August 4, 2013
FABC, New Orleans, LA
Pastor Fred Luter, Jr.
Genesis 3:1-6
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:1-6 NKJV)
Have you ever wondered how the enemy has been so successful in getting believers to sin? Let's not focus on the lost folks or the CMEFW folks (those who only come for Christmas, Mother's Day, Easter, funerals and weddings). Because of the flesh we live in we find ourselves as Godly people doing unGodly things.
Sin is a process.
For a Godly person, sin doesn't just happen. It develops gradually. Sin evolves in our lives in several ways according to Genesis 3:1-6.
1) Sin starts with dialogue.
Verses 1-3- the devil is speaking to
The enemy appears where we last expect Him. Think about it. Who would be looking for the devil in the Garden of Eden?... God's sanctuary for His creative beings, Adam and Eve. You expect the devil to be in the casino, adult video store, prostitution house, strip club making it rain, on the corner with the drugs, etc. Another place you don't expect the deil to show up at is at the church, but guess what? He's here right now. He shows up every Sunday. He shows up at choir rehearsal, deacon and Usher meetings, Sunday school meetings, and some Sunday's he's even bold enough to show up in the pulpit. The devil has a scheme and strategy to get folks to follow. He's already got the people in the places where we expect him to be, but he has to scheme to get the believers.
Verses 1-3 Eve is holding a conversation with the Devil. The question is, why is she having a dialogue with the Devil?
"You can't keep birds from flying over your head but you can certainly keep them from making a nest on your head." Eve is allowing the Devil to make a nest.
2) The devil gets us to doubt God's word.
The devil puts doubt in Eve's mind. He didn't deny what God said, he just puts a question mark behind it. Verse 1, "... Has God indeed said 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" If the enemy can put doubt in your mind about the word of God, he's about to set you up. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. This is why you need to know the word of God for yourself.
Notice the evolution of sin. Dialogue evolves into doubt.
3) Doubt evolves into denial.
Eve says in verse 3 that if they touch the tree then they will die. That's not what God said. He said if you "eat" of the tree, you will die. So in turn the devil lies to her in verse 4 and as thy wont die. He lies to get us to do what he wants. The devil has gotten us to do plenty of things, I.e. gamble, cheat, have unprotected sex, get pregnant, etc. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. There is no where in the Bible where someone sins and gets away with it.
Verse 5- The devil tells Eve that if they eat of the tree, they'll be like God. He convinces Eve that she can live independently without God. She can be her own god. Look at the master of deception. If the devil can control your mind, he can control your body. He makes us think we can get away with things.
4) Doubt evolves into desire.
Verse 6- Eve and Adam eat of the tree.
She desires the fruit to become more wise and disobeys God. She desires what God forbids her to have. Just because something is good to you doesn't mean it's good for you. Bluebell homemade vanilla ice cream, grandma's pound cake with a stick of butter, Manchu chicken, salt in you food, Krispy Kreme donuts, Gene's Po-boys, butter in your grits etc may be good to you but aren't good for you.
5) desire leads to a decision.
Eve decides she doesn't want to sin alone so spineless, back boneless Adam complies without question. It was Eve's own choice. She don't even ask Adam, her husband, what he thought. She made a choice that effected the whole family. Yes the devil tempted her but she decided to do it. She complicated the matter by giving it to her husband who also ate of the tree.
As a consequence of their sin, we reap the consequences.
The devil is a deceiver and the truth is not in him. God will keep you, but you must want to be kept.
5) Decision evolves to death.
"but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17 NKJV)
As much as God loved them, they were punished. They died... Certainly not physically but spiritually. They were cut off from God and driven out of the Garden of Eden all because of disobedience.
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24 NKJV)
God gives us the rules, it's up to us to obey. Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they would live in sin forever. Because of God's love for us, He provided a Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
6) Deliverance.... When Jesus died on the cross, we were delivered from sin. Jesus paid it all.
We have been redeemed by the blood of God. Yes, we may fall, but because of the cross we can get back up again.
Lord give us the boldness to forgive ourselves as we come to you for forgiveness. Whom the Son has set free, is free indeed. If you confess of your sins, God has forgiven you already. He forgets and forgives our sins.
We have another chance because of Jesus' act on the cross...
AMEN
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:1-6 NKJV)
Have you ever wondered how the enemy has been so successful in getting believers to sin? Let's not focus on the lost folks or the CMEFW folks (those who only come for Christmas, Mother's Day, Easter, funerals and weddings). Because of the flesh we live in we find ourselves as Godly people doing unGodly things.
Sin is a process.
For a Godly person, sin doesn't just happen. It develops gradually. Sin evolves in our lives in several ways according to Genesis 3:1-6.
1) Sin starts with dialogue.
Verses 1-3- the devil is speaking to
The enemy appears where we last expect Him. Think about it. Who would be looking for the devil in the Garden of Eden?... God's sanctuary for His creative beings, Adam and Eve. You expect the devil to be in the casino, adult video store, prostitution house, strip club making it rain, on the corner with the drugs, etc. Another place you don't expect the deil to show up at is at the church, but guess what? He's here right now. He shows up every Sunday. He shows up at choir rehearsal, deacon and Usher meetings, Sunday school meetings, and some Sunday's he's even bold enough to show up in the pulpit. The devil has a scheme and strategy to get folks to follow. He's already got the people in the places where we expect him to be, but he has to scheme to get the believers.
Verses 1-3 Eve is holding a conversation with the Devil. The question is, why is she having a dialogue with the Devil?
"You can't keep birds from flying over your head but you can certainly keep them from making a nest on your head." Eve is allowing the Devil to make a nest.
2) The devil gets us to doubt God's word.
The devil puts doubt in Eve's mind. He didn't deny what God said, he just puts a question mark behind it. Verse 1, "... Has God indeed said 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" If the enemy can put doubt in your mind about the word of God, he's about to set you up. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. This is why you need to know the word of God for yourself.
Notice the evolution of sin. Dialogue evolves into doubt.
3) Doubt evolves into denial.
Eve says in verse 3 that if they touch the tree then they will die. That's not what God said. He said if you "eat" of the tree, you will die. So in turn the devil lies to her in verse 4 and as thy wont die. He lies to get us to do what he wants. The devil has gotten us to do plenty of things, I.e. gamble, cheat, have unprotected sex, get pregnant, etc. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. There is no where in the Bible where someone sins and gets away with it.
Verse 5- The devil tells Eve that if they eat of the tree, they'll be like God. He convinces Eve that she can live independently without God. She can be her own god. Look at the master of deception. If the devil can control your mind, he can control your body. He makes us think we can get away with things.
4) Doubt evolves into desire.
Verse 6- Eve and Adam eat of the tree.
She desires the fruit to become more wise and disobeys God. She desires what God forbids her to have. Just because something is good to you doesn't mean it's good for you. Bluebell homemade vanilla ice cream, grandma's pound cake with a stick of butter, Manchu chicken, salt in you food, Krispy Kreme donuts, Gene's Po-boys, butter in your grits etc may be good to you but aren't good for you.
5) desire leads to a decision.
Eve decides she doesn't want to sin alone so spineless, back boneless Adam complies without question. It was Eve's own choice. She don't even ask Adam, her husband, what he thought. She made a choice that effected the whole family. Yes the devil tempted her but she decided to do it. She complicated the matter by giving it to her husband who also ate of the tree.
As a consequence of their sin, we reap the consequences.
The devil is a deceiver and the truth is not in him. God will keep you, but you must want to be kept.
5) Decision evolves to death.
"but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17 NKJV)
As much as God loved them, they were punished. They died... Certainly not physically but spiritually. They were cut off from God and driven out of the Garden of Eden all because of disobedience.
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24 NKJV)
God gives us the rules, it's up to us to obey. Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they would live in sin forever. Because of God's love for us, He provided a Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
6) Deliverance.... When Jesus died on the cross, we were delivered from sin. Jesus paid it all.
We have been redeemed by the blood of God. Yes, we may fall, but because of the cross we can get back up again.
Lord give us the boldness to forgive ourselves as we come to you for forgiveness. Whom the Son has set free, is free indeed. If you confess of your sins, God has forgiven you already. He forgets and forgives our sins.
We have another chance because of Jesus' act on the cross...
AMEN
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