupid. 00:12:26.330 --> 00:12:28.679 Plain and simple. Regardless. Rabbit trails, 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:31.379 right? They listened to the serpent. They began 00:12:31.379 --> 00:12:36.120 to doubt God. They doubted his character, what 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:39.879 they knew of him. They doubted God, who they 00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:44.320 knew personally, who they physically walked in 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:46.580 the garden with and got to converse with, like 00:12:46.580 --> 00:12:50.899 you and I get to do face -to -face, right? They 00:12:50.899 --> 00:12:55.980 knew him more intimately than any of us will 00:12:55.980 --> 00:13:00.539 get to know him here. They could have gone and 00:13:00.539 --> 00:13:04.559 just be like, hey, God, let me tell you about 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:07.600 the serpent in the garden and what he said. Is 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:09.700 this true? What's up? What's the truth of the 00:13:09.700 --> 00:13:11.360 matter? They could have asked the question. They 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:14.200 could have had a conversation. And they chose 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:18.019 not to do that. They disregarded. They took the 00:13:18.019 --> 00:13:20.879 word over the serpent, over the word of the creator. 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:28.529 How insulting is that? Creates more of an idea 00:13:28.529 --> 00:13:33.210 of what we call it the fall. Just flat out, just 00:13:33.210 --> 00:13:39.929 bye, gone, turned away. They decided instead 00:13:39.929 --> 00:13:43.470 of focusing on what they knew of God, what they 00:13:43.470 --> 00:13:46.250 knew of his character, what they witnessed for 00:13:46.250 --> 00:13:50.429 themselves, they started doing what many of us 00:13:50.429 --> 00:13:54.129 today do. They started focusing on what they 00:13:54.129 --> 00:13:56.870 didn't have. what they were told they shouldn't 00:13:56.870 --> 00:14:00.549 have, what they couldn't have. That if they had 00:14:00.549 --> 00:14:06.570 this, bad things were going to happen. We're 00:14:06.570 --> 00:14:09.570 the same way. When we're told, hey, you can't 00:14:09.570 --> 00:14:12.070 have this in your life or whatever, or we want 00:14:12.070 --> 00:14:13.830 something, but we can't afford it or whatever. 00:14:14.429 --> 00:14:17.669 It's the same thing. And we start focusing on 00:14:17.669 --> 00:14:23.029 the wants as opposed to the needs. We get selfish. 00:14:23.610 --> 00:14:26.370 and we start focusing on our own person instead 00:14:26.370 --> 00:14:31.649 of focusing on God and His glory and the blessings 00:14:31.649 --> 00:14:34.389 that He's already given us, our relationship 00:14:34.389 --> 00:14:38.090 with Him, which just shows where our heart truly 00:14:38.090 --> 00:14:40.210 is and what our focus is really on. Our focus 00:14:40.210 --> 00:14:42.950 is more on these things instead of on Him where 00:14:42.950 --> 00:14:50.509 it belongs. And so what they did... Instead of 00:14:50.509 --> 00:14:52.789 focusing on him, they focused on what was forbidden, 00:14:52.950 --> 00:14:56.629 and they essentially elevated themselves to a 00:14:56.629 --> 00:15:00.169 place of being equal or greater than God in their 00:15:00.169 --> 00:15:05.950 own minds. You ever think that's what you do? 00:15:06.730 --> 00:15:09.850 Will you make the same kind of decisions? Will 00:15:09.850 --> 00:15:13.269 you put your selfish wants and desires over what 00:15:13.269 --> 00:15:20.659 God needs and requires? They thought they knew 00:15:20.659 --> 00:15:27.000 better than him. And in doing so, they chose 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:31.320 to eat what they'd been warned not to, what they 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:36.860 were told to stay away from. You know, it's kind 00:15:36.860 --> 00:15:40.899 of like this, like little kids. Whether you have 00:15:40.899 --> 00:15:43.759 kids or not, we've all been around kids, nephews, 00:15:43.779 --> 00:15:46.399 nieces, cousins, whatever. And you get that little 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.419 kid, and they're tearing up through the house. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:50.899 They're running up and down the stairs. Don't 00:15:50.899 --> 00:15:53.899 do it. You're going to fall. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:57.879 And they're going down the stairs like a slip 00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:01.820 and slide, right? Don't do that. You're going 00:16:01.820 --> 00:16:11.639 to hurt yourself. That iron's hot. Right? We 00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:13.440 all did stupid stuff like that when we were kids. 00:16:14.340 --> 00:16:16.159 Our experience tells us, hey, don't do that. 00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:19.019 You're going to get hurt. I saw this guy jump 00:16:19.019 --> 00:16:20.740 off the top bunk and he broke his arm. Don't 00:16:20.740 --> 00:16:23.139 do it. What do they do? Macho man under a buddy. 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:29.340 Someone's going to the hospital. That's what 00:16:29.340 --> 00:16:32.679 they were doing. It's our own rebelliousness. 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:38.120 When we're told no, we go, bet. Challenge accepted. 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:45.080 Hold my root beer. And instead of listening to 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:48.679 what we're told, especially when we have enough 00:16:48.679 --> 00:16:50.120 knowledge to know what's right and what's wrong, 00:16:50.259 --> 00:16:53.500 that we should probably be listening. We do the 00:16:53.500 --> 00:16:55.500 same thing as Adam and Eve. We elevate ourselves 00:16:55.500 --> 00:17:00.679 to that position of I know better. And we do 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:03.379 stupid things, we play stupid games, and we win 00:17:03.379 --> 00:17:09.039 stupid prizes. Stitches, broken bones, concussions, 00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:16.670 lost digits, sometimes worse, right? And what 00:17:16.670 --> 00:17:20.289 comes next? After all that, when it's all said 00:17:20.289 --> 00:17:21.990 and done, what's the next thing that happens? 00:17:23.569 --> 00:17:25.430 We played our stupid game. We won our stupid 00:17:25.430 --> 00:17:35.349 prize. Oh, was it my fault? We start feeling 00:17:35.349 --> 00:17:41.910 sorry for ourselves. Right? Maybe a little depression 00:17:41.910 --> 00:17:46.000 sets in. We start focusing on those things that 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:49.640 we don't have or our inability to do something, 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:56.700 our current limitations, and we start pointing 00:17:56.700 --> 00:18:02.859 fingers at everyone but ourselves, right? Everyone's 00:18:02.859 --> 00:18:04.119 like, oh, you pointed at somebody. You got three 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:05.619 fingers pointing back in the military. That's 00:18:05.619 --> 00:18:07.839 why we use a full hand. It's all on you, right? 00:18:07.940 --> 00:18:11.140 No. It doesn't matter. You're still pointing 00:18:11.140 --> 00:18:15.849 out. It's still you. You still messed up. Plain 00:18:15.849 --> 00:18:20.569 and simple. We all do it. I've done it. We get 00:18:20.569 --> 00:18:22.569 so focused. We get so wrapped up in these things. 00:18:22.650 --> 00:18:31.009 Oh, poor is me. Woe is the world. And our focus 00:18:31.009 --> 00:18:35.109 is on our wants. So much so that we get wrapped 00:18:35.109 --> 00:18:38.609 up in it and we confuse these wants for our actual 00:18:38.609 --> 00:18:45.509 needs. And we look at it as needs that are unfulfilled. 00:18:46.670 --> 00:18:49.349 We get focused on the storm, all the bad things. 00:18:49.630 --> 00:18:51.650 We try to make ourselves out to be the victim. 00:18:53.369 --> 00:18:59.490 We're not the victim. We're the cause. We did 00:18:59.490 --> 00:19:04.769 it to ourselves. When really what we should be 00:19:04.769 --> 00:19:09.170 doing before all this stupidness happens, and 00:19:09.170 --> 00:19:13.460 it is stupid, right? is we should be looking 00:19:13.460 --> 00:19:17.259 at the blessings that we do have, the good things 00:19:17.259 --> 00:19:20.759 that are in our lives, the things that we've 00:19:20.759 --> 00:19:23.339 been blessed with, all the wonderful things Jesus 00:19:23.339 --> 00:19:29.440 has done and is doing for us, all the great ways 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:35.980 that he is using us, but we don't. Ultimately, 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:37.660 Adam and Eve in their own defiance, yeah, they 00:19:37.660 --> 00:19:41.900 got what they wanted. They got a total. and very 00:19:41.900 --> 00:19:46.299 intimate understanding of good and evil. Right? 00:19:47.380 --> 00:19:51.240 Didn't get any more intimate than that. In order 00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:52.619 for it to be done, though, they literally had 00:19:52.619 --> 00:19:57.220 to step back and go like, oh, no? Bet. I got 00:19:57.220 --> 00:20:03.200 this. Right? And they disobeyed God. They played 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:06.599 their stupid game. They won a stupid prize. And 00:20:06.599 --> 00:20:10.320 it's impacted mankind ever since. Especially 00:20:10.320 --> 00:20:15.779 here in the U .S., we have this illusion that 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:19.319 we all buy into that says freedom is being able 00:20:19.319 --> 00:20:23.059 to literally say and do anything that we want. 00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:29.599 No, that would be anarchy. That is not what freedom 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:35.779 is. That is the chaos that Satan wants us to 00:20:35.779 --> 00:20:42.569 buy into. True freedom, which we find in God's 00:20:42.569 --> 00:20:46.690 word, tells us that true freedom comes in our 00:20:46.690 --> 00:20:53.009 obedience to him and following the rules that 00:20:53.009 --> 00:20:57.490 he has set forth for us. See, true freedom comes 00:20:57.490 --> 00:21:02.390 in knowing when we should and when we can do 00:21:02.390 --> 00:21:08.250 something and doing it. And on the flip side, 00:21:08.289 --> 00:21:09.990 it also comes from knowing when we shouldn't 00:21:09.990 --> 00:21:16.309 and won't do something. We have to recognize 00:21:16.309 --> 00:21:21.190 that all these restrictions that God has imposed 00:21:21.190 --> 00:21:22.930 on us, these sanctions, and there's not a lot. 00:21:23.109 --> 00:21:25.450 It feels like a lot, but it's really not a lot, 00:21:25.549 --> 00:21:29.130 right? As a matter of fact, it's so little, Jesus 00:21:29.130 --> 00:21:32.890 was able to sum it up in two things, right? Love 00:21:32.890 --> 00:21:36.190 God, love your neighbor, right? Sum it up as... 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:41.400 quickly as possible. We have to recognize that 00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:43.140 these restrictions are imposed on us for our 00:21:43.140 --> 00:21:50.240 own good so that we don't fall into sin. It's 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:52.440 there to help us, to protect us. It's the warning. 00:21:52.539 --> 00:21:55.359 Hey, don't do that. You're going to get hurt. 00:21:56.259 --> 00:21:58.779 Nothing good is going to come from it. Right? 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:03.980 And he's done this so that we have a chance to 00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:08.869 actually Get to know God again. To get to know 00:22:08.869 --> 00:22:12.829 his character. Know who he is, what he's really 00:22:12.829 --> 00:22:15.990 about. Have a relationship with him and to grow 00:22:15.990 --> 00:22:19.490 that relationship to become the people he originally 00:22:19.490 --> 00:22:23.910 intended for us to be. Not the people we became. 00:22:26.210 --> 00:22:28.170 You know, Adam and Eve, they ultimately found 00:22:28.170 --> 00:22:30.990 out what God meant about death. By death, he 00:22:30.990 --> 00:22:33.180 wasn't talking about like, hey, If you go over 00:22:33.180 --> 00:22:35.119 there and even touch it, you're just going to 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:37.440 fall over dead, right? That's what they're thinking. 00:22:37.460 --> 00:22:39.599 Typically, when we say the word death, that's 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:41.140 what we're thinking. Like, oh, this is going 00:22:41.140 --> 00:22:42.720 to be a poison. You're going to touch it and 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:45.640 done. You're going to kill over, done. Call 911, 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:48.359 bag them and tag them, right? That's not what 00:22:48.359 --> 00:22:53.460 God was talking about. Which in English, it's 00:22:53.460 --> 00:22:55.119 not necessarily even the best translation for 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:58.119 us. What he was talking about was the fact that 00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:01.059 their rebelliousness, if they were to go and 00:23:01.059 --> 00:23:06.190 they were to... of this fruit, that they would 00:23:06.190 --> 00:23:08.029 turn away from him and they would give in to 00:23:08.029 --> 00:23:10.890 sin and the temptations therein. And it would 00:23:10.890 --> 00:23:18.509 become a part of their daily lives. When death 00:23:18.509 --> 00:23:20.450 is mentioned here, it's the same as, like you 00:23:20.450 --> 00:23:22.329 think about movies and stories and stuff where 00:23:22.329 --> 00:23:25.230 there's a fight, right? Like, get out of here, 00:23:25.289 --> 00:23:29.230 you're dead to me, right? That person's dead 00:23:29.230 --> 00:23:32.240 to me. Are they actually dead? No, but they're 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:36.420 cut off. Goodbye. Right? Good night, John boy. 00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:43.299 Adios. They're not literally dead, but they're 00:23:43.299 --> 00:23:45.720 dead to me. They have no part of my life. They're 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:51.140 gone. They're cut off. The door is closed. You 00:23:51.140 --> 00:23:56.299 know, and we're the ones, you know, God is saying, 00:23:56.359 --> 00:23:58.420 you know, if you do it, you're going to die. 00:23:58.519 --> 00:24:00.400 Death is what's waiting for you if you do that. 00:24:00.859 --> 00:24:03.059 He wasn't saying, hey, I'm going to cut you off. 00:24:03.380 --> 00:24:06.140 When we did that, when Adam and Eve partook of 00:24:06.140 --> 00:24:08.279 the fruit, when we and ourselves in our own rebelliousness 00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:10.440 turn against him and we give in to our temptations 00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:17.160 and sin and live worldly lives, we are the ones 00:24:17.160 --> 00:24:19.799 who are choosing to die to him. We are the ones 00:24:19.799 --> 00:24:21.220 who are actually cutting him off like, you know 00:24:21.220 --> 00:24:23.859 what? God, this is more important to me. You're 00:24:23.859 --> 00:24:29.480 dead to me. Goodbye. That's what it really means. 00:24:30.109 --> 00:24:31.890 It's not God saying, you're dead to me, be gone. 00:24:32.329 --> 00:24:34.630 It's us telling God that. We're cutting him out 00:24:34.630 --> 00:24:36.769 of our lives. We're putting ourselves and our 00:24:36.769 --> 00:24:38.950 selfishness and our own rebelliousness higher 00:24:38.950 --> 00:24:41.210 than God, and we should never be doing that. 00:24:43.069 --> 00:24:48.950 But that's what we do. It breaks his heart. He 00:24:48.950 --> 00:24:52.309 loves us. He's given the ability to choose. He 00:24:52.309 --> 00:24:55.430 wants us to choose. He wants us to choose him. 00:25:00.359 --> 00:25:02.619 And it breaks his heart when we don't choose 00:25:02.619 --> 00:25:06.160 him and we turn and we walk away. But he loves 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:08.460 us enough and he respects us enough that he respects 00:25:08.460 --> 00:25:18.119 our decision to do so. And here he lets us go. 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:20.400 We become prodigal sons and prodigal daughters, 00:25:20.619 --> 00:25:24.819 right? We're all prodigals. We're separated for 00:25:24.819 --> 00:25:27.079 the same reason why we can't see his face anymore. 00:25:29.110 --> 00:25:33.009 Because sin cannot exist in the presence of God. 00:25:34.690 --> 00:25:39.210 We'd be destroyed. We'd be absolutely destroyed. 00:25:39.269 --> 00:25:45.109 We'd be gone. Right? They found vanity right 00:25:45.109 --> 00:25:50.390 away. Right away. What did it say they started 00:25:50.390 --> 00:25:54.509 doing? They got fig leaves, tied together fig 00:25:54.509 --> 00:25:57.019 leaves, and covered themselves, right? They're 00:25:57.019 --> 00:25:59.259 suddenly aware, oh, I'm naked. I'm ashamed. They 00:25:59.259 --> 00:26:02.259 found shame. That's what vanity is. It's shame. 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:09.019 You know, all the way back here where it started, 00:26:09.140 --> 00:26:10.920 even before it got there. If we go back to verse 00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:13.980 6 there, Eve looked at the fruit. She saw it 00:26:13.980 --> 00:26:15.440 was pleasing. Okay, this is a nice -looking fruit, 00:26:15.579 --> 00:26:17.680 right? It's like I'm looking up here. There's 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:19.279 a nice -looking fruit up there on that slide, 00:26:19.460 --> 00:26:24.079 right? She looked at it. It was pleasing. Temptation 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:27.109 was just in looking at it. She hadn't even touched 00:26:27.109 --> 00:26:29.049 it yet. She just looked at it, and temptation 00:26:29.049 --> 00:26:34.750 was already setting in. And sin starts just like 00:26:34.750 --> 00:26:37.569 that. It's a temptation. You don't even have 00:26:37.569 --> 00:26:41.910 to be jumping into it yet. Just seeing it, hearing 00:26:41.910 --> 00:26:43.789 a little bit about it, like, ooh, that sounds 00:26:43.789 --> 00:26:47.150 like fun, right? Because that's how we've been 00:26:47.150 --> 00:26:53.990 conditioned by the world. And she bought into 00:26:53.990 --> 00:26:56.720 it. She moved in on it. instead of doing what 00:26:56.720 --> 00:27:01.279 we're supposed to do. That's what happens to 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:03.380 us. We look at temptation instead of removing 00:27:03.380 --> 00:27:05.519 it or doing something to get it away from us 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:09.079 or getting away from it. We start to allow it 00:27:09.079 --> 00:27:14.400 into our lives. And we're warned about it. We've 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:16.279 already seen where Genesis warns us, but even 00:27:16.279 --> 00:27:17.779 in 2 Timothy, we're warned all throughout the 00:27:17.779 --> 00:27:19.579 word, but 2 Timothy sums it up really nicely. 00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:24.930 2 Timothy 2, verse 22. The word says, flee also 00:27:24.930 --> 00:27:28.089 youthful lust, but pursue righteousness, faith, 00:27:28.309 --> 00:27:31.690 love, peace, and those who call on the Lord out 00:27:31.690 --> 00:27:38.890 of a pure heart. We should turn, we should run 00:27:38.890 --> 00:27:42.269 from sin. We should do whatever we need to to 00:27:42.269 --> 00:27:46.009 push it out and not give in to it, not even give 00:27:46.009 --> 00:27:49.069 it a foothold. You know, you ever wonder why 00:27:49.069 --> 00:27:53.150 things like gambling or porn are so addictive. 00:27:55.109 --> 00:27:58.089 Even things like shopping. Now, it doesn't matter 00:27:58.089 --> 00:28:00.730 if it's window shopping or going online, you 00:28:00.730 --> 00:28:03.369 know, Amazon, Timmy, Wish, they all make it real 00:28:03.369 --> 00:28:05.609 easy these days, don't they? It's right there. 00:28:05.650 --> 00:28:07.009 It's in your face. Oh, hey, look at this. We're 00:28:07.009 --> 00:28:11.009 going to send you this for like 50 cents. It 00:28:11.009 --> 00:28:13.569 starts with just looking. So we have to be very 00:28:13.569 --> 00:28:17.549 careful. You know, it's like you're going to 00:28:17.549 --> 00:28:20.029 grocery stores. They set things at certain levels, 00:28:20.230 --> 00:28:22.660 right? Certain things up here for the adults, 00:28:22.839 --> 00:28:25.900 certain things down here for the kids. That visual 00:28:25.900 --> 00:28:29.000 is right there, and it starts that impulse. We 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:31.299 call it impulse buying. Sin is the same way. 00:28:31.299 --> 00:28:34.319 It's an impulse buy. Do we really need it? No. 00:28:35.140 --> 00:28:38.740 But we're going to buy it. Hook, line, and sinker, 00:28:38.740 --> 00:28:43.140 aren't we? It's what we do. Going all the way 00:28:43.140 --> 00:28:45.819 back to Genesis 3, we're going to flip back towards 00:28:45.819 --> 00:28:49.359 the back now. Genesis 3, verses 21 through 22. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:58.920 The word says, Also for Adam and his wife, the 00:28:58.920 --> 00:29:01.880 Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them. 00:29:03.359 --> 00:29:06.480 Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become 00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:10.940 like one of us to know good and evil. And now 00:29:10.940 --> 00:29:16.380 lest he put out his hand and take also of the 00:29:16.380 --> 00:29:20.869 tree of life and eat and live forever. So up 00:29:20.869 --> 00:29:23.210 until now, things were perfect. Adam and Eve, 00:29:23.210 --> 00:29:26.569 they had it great, right? The garden was built 00:29:26.569 --> 00:29:31.049 to be like being in heaven. And they could have 00:29:31.049 --> 00:29:34.910 been there forever had they not done the one 00:29:34.910 --> 00:29:37.650 stupid thing that they were told not to. All 00:29:37.650 --> 00:29:42.549 they had to do was listen and obey God. Plain 00:29:42.549 --> 00:29:46.230 and simple. Had they talked to him about the 00:29:46.230 --> 00:29:47.730 serpent, things probably would have been a little 00:29:47.730 --> 00:29:50.329 different, huh? Things would have been a lot 00:29:50.329 --> 00:29:56.769 different for mankind. But they blew it. However, 00:29:56.930 --> 00:30:00.170 even in their turning from him, God still cared. 00:30:00.250 --> 00:30:10.690 God still loved. He saw value. And he showed 00:30:10.690 --> 00:30:13.450 it in a number of ways in how he cared for them. 00:30:16.370 --> 00:30:18.049 Yeah, he had to remove them from the garden. 00:30:18.150 --> 00:30:19.869 We already know that. Man was kicked out of the 00:30:19.869 --> 00:30:22.609 garden, right? Why? Well, it says right here. 00:30:24.569 --> 00:30:26.730 Had they stayed in the garden, they would have 00:30:26.730 --> 00:30:31.470 stayed in that state forever. Mankind had to 00:30:31.470 --> 00:30:34.690 be kicked out of the garden so that there was 00:30:34.690 --> 00:30:38.750 even a chance to get out of that state. That's 00:30:38.750 --> 00:30:42.509 painful for God, right? That's the Father, our 00:30:42.509 --> 00:30:46.000 Creator. But you know what? He cared enough. 00:30:46.019 --> 00:30:48.400 He's like, I can't let you stay like this. You're 00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:53.880 out. Bye. I'm not going to let you stay in this 00:30:53.880 --> 00:30:57.380 sinful state forever. He also deals with their 00:30:57.380 --> 00:31:00.980 shame. The very thing that drove them to putting 00:31:00.980 --> 00:31:04.539 those fig leaves on, right? Those leaves would 00:31:04.539 --> 00:31:09.519 not cover their shame. God made a sacrifice, 00:31:09.880 --> 00:31:13.599 a blood sacrifice. Do you see it right there 00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:21.539 in verse 21? Let me outline it for you. God made 00:31:21.539 --> 00:31:27.819 tunics of skin and clothed them. Killed an animal, 00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:34.819 right? It's a blood sacrifice. That right there 00:31:34.819 --> 00:31:42.789 is pretty deep. So he covered them. Not only 00:31:42.789 --> 00:31:46.289 that, but in covering them and putting them out 00:31:46.289 --> 00:31:48.309 of the garden, he was also covering himself, 00:31:48.569 --> 00:31:53.430 protecting us from that immediate destruction. 00:31:54.369 --> 00:31:57.009 He put us out from a place so that we could no 00:31:57.009 --> 00:31:59.849 longer walk and see him. Why? I already talked 00:31:59.849 --> 00:32:02.390 about it. Because we would be immediately destroyed. 00:32:03.690 --> 00:32:05.829 Even when Moses went and met with him, what happened? 00:32:05.970 --> 00:32:14.329 No, you can't see my face. Just what little Moses 00:32:14.329 --> 00:32:17.130 got to see was enough to make him glow, right? 00:32:19.910 --> 00:32:22.150 So sending us out was a way to protect us, to 00:32:22.150 --> 00:32:27.750 save us. And in providing for this, he made a 00:32:27.750 --> 00:32:29.650 way for our salvation. He made a way for our 00:32:29.650 --> 00:32:32.930 reunification with him. All the way here at the 00:32:32.930 --> 00:32:34.430 start, right here at the beginning of Genesis. 00:32:35.349 --> 00:32:39.130 A blood sacrifice then. He made a blood sacrifice 00:32:39.130 --> 00:32:42.470 to protect us then. And then what happened? He 00:32:42.470 --> 00:32:47.130 made the ultimate blood sacrifice in Jesus. When 00:32:47.130 --> 00:32:52.029 Jesus went to the cross with the burden of our 00:32:52.029 --> 00:32:57.109 sin, took the cross for all of mankind, for all 00:32:57.109 --> 00:33:03.289 the sin of mankind, we just have to accept. It 00:33:03.289 --> 00:33:06.210 applies to us then, it applies to us today. Why? 00:33:08.169 --> 00:33:11.569 Romans 3, verse 23. So Romans 3, verse 23, the 00:33:11.569 --> 00:33:14.049 word says, For all have sinned and fall short 00:33:14.049 --> 00:33:17.309 of the glory of God. We've all heard this. Every 00:33:17.309 --> 00:33:21.650 single one of us since the fall. Every single 00:33:21.650 --> 00:33:27.329 one of us since Adam and Eve. It's not just Eve. 00:33:27.390 --> 00:33:29.410 It's not just Adam. It's all of us because we 00:33:29.410 --> 00:33:34.009 were all born in sin. Ephesians 2, verse 3. Ephesians 00:33:34.009 --> 00:33:37.730 2 verse 3, the word says, Among whom also we 00:33:37.730 --> 00:33:40.890 all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our 00:33:40.890 --> 00:33:44.549 flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and 00:33:44.549 --> 00:33:48.930 of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath 00:33:48.930 --> 00:33:53.150 just as the others. See, we've adapted sin into 00:33:53.150 --> 00:33:57.289 our very being. I'll give you a couple of examples. 00:33:58.130 --> 00:34:01.230 You can take a couple of brand new, or I should 00:34:01.230 --> 00:34:05.470 say newborn twins. Right? Give them up for adoption 00:34:05.470 --> 00:34:08.690 from birth. Separate them. One grows up here 00:34:08.690 --> 00:34:10.550 with one family. One grows up here with another 00:34:10.550 --> 00:34:12.650 family. They've never met. They've never talked. 00:34:12.730 --> 00:34:15.309 They grow up one day like, hey, you know what? 00:34:15.710 --> 00:34:18.090 I know I was adopted. I want to know where I 00:34:18.090 --> 00:34:21.230 come from. They start doing the research. All 00:34:21.230 --> 00:34:23.309 the things that need to fall into place fall 00:34:23.309 --> 00:34:28.809 into place. And the twins are reunited. And you 00:34:28.809 --> 00:34:30.329 take these twins there and they grew up under 00:34:30.329 --> 00:34:32.130 totally different circumstances with different 00:34:32.130 --> 00:34:36.510 families and different places. And what you will 00:34:36.510 --> 00:34:41.150 find is that they still have certain inherent 00:34:41.150 --> 00:34:46.929 traits beyond just looks that were inherited 00:34:46.929 --> 00:34:51.090 from the parents that passed down generation 00:34:51.090 --> 00:34:55.909 to generation actions. Great example from my 00:34:55.909 --> 00:35:01.719 own life. My son, when he was born, the first 00:35:01.719 --> 00:35:04.039 time he cried, you did not even have to lay eyes 00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:09.019 on him. The first time he cried, you knew beyond 00:35:09.019 --> 00:35:13.880 a shadow of a doubt, that's my boy. Because he 00:35:13.880 --> 00:35:16.980 cried the exact same way that I did when I was 00:35:16.980 --> 00:35:21.780 little. The same cadence, the same tones, right? 00:35:21.880 --> 00:35:26.420 The whole bit. 100%. Like, oh, yep, that's Junior, 00:35:26.539 --> 00:35:30.190 all right. Didn't even have to see him and you 00:35:30.190 --> 00:35:33.909 knew. Things pass from generation to generation. 00:35:34.110 --> 00:35:36.869 Sin, the way we've incorporated and adapted into 00:35:36.869 --> 00:35:41.550 ourselves, is exactly the same. It's like, that's 00:35:41.550 --> 00:35:43.010 a newborn baby. They haven't done anything wrong. 00:35:43.070 --> 00:35:47.909 It's like, no, but it's already in them. Each 00:35:47.909 --> 00:35:53.369 and every one of us going all the way back. That's 00:35:53.369 --> 00:35:58.780 just the way it is. You know, there's... No room 00:35:58.780 --> 00:36:01.039 for doubt. The word even tells us we've all fallen 00:36:01.039 --> 00:36:03.139 short. We all know we've done it. The things 00:36:03.139 --> 00:36:06.239 we do, how we, you know, the things that we do, 00:36:06.260 --> 00:36:09.019 they show where we place value in our lives. 00:36:09.420 --> 00:36:11.780 What's the important thing to us? What's most 00:36:11.780 --> 00:36:13.579 important to us? We've all broken the rules. 00:36:14.179 --> 00:36:16.380 Matter of fact, I'm sure some of us broke rules 00:36:16.380 --> 00:36:20.199 just in coming here. Right? Anybody here a little 00:36:20.199 --> 00:36:25.780 heavy on the foot? Giving that gas? That happens. 00:36:27.259 --> 00:36:29.619 Now in the car, my wife likes to tease me that 00:36:29.619 --> 00:36:30.980 I'm driving Miss Daisy most of the time because 00:36:30.980 --> 00:36:35.360 I tend to drive a little slower, right? But when 00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:37.159 I get on my motorcycle, a little bit different, 00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:39.119 I tend to give a little bit more throttle than 00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:41.360 I probably should. I try as I might, I always 00:36:41.360 --> 00:36:44.260 get to some point where I just kind of... It 00:36:44.260 --> 00:36:46.659 happens, right? I know it's something I've got 00:36:46.659 --> 00:36:49.019 to work on. Let's be honest, we all have things 00:36:49.019 --> 00:36:53.199 like this that we do in our lives. And we've 00:36:53.199 --> 00:36:55.460 all worked, right? We're all adults in here. 00:36:56.529 --> 00:37:00.150 Who's taken a pen from work? Or a sticky pad? 00:37:02.750 --> 00:37:05.389 Didn't even necessarily think about it. Healthcare 00:37:05.389 --> 00:37:08.670 workers, law enforcement, first responders in 00:37:08.670 --> 00:37:12.170 general. Come on, our pens. That's a big one. 00:37:12.389 --> 00:37:14.190 We put our pen down, somebody picks it up to 00:37:14.190 --> 00:37:18.809 borrow it, and it's gone. Who has my pen? Doc, 00:37:18.809 --> 00:37:20.110 you and I are going to go outside, and I've got 00:37:20.110 --> 00:37:22.369 a rubber hose I want to introduce you to. Give 00:37:22.369 --> 00:37:27.389 me my pen. Come on. Right? It happens. We've 00:37:27.389 --> 00:37:31.969 all done it. Sometimes it's consciously. Most 00:37:31.969 --> 00:37:33.409 of the time it's not. We just have it. We're 00:37:33.409 --> 00:37:35.510 using it. Next thing we know, we're at home. 00:37:35.550 --> 00:37:36.809 It's going through the washer, coming out in 00:37:36.809 --> 00:37:41.349 the dryer. Who knows, right? We've all broken 00:37:41.349 --> 00:37:45.750 rules. You know, try, try, try again. It's just 00:37:45.750 --> 00:37:50.949 going to happen. You know, and when we do this, 00:37:50.949 --> 00:37:52.809 you know, it shows the state of our mind, the 00:37:52.809 --> 00:37:56.119 state of our hearts. What is it? What does it 00:37:56.119 --> 00:37:58.320 come down to? It comes to that craving for immediate 00:37:58.320 --> 00:38:02.000 fulfillment. And it's part of our heart's rebellion 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:06.480 against God. It really is. Because we have that 00:38:06.480 --> 00:38:08.380 emptiness, we know that where God was, we're 00:38:08.380 --> 00:38:11.219 trying to fill it with something else. That's 00:38:11.219 --> 00:38:13.920 what it comes down to. And through all this, 00:38:14.019 --> 00:38:16.300 what happens? Just like before, we make ourselves 00:38:16.300 --> 00:38:18.739 out to be the victims. We throw our own little 00:38:18.739 --> 00:38:22.860 pity parties. It's all our own shame, our own 00:38:22.860 --> 00:38:26.519 inadequacies. Right? It comes down to our own 00:38:26.519 --> 00:38:30.739 guilt. And we all have it. Every single one of 00:38:30.739 --> 00:38:36.599 us. It leaves us feeling exposed. It's why we're 00:38:36.599 --> 00:38:38.360 all afraid of what other people think of us. 00:38:39.719 --> 00:38:41.699 And I don't care who you are, where you come 00:38:41.699 --> 00:38:44.679 from. There is someone out there where you're 00:38:44.679 --> 00:38:50.989 very concerned with how they look at you. Whether 00:38:50.989 --> 00:38:53.210 it's a relative, a coworker, a friend, whatever, 00:38:53.349 --> 00:38:56.570 we all have somebody. Every single person on 00:38:56.570 --> 00:38:58.949 this planet is concerned about how at least one 00:38:58.949 --> 00:39:02.650 person views them. And it ain't God. I can tell 00:39:02.650 --> 00:39:07.530 you that when really God is what should be. Going 00:39:07.530 --> 00:39:09.769 back to 1 Corinthians. I know a little bit of 00:39:09.769 --> 00:39:10.869 a difference because we spent a whole lot of 00:39:10.869 --> 00:39:13.409 time in Corinthians 2 last month or so. But we 00:39:13.409 --> 00:39:19.739 go back to 1 Corinthians 15, verse 22. So 1 Corinthians 00:39:19.739 --> 00:39:26.739 15, 22, the word says, For as in Adam all die, 00:39:26.960 --> 00:39:33.300 even so in Christ all shall be made alive. In 00:39:33.300 --> 00:39:36.079 our own sin, in our own shame, each of us continues 00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:40.820 to run away from God. And we do it all in our 00:39:40.820 --> 00:39:42.579 own ways. We give in to the various temptations 00:39:42.579 --> 00:39:46.670 that are in front of us. And when we give in, 00:39:46.690 --> 00:39:48.170 we turn away, we run, and then we wonder why 00:39:48.170 --> 00:39:49.590 things aren't going the way that they're supposed 00:39:49.590 --> 00:39:52.070 to, why things aren't lining up the way that 00:39:52.070 --> 00:39:53.929 we thought they would or we hoped they would. 00:39:55.329 --> 00:39:58.829 And we all have a choice. We can all turn and 00:39:58.829 --> 00:40:02.309 run and keep on running like Adam and Eve did 00:40:02.309 --> 00:40:08.710 and go straight headlong into damnation. Or we 00:40:08.710 --> 00:40:12.389 can learn from them and turn to Jesus and follow 00:40:12.389 --> 00:40:15.849 him back to the Father. Those are our two choices. 00:40:17.150 --> 00:40:20.150 Run headlong into damnation or follow Jesus to 00:40:20.150 --> 00:40:24.469 the Father. Plain and simple. And the second 00:40:24.469 --> 00:40:26.949 choice there, that's the best choice. And that 00:40:26.949 --> 00:40:31.210 is what Easter is really about. A restored relationship 00:40:31.210 --> 00:40:38.309 with the Father. We're almost done, guys. I promise. 00:40:39.849 --> 00:40:43.429 Return to Romans 5, verse 8. Romans 5, verse 00:40:43.429 --> 00:40:49.880 8. So in Romans 5 .8, the word says, but God 00:40:49.880 --> 00:40:53.420 demonstrates his own love towards us in that 00:40:53.420 --> 00:40:55.900 while we were still sinners, Christ died for 00:40:55.900 --> 00:40:59.280 us. Even when we turned from God, even when we 00:40:59.280 --> 00:41:02.599 rebelled against him, did horrible things, refused 00:41:02.599 --> 00:41:08.719 to listen, he took our sin and he used it for 00:41:08.719 --> 00:41:15.260 good. Pastor, what do you mean? He took our sin 00:41:15.260 --> 00:41:18.300 and he used it for good, right? The word says, 00:41:18.420 --> 00:41:20.980 you know, I took what you meant for evil and 00:41:20.980 --> 00:41:24.260 used it for good. Well, he took all of our sin, 00:41:24.260 --> 00:41:26.880 the sin of the world. He placed it on his son. 00:41:30.699 --> 00:41:35.239 And his son took the cross, our evil. He used 00:41:35.239 --> 00:41:37.719 it for good so that we could be reunited and 00:41:37.719 --> 00:41:41.420 we could be broken from the bonds of sin, those 00:41:41.420 --> 00:41:48.840 chains. Our bad, his good. His love for us. His 00:41:48.840 --> 00:41:54.500 unconditional, undying love for us. The ultimate 00:41:54.500 --> 00:42:00.139 good to lead us back to the Father and to unite 00:42:00.139 --> 00:42:05.719 us in his family. He took the death and the separation 00:42:05.719 --> 00:42:10.559 and he used it to bring us back into the family. 00:42:13.449 --> 00:42:17.250 What do you mean separation? Jesus was on the 00:42:17.250 --> 00:42:19.929 cross. God, why do you forsake me, right? Why 00:42:19.929 --> 00:42:22.449 do you forsake me? Why? Because when he took 00:42:22.449 --> 00:42:27.769 on the sin of the world, God can't be connected 00:42:27.769 --> 00:42:32.849 with sin. So God had to disconnect Jesus from 00:42:32.849 --> 00:42:37.210 the Trinity for that moment. Jesus knew what 00:42:37.210 --> 00:42:40.269 it was like to be completely alone now, to be 00:42:40.269 --> 00:42:43.289 separated from the Father. as we are when we 00:42:43.289 --> 00:42:47.429 are in sin. That's why it pained him so much. 00:42:50.949 --> 00:42:54.969 It's like taking a spoon and cutting off your 00:42:54.969 --> 00:42:58.750 arm. It's pretty painful. It's not supposed to 00:42:58.750 --> 00:43:06.110 happen, right? That's what God did for us. And 00:43:06.110 --> 00:43:09.630 the way we accept his blood, his blood -bought 00:43:09.630 --> 00:43:16.880 gift, It's really easy. Unfortunately, it's one 00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:18.219 of those things that's easier said than done. 00:43:18.460 --> 00:43:21.320 That's going to be our last verse. We go back 00:43:21.320 --> 00:43:25.960 to Romans 10, verses 8 through 9. Romans 10, 00:43:26.119 --> 00:43:32.739 8 through 9. The word says, but what does it 00:43:32.739 --> 00:43:36.360 say? The word is near you in your mouth and in 00:43:36.360 --> 00:43:40.719 your heart. That is the word of faith which we 00:43:40.719 --> 00:43:45.039 preach. That if you confess with your mouth the 00:43:45.039 --> 00:43:47.800 Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God 00:43:47.800 --> 00:43:51.579 has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 00:43:54.059 --> 00:43:57.599 That's it. A blood -bought gift that we can willingly 00:43:57.599 --> 00:44:00.179 accept, that we should willingly accept, and 00:44:00.179 --> 00:44:03.739 that's how we do it right there. It's not in 00:44:03.739 --> 00:44:07.429 works. It's not praying. to all these other idols 00:44:07.429 --> 00:44:10.409 and stuff, right, as other places would have 00:44:10.409 --> 00:44:12.769 you believe. It's not enchanting all this other 00:44:12.769 --> 00:44:19.449 nonsense. It's accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. 00:44:22.730 --> 00:44:28.550 Right here. Accepting his love and what he did 00:44:28.550 --> 00:44:32.670 for each and every one of us. Even when man turned 00:44:32.670 --> 00:44:36.889 away from God, when man gave up on God, When 00:44:36.889 --> 00:44:40.110 man separated himself, God never gave up on man. 00:44:40.269 --> 00:44:44.650 God never gave up on you. He hasn't given up 00:44:44.650 --> 00:44:48.329 on you. We're all prodigals. The Father loves 00:44:48.329 --> 00:44:51.610 us. He wants us to come home. He's out there. 00:44:51.630 --> 00:44:54.309 He's watching. He's waiting with arms wide open, 00:44:54.369 --> 00:44:57.170 just like the prodigal son's father. He wants 00:44:57.170 --> 00:45:03.750 us to come home. And every time somebody accepts 00:45:03.750 --> 00:45:09.780 his blood, And their salvation is had. The word 00:45:09.780 --> 00:45:15.900 tells us that even the angels rejoice. Even the 00:45:15.900 --> 00:45:18.400 angels rejoice. That's that big. There's a party 00:45:18.400 --> 00:45:24.099 in heaven for you. You just have to accept him. 00:45:25.300 --> 00:45:30.820 Accept Jesus. Plain and simple. If you haven't 00:45:30.820 --> 00:45:33.400 accepted Jesus yet, it's the time. It's what 00:45:33.400 --> 00:45:36.880 Easter is about. Our reunification with him. 00:45:40.860 --> 00:45:45.679 This is the time to accept. Break it down for 00:45:45.679 --> 00:45:54.460 yourself. Read it. Pray on it. You might not 00:45:54.460 --> 00:45:58.099 have a tomorrow. None of us might. So if you 00:45:58.099 --> 00:46:01.760 haven't accepted Jesus, now is the time. It's 00:46:01.760 --> 00:46:07.440 time to come home. Let us pray. Lord, we thank 00:46:07.440 --> 00:46:09.860 you for this time together, the time in fellowship, 00:46:10.059 --> 00:46:12.840 this time in your word. We thank you for your 00:46:12.840 --> 00:46:15.800 never -ending love, your never -ending grace. 00:46:17.119 --> 00:46:19.360 We thank you for the sacrifice that you've made 00:46:19.360 --> 00:46:23.300 on our behalf, knowing that we can never truly 00:46:23.300 --> 00:46:26.860 repay you. We come before you asking for your 00:46:26.860 --> 00:46:31.000 forgiveness for all that we've done, all of our 00:46:31.000 --> 00:46:35.710 sin, all of our transgressions. And we know and 00:46:35.710 --> 00:46:40.329 we declare Jesus as Lord over our lives, of our 00:46:40.329 --> 00:46:43.909 very souls. We know Jesus took on a debt, paid 00:46:43.909 --> 00:46:47.429 it in full, died and raised back to life so each 00:46:47.429 --> 00:46:50.250 and every single one of us could be saved from 00:46:50.250 --> 00:46:58.269 sin and united with you. We ask that you, your 00:46:58.269 --> 00:47:02.039 word. Your Holy Spirit continue to work in each 00:47:02.039 --> 00:47:06.159 and every single one of us to transform us into 00:47:06.159 --> 00:47:09.039 the people that you want us and who you intended 00:47:09.039 --> 00:47:12.599 us to be. We acknowledge that all that we have, 00:47:12.679 --> 00:47:15.099 all that we know, it's not about us. It's about 00:47:15.099 --> 00:47:20.079 you and your glory, your kingdom. Please grant 00:47:20.079 --> 00:47:21.800 us the wisdom and the knowledge to apply all 00:47:21.800 --> 00:47:24.480 this to our lives and never forget it and to 00:47:24.480 --> 00:47:27.659 share it with the world, a world who so desperately 00:47:27.659 --> 00:47:30.619 needs you. in these times of darkness and of 00:47:30.619 --> 00:47:37.019 brokenness. We love you. We praise you. And all 00:47:37.019 --> 00:47:39.639 of his people said, amen and amen. Remember, 00:47:39.739 --> 00:47:42.320 as you leave here today, you are loved and you 00:47:42.320 --> 00:48:10.539 are blessed. So go and be the church. Until next 00:48:10.539 --> 00:48:12.940 time, take care and God bless.