The Shed
7/19/26 am
- oh what a happy day
- Feeling Mighty Fine
- the answers on the way
- This is The Day
- I will enter his gates
- What a Mighty God
- holy spirt dove
Genesis 3:1–15 ESV 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”From this point on, the serpent plays a significant role in the representation of sin in the scriptures.The next time we see a significant appearance from the serpent is in Numbers 21…Numbers 21:4–9 ESV 4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.It wasn’t that the bronze was magic, or that the serpent was an antivenom…Rather it was an act of obedience, to look upon the very thing that was killing them…Look upon the thing that was brought about because they sinned against God…Hundreds of years later, we find a similar scene…Those who were supposed to be the chosen people of God have turned against him over and over again for centuries.Even when they were punished through exile not once, but twice and then were invaded and overcome by the Roman Empire…And now there are serpents in their midst…But this time it’s not physical serpents…These serpents are ones of religiosity and judgement… those who bite the others around them, poisoning them with their venom of hatred and malice…John the Baptist calls them out in Matthew 3:7-9…He’s baptizing and preaching the gospel of a coming Messiah by the Jordan river and many were coming and repenting of their sins and being baptized…Matthew 3:7–9 ESV 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.Jesus repeats the sentiment in Matthew 12:34Matthew 12:34 ESV 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.Jesus gives us more insight a little later in John:John 8:42–44 ESV 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.So Jesus shows that being a serpent or the offspring of the serpent is not about lineage, but about heart posture…And when your heart and actions are contrary to the call of the Gospel and the Love of the Father, you are acting on the desires of the serpent…Psalm 140:1–3 ESV 1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men, 2 who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually. 3 They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s, and under their lips is the venom of asps. SelahSerpents, then, are not just the one in the garden, but those who are driven by the desire of THE serpent…Those who are after their own gain and pleasure, who are opposed to the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ…Who sow division and strife, who are sharp of tongue and whose lips spew venom…But the real issue is not with people who take on the role of the serpent, but the sin that the serpent represents…The image of the serpent for those in the wilderness was an image they had to look at to be healed…It represented the sin they had fallen into and in order to be healed they had to face the sin…James 5:16 ESV 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.In other words… Ignoring your sin won’t make it go away.. .The only way to be delivered from your sin is to see it for what it is and confess it!John 3:20–21 ESV 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”This is the power provided in the sacrifice of Jesus, that we can gaze upon the One who became our sin hanging on the cross…John 3:14–15 ESV 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.Jesus said, just like that serpent in the wilderness, so too will I be lifted up…In the wilderness they looked upon the image of the curse… at the Cross we look upon the One who became the curse for us…He became the curse…But Jesus was sinless, so how can he be a representation of the sin?2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.This is how Christ redeemed us from the curse of sin:Galatians 3:13 ESV 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…And in doing so, He accomplished that which He appeared for:1 John 3:8 ESV 8b … The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.And how did He do it?Hebrews 2:14 ESV 14 …through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,So now we look to Jesus, lifted up just as the serpent in the wilderness, that we may be healed of the bite of sin and shame…He holds the power over sin and death!Pause.That serpent in the Garden, shows up again in the book of the Revelation of John:Revelation 12:9–11 ESV 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.That same book tells us that there’s a time coming when that dragon will be thrown into a lake of fire…But even now, the power Satan once had has been destroyed in the life of the believer…Colossians 2:15 ESV 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.From the first serpent in Eden to the dragon in Revelation, Scripture tells one story: Christ came to destroy the works of the serpent by becoming the curse that the serpent brought.Philippians 2:9–11 ESV 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.The story of the Bible is not ultimately about a serpent.It isn’t about a garden.It isn’t about bronze lifted on a pole.It isn’t even about our failure.The story of Scripture is about a King who walked into the battlefield where the serpent had poisoned every son and daughter of Adam.He didn’t merely fight the serpent.He took the the curse of the serpent onto himself…He became the curse.He entered death willingly.And then He walked back out of the grave holding the keys that the serpent thought belonged to him.Sin no longer has the final word.Death no longer has the final word.The accuser no longer has the final word.1 Corinthians 15:55 ESV 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”Because Jesus has been lifted up.This is the Good News! The Gospel of Jesus Christ!Jesus says of Himself:Revelation 1:17–18 ESV 17 “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.That the power sin once held over you was broken by the blood of Jesus!And now you can see the crushing of Satan’s power in your life through the grace of Jesus Christ!It’s not that the serpent won’t still try to bite you..The serpent still strikes…Temptation is still real…But You can be like Paul…Acts 28:3 ESV 3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.This serpent was used to biting and causing death, but Paul did what only a believer can do with the serpent:Acts 28:5 ESV 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.Paul didn’t just survive a snake bite.He was living Genesis in reverse.The serpent bit… but the bite had lost its power.That’s what the cross does.1 Kings 19:8–9NASB95
Acts 1:9–11NASB95
Philippians 3:13–14NASB95
Isaiah 46:10–11NASB95
Romans 8:28–29NASB95
Ephesians 1:9–12NASB95
Ephesians 3:8–11NASB95
2 Timothy 1:8–9NASB95
1 Kings 19:11–12NASB95
- be still
- More of You
- you are holy
- Gratitude