First Baptist Church Litchfield
chapel 11/6

      • Jeremiah 17:9–10ESV

  • Your Love
  • The Gospel Song

      • Romans 5:12ESV

  • NEW CREATION 1 Corinthians 5:17
  • Carry It On Philippians 1:8

  • Beautiful yet Broken

    Last week we learned,

    God created all that is. Therefore, all that is is His.

    The word of God showed us that:

    God Created All That is With Purposeful Design (Genesis 1:1-10)

    God Created All That is with Diverse Beauty (Genesis 1:11-25)

    God Created All That is, Including us as His Image Bearers (Genesis 1:26-31)

    God Created All That is and Then Gave us Sanctified Rest (Genesis 2:1-3)

    God Created All That is For Us To live in Harmony (Genesis 2:4-25)

    When the Lord was finished creating all that is, he said it was very good. Creation, in all of it’s glory, was beautiful, and God was satisfied with his work.
    We see only glimpses of this beauty in sunrises and sunsets, dark starry nights or brisk spring days. We see it from image bearers who look upon other image bearers with kindness, compassion, love, and generosity. The world is full of examples of the goodness of God. We know, however, it’s not always beautiful. Something is wrong with our world.
    There are destructive hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. We turn in the news and see image bearers hating, extorting, and murdering other image bearers. Marriages separating, children disobeying, and our culture embracing so much death. Our world is strangely beautiful yet its broken.
    In Genesis 2, God instructs Adam to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. God says to Adam,
    Genesis 2:17 ESV
    17 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 3 tells the story of Adam and Eve's disobedience to this command and the entrance of sin into the world. Their desire to be their own authority led to devastating consequences, reflecting the rebellion that can reside in all of us. Our natural inclination towards rebellion can lead us away from God, but through Christ, we can find redemption and purpose in living for Him.
    This morning, I want you to think why we live in a beautiful yet broken world. I want to you see how sin as affected our world, and where our brokenness comes. You’re going to see that sin like a cancerous weed that corrupts your heart, as it affects everyones heart. We already read this morning,
    Romans 5:12 ESV
    12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
    Every human being born into this world is born with the seed of rebellion in their hearts. Paul makes this clear in
    Romans 3:23 ESV
    23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
    Over time that seed sprouts into a weed that is rooted like a tree, and bears fruit of rebellion.

    Adam and Eve wanted to be their own; Rebellion in their heart was sown.

    So, let’s examine the process of sin’s growth and impact in your life.

    The Root of Rebellion: Spiral Descent into self-centered Desire (Genesis 3:1-7)

    Even though Satan is not mentioned in our text, we know it is he who uses a serpent to do his dirty work. Paul helps us understand this when he refers to Satan as the serpent who crushed in Genesis 3:15 in Romans 16:20
    Genesis 3:15 ESV
    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.”
    Romans 16:20 ESV
    20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
    The serpent is described as cunning in our text, meaning that he offered Eve wisdom that was not from God. The goal of the serpent is to take the eyes of Eve off of God’s provision and goodness. Keep in mind Genesis 1-2. God created everything and said it was very good. Nothing was missing: Day and night, land and sea, plants and animals, beauty upon beauty. The serpent wanted Eve to take her eyes off of God’s good provision and to focus on herself. To turn her eyes inward, Satan must deceive her to lose confidence in God’s word.
    The serpent questions God’s word in verse 3:1,
    Genesis 3:1 (ESV)
    1 …He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
    Satan is referring to what God said to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17
    Genesis 2:16–17 ESV
    16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 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.”
    Notice how Satan misleads Eve by not mentioning the positive statement God said in verse 16; “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden.” God gave Eve access to the entire garden for her enjoyment and pleasure. Satan got Eve to focus on the one thing God commanded her not to eat. With her eyes turned inward away from God’s goodness, the spiral decent to her wrong desires begins to plummet.
    In her first decent, she is confused about God’s commands. She responds to the serpent,
    Genesis 3:1–3 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.’ ”
    Eve is not precise in her response to the serpent. God never told her she could not touch it. It’s possible Adam may have told her not to even touch it, but nevertheless, by generalizing, she’s added to God’s word. If you read your bible often enough, you will notice that anytime someone adds to God’s commands, sin is right around the corner. Why? Because pride is the culprit behind adding to God’s word, as if God’s word needs correction. Look no further than the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jesus’ day. They held the tradition of men above God’s word, and Jesus rebuked them for it.
    Satan notices Eve’s confusion and offers a subtle deception. Satan knew Eve would not die by touching the fruit. So he appealed to her desire to be wise like God.
    Genesis 3:4–5 ESV
    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.”
    Satan deceives her with a half truths. Merely touching the fruit will not kill you. Besides, eating the fruit will make you knowing good and evil like God. That is all true, but he fails to mention the consequence of such actions. Adam and Eve were not made to be God. They were made in his image, but they were not divine. They did not have the capacity or ability to handle such knowledge.
    Satan is a liar (John 8:44). Half truths are no truth. He manipulates truth to deceive people from following God. He tried to do the same thing to Jesus in Wilderness (Matthew 4:6). Jesus did what Adam and Eve should’ve done, rebuke Satan to his face; leave me Satan! Instead her heart was captivated by the desire to be God.
    Genesis 3:6 ESV
    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.
    Now the spiral is in an uncontrollable dive. First she looked at the fruit. Her eyes opened he heart to the possibilities that are within her reach. He heart was attracted to it. She sought wisdom, not God’s wisdom, but the serpents cunning godless wisdom. With her eyes fixed and hear heart committed, her hands reached out to take the fruit and eat it.
    To have the knowledge of good and evil is to be god. Being God is what the serpent promised Eve if she ate the fruit. At the very root of sin is your desire to be God. You want the world to make much of you. You want to be worshiped. You want the praise the prosperity of being God, and you do not want God telling you any different.
    That is why you fight and war with your parents and your siblings when you don’t get your way. That is why you do not like being told what to do or being held accountable for your words or your actions. Furthermore, that is why you do not naturally embrace God’s morality. Have you ever noticed how easy it is for you to break God’s Ten Commandments?
    Let’s do a quick question and answer. Let’s see when was the last time you broke God’s commandments.

    You shall have no other God’s before me?

    What are you loving more than God right now?

    You shall not make an idols in my image.

    What are you worshiping more than God?

    Do not use the Lord’s name in vain?

    Have you ever been careless with God’s name or Jesus’ name? Have you ever been a hypocrite?

    Keep the Sabbath holy?

    Do you regularly worship God with his people in church? When was the last time you made attending church a priority in your life?

    Honor you father and mother.

    Have you ever disobeyed your parents?

    Do not murder?

    Have ever hated someone?

    Do not commit adultery?

    Have you ever been unfaithful to your spouse, friends, or family?

    Do not steal.

    Have you ever taken something that did not belong to you, regardless of its value? You “borrowed” it?

    Do not lie.

    Have you ever told a lie, regardless of how “small” it was?

    Do not covet.

    Have you ever been jealous of someone?

    The truth of the matter is, all of us break God’s commands every day. The Bible says if you’ve broken one command, you’ve broken all of the commands.
    James 2:10 ESV
    10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
    The reason why you break them so easily is because you are born with a self-centered desire to be God.
    I have five children. Everyone of them are beautiful, and I love them dearly. But everyone of them are sinners like their daddy. When they were 2-3 years old, I had to work hard to train them to be kind, compassionate, loving, willing to share their toys, and learning obedience to authority. It has been an ongoing process that we still work on today. I had to train them because sinful foolishness came natural to them, just as it does to you and me. All of us are like Adam and Eve. Everyone of us wants to be their own, rebellion in our heart is sown, and unfortunately, there are severe consequences to our rebellion. Sin separates us from God and each other. Sin burdens our heart with the shame from our guilt, and we suffer to live in a strangely beautiful, yet broken world riddled with disease, destruction, and death.
    But thanks be to God he has given us hope. Paul says
    Romans 5:15 CSB
    15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many.
    Romans 5:18–19 CSB
    18 So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone. 19 For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
    God made a way to rightly deal with our sin so that we can have hope in our broken world. The gift is Jesus Christ. Through his death and resurrection and ascension, our sins can be forgiven, and we can be restored. All of us are broken because of sin. Jesus can restore our brokenness through his redemption.

    The Fruit of Rebellion: Separation and Shame (Genesis 3:8-13)

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    The Soot of Rebellion: Reaping Sin's Reality (Genesis 3:14-19)

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    The Hope of Rebellion: Provision Amid Punishment (Genesis 3:20-24)

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    How this passage could point to Christ: This theme points to Christ as the ultimate solution to humanity's rebellion. Just as Adam and Eve's sin brought about separation from God, Christ, through His obedience and sacrifice, restores our relationship with God and offers us a new path to righteousness.

      • Genesis 2:17ESV

      • Romans 5:12ESV

      • Romans 3:23ESV

      • Genesis 3:15ESV

      • Romans 16:20ESV

      • Genesis 2:16–17ESV

      • Genesis 3:1–3ESV

      • Genesis 3:4–5ESV

      • Genesis 3:6ESV

      • James 2:10ESV

      • Romans 5:15ESV

      • Romans 5:18–19ESV

  • Empowered by the Spirit, Guided by the Word
First Baptist Church Litchfield
pastorjason.fbcl@gmail.com
217-324-4232
http://www.firstbaptistlitchfield.org/
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