SIN

I got a free kick tonight.

That means that I could preach what I like.

So I thought I'd talk to you about something which has been on my mind since Deb first preached three weeks ago

when she preached from Genesis 3 in the series that we've just had in Identity.

Because she sowed a few seeds with me which I thought about in another way beyond there.

And anyway, let me go into it.

One of the things that she showed us in terms of the Garden of Eden between Genesis 2 and Genesis 3 is what is lost.

So in the Garden of Eden, Adam has a place of significance.

He's safe.

He meets God face to face.

He's in a very secure place.

And with the fall, all that is lost.

Now one of the things for me, which is a major personal struggle which I grapple with often,

and I have to remind myself the Gospel in terms of being able to deal with it,

I think it's a struggle which is not just mine, but I think it's probably the struggle for a number of you as well.

You come to the New Testament.

You come to the Bible.

You read things about who we are in Christ.

And in some places, the Bible speaks in very exalted terms about who we are.

So say in Ephesians 2, verse 6, it says,

Ephesians 2:6

And I think what it's doing is it's speaking about a future reality,

but it's bringing it into the present and saying,

that is our status right now.

That is who we are in Christ.

But my experience, which is a present reality for me,

is that even as a Christian believer, I have an ongoing struggle with sin.

And so when I read my New Testament, I read Romans chapter 7,

Romans 7 · chapter mention

and Paul says, it is mine.

And he says, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?

And then he goes on and says, but thanks be to God.

And I think what, so you've got this struggle between what it feels like still to struggle with sin,

and also the Scriptures saying to us how great we are and how safe we are in Christ.

And people do various things with that struggle to try to make sense of it.

So one of the things that people do is they say, look, I'm complete, I've made perfect in Christ,

I've already arrived, almost as though we've got this state of sinless perfection now,

I can no longer offend God ever again.

So if I go back to the Bible study group that I was first a member of when I became a Christian,

we had a woman there who was associated with a Christian cult,

and she used to claim that she didn't get sick anymore because she's been made perfect in Christ.

And one night she's missing from our small group, and one of the members goes to see her,

knocks on the door, no answer, knocks on the door, no answers,

hammer on the door, and finally she answers it, and she's very embarrassed because she's very sick.

And she didn't want anybody to see how sick she was,

because being sick was contrary to what she had come to believe.

I've heard a story, I don't really know if it's true or not, I think it might be true,

but in the 1800s there was a really famous preacher in London called Charles Spurgeon,

and he had a member of his congregation come to him one day,

and he said, I just want to talk to you pastor,

I want to tell you that I've really been growing in Christ,

and I have achieved this, I just feel like I'm free of sin.

God's been doing this work of grace in my life,

and I no longer have the struggles, the sin,

that used to be part of what was going on for me.

And Spurgeon said, we've got to come and have dinner with us,

and tell us some more about it.

So he goes for dinner at the pastor's house,

and in the middle of dinner he tells a bit more about what's been going on for him,

and Spurgeon picks up this jug of ice cold water,

and pours it on his dinner guest.

And the guy goes off his nut,

and Spurgeon says, there you see,

the old man isn't dead yet,

he just needed a glass of water to revive him.

See, to move to that extreme and think that we've moved beyond sin is absurd.

That's one way that we deal with life this side of heaven,

and it's to claim future realities and bring them into the present in a way which is just absurd.

But the other way is to go,

woe is me,

and live a life as a believer of absolute despair.

Almost as though there's nothing good in me,

there's nothing worthy in me,

rather than seeing the promises of the gospel,

which say we are made new in Christ,

and we are now regarded differently by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Genesis 3, which is where I do want you to look at as I'm talking,

is something which could only be described as a sheer tragedy for humanity.

Genesis 2, Adam's in God's presence,

he's doing what God gave him to do,

he's safe in the garden,

he's not on his own,

he's got work to do,

he's quite secure.

And God gives him just one command,

just one restriction on his life and on his behaviour.

He says to Adam,

and he gives him this command even before Eve is created.

So Eve does not hear God give Adam this command.

And he says to Adam,

God says to Adam,

you can eat from any tree in the garden,

except one,

the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,

for when you eat of it,

you will certainly die.

And we know the story,

the serpent's crafty,

he approaches the woman,

and there's this really strange interaction which goes on,

which is like this clever mix of truth and deception.

Did God,

remember he's speaking to the woman who never heard the command from God herself,

did God really say,

you can't eat from any tree?

Oh no,

no,

that's not what God said.

We can eat fruit of the trees,

yes,

but we can't eat

or touch the tree in the middle of the garden,

because if we,

if we touch that tree,

if we eat from that tree,

we'll die.

Which is not what God said,

because he said eat from,

but he didn't talk about touching it.

And then,

the serpent tells what is a bald-faced lie.

You won't die.

You'll be like God.

You eat a bit of this,

and you'll be like God.

God's the one who's really trying to stop you

enjoying all the things that he knows

that you can't participate in.

And she looks,

and she desires the wisdom

that the tree might give her,

and she eats,

and she gives to Adam,

and both become very vulnerable before God.

They become aware of their own nakedness.

And there's a whole lot of questions go with that.

You can ask bucket loads of questions about that passage.

Why did the serpent approach Eve?

Now, she'd only heard the command secondhand.

She'd heard it from Adam.

She hadn't heard it from God.

In my community group the other week,

I did something really risky.

And in my community group here tonight,

and I can say this,

I thought I'd play,

I'd take a risk.

Oh, sorry, James and Katrina.

Uh-oh.

I could say,

you know,

did the serpent work on the weakest link?

Did he go to the woman rather than to the man?

And I've put considerable distance between you

when I say that tonight.

Let's not go there, eh?

But then you ask the question,

where's Adam in all this?

Verse 6 says that

she gave some to her husband who was with her.

He was there.

And it seems like Adam has heard the whole thing.

And yet,

he's totally passive in this story.

He doesn't step up and correct the serpent and say,

no, God didn't say that.

He said, don't eat from the tree.

He didn't say, don't touch it.

And he doesn't tell his wife,

you're a fool woman if you eat from that.

You'll die.

God said we would die.

He just stands there weak and inactive

while his beautiful naked wife says,

have a bite, dear.

Men.

Men.

Now, Larry Carab wrote a book called

The Silence of Adam.

And I think it's what you see here,

the silence of Adam

in terms of this interaction.

He's passive.

He's quiet.

There's no leadership.

And it's a sin that is reflected in families

when dads don't step up

and take spiritual leadership.

Now, I've been talking about this

in my Ephesians group this afternoon.

We're not talking to blokes and saying,

you've got to step up

and take control of your family.

But you do need to step up

in a Christ-like way

and love your wife

as the scriptures call you to

and to lay down your life

on behalf of others

rather than it all being about you.

So taking initiative to serve,

taking initiative to read the Bible,

taking initiative to pray,

taking initiative to go the extra mile.

Marriage is not about you, Dad.

It is about how you serve your family under Christ.

And God comes visiting.

He's been visiting up till now.

This is not new.

He's been walking with them in the garden.

And there's three questions.

Where are you?

No.

We're hiding.

We're naked.

Who told you you were naked?

And then the crucial question,

have you eaten from the tree

that I commanded you not to eat from?

Adam,

the man,

stands there and said,

she gave it to me.

In fact,

he says more than that.

He says,

the woman you gave me

made me eat from it.

What's he do?

Blames God,

blames her.

And she blames the snake.

It's your fault.

You gave it to me.

See,

it's something.

I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks

and I see it in myself

and I see it in what others do to me sometimes.

But we use the language of blame

when the spotlight starts to fall on us

about our sin and our weakness.

If you're in a marriage,

your husband or wife

will sometimes point out things about you

that you perhaps don't really want to hear.

Or you might think of yourself as humble

and think I'm really open,

I really want to hear those things,

but the truth is

we often only want to hear them

when we're ready to hear them,

not when they're ready to tell us to us

about it.

And when I do that,

I think it's pride which is driving me

because I want to be exposed on my terms

and not on their terms.

But this is on God's terms.

He asks the question

and he's not ready to fess up.

And Adam just blames.

And if you read the rest of the story,

God does judge,

but it's with mercy.

They do die spiritually.

They're cut off from direct contact with God,

cast out of the garden.

It's an incredibly lonely place to be.

It's a huge loss.

They don't die physically then and there,

but they're destined to die physically as well.

Life now becomes difficult for men in work.

Life becomes difficult for women in childbirth.

Relationships between men and women

become difficult in terms of marriage.

So your desire will be for your husband,

but your husband will rule over you.

They're shut out from the garden.

They're cut off from God.

The consequences of this

are absolutely tragic.

And yet despite the tragedy and the fall,

God's mercy is on view

because he takes away their fig leaves

and he gives them clothes

which are made of animal skin.

An animal needs to die

to hide their nakedness.

And they're also shown mercy

because they're shut out from the garden

before they can also reach out

to the tree that they had permission to eat from,

which was the tree of life,

and eat from it.

And that's merciful

because it means that God prevented them

from making sin eternal.

And so cut off from God,

life in the world becomes lonely,

it becomes uncertain.

There's this tragic disconnect from God.

Damage is done.

And this is damage

that Adam himself

is unable to change.

Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

describes our state without God.

It says we're powerless.

We are dead in our trespasses and sins.

We cannot atone for our own sin.

It uses the language of death.

A dead person cannot bring themselves to life.

We need action from totally outside of us.

Romans chapter 5

Romans 5 · chapter mention

says that this is such a significant failure

it can only be reversed by a second Adam,

a new Adam.

And so in Romans chapter 5 verse 6

Romans 5:6

it says at just the right time

when we were still powerless

Christ died for the ungodly.

And then in Romans chapter 5 verse 14

Romans 5:14

And then in verse 15

For if by the trespass of the one man

death reigned through that one man

how much more

will those who receive

God's abundant provision of grace

and the gift of righteousness

reign in life

through the one man Jesus Christ.

And I think if you look

and if you think about this

you see

that untold

and irreversible damage

is done

at the fall

which people like Adam

were unable to deal with themselves.

And there's some things that we can do

that are just not reversible.

In terms of sin

I don't think there is anything

that we can do

which is beyond hope

and the grace of the gospel.

But there are some things

that we can do

that become irreversible

in terms of say relationships.

I was going to break a glass out here tonight

and I thought better of it.

But smash a glass

it's broken

and you're not going to want

that glass again

even if I glue it together

with arrow dot all over it

or something like that.

You're just not going to want it.

It's gone.

It's done.

It's finished.

And we can do some things

in relationship

that cause great harm.

So you know

husbands and wives

they can be unfaithful

and it can absolutely

smash a relationship.

Or within all sorts of relationships

we can speak a word

which is wrong

or out of place

or harsh

or unloving

or untruthful

or whatever it is

that word's not easily

taken back again.

It goes out there

and does its damage.

damage

and sometimes

that damage

is great harm.

But it doesn't mean

that we're without hope.

I listened to this

the other week

and I thought about it.

What if

what if

Adam had gone

another way?

And this is what

I think you must have

heard it kick.

What if when God

came to him

in the garden

he'd actually

not blamed

but left himself

in the spotlight

and in that moment

when God said

have you eaten

from the tree

that I commanded

you not to eat from

what if Adam

had said

yes Lord

I did

and yes Lord

I neglected

my family

I did not

correct my wife

and yes Lord

all these things

have happened.

Being the man

and he'd said

I'm a fool

I have sinned

against heaven

and against earth

and I am no longer

worthy to be called

your son.

Now in some ways

we don't really know

what God would have done

because Adam

because Adam didn't

do it.

But can you see

that in the gospel

we have a different

way to answer

that question

that God

asked Adam.

We have a different

way of dealing

with that moment

from the way

that Adam

dealt with that

moment.

We have been

given the tools

in the gospel

which allows us

to stand there

and face Adam's

sin in us

not to live a

perfect life

because we can't

live a perfect life

we can't do that

we can't self-atone

but we can face

sin and we can

face failure

knowing that we

have one who

has atoned

for our sins

and allowed us

therefore to stand

there and say

yes Lord

I have done wrong.

We come to God

not in independence

but in dependence

and in faith

and we trust him

in that moment.

And so this side

of heaven

we're called

perfect

and yet what

are we doing

we're still

struggling with

sin and weakness

and offence

in between us

and God

and in all

the relationships

we have

with other people

but we have

this ability

to function

because we have

one who has

reversed Adam's

sin and gives

us a different

way of answering

the question

where are you

we do not

have to hide.

Now I reckon

you see this

worked out

all through

the New Testament

but a couple

of places

in particular

Luke's gospel

a rich young

bloke comes

up to Jesus

in Luke 18

in Luke 18

and he says

to Jesus

good teacher

what must

I do

to inherit

eternal life?

and Jesus

says

well why do

you call

me good?

No one's

good

only God

alone is

good

and he says

well you know

the commandments

don't commit

adultery

don't murder

don't steal

don't tell lies

only your father

and mother

and he says

to Jesus

I've done

all those

since I

was a

little boy

and Jesus

said to him

you only

lack one

thing

sell all

that you

have

and distribute

to the

poor

and you

will have

treasure in

heaven

and come

follow me

and when

he heard

these things

he became

very sad

because

he was

extremely

rich

but it's

a bit

subtle

because he

sort of

comes to

Jesus

and says

what must

I do

what's the

big thing

that I

might do

to get

eternal

life

it's

sort of

actually

a

me

focused

question

if it

was Adam

it's

almost

like

how

can I

work

my

way

out

of

this

mess

what's

the

one

thing

I

can

do

that

would

trump

all

the

bad

stuff

that's

happened

which

would

guarantee

I'm

back

with

you

I've

got

eternal

life

and I

think

Jesus

with this

particular

man

I'm

not

saying

to

everyone

but to

this

particular

man

he's

showing

him

by what

he

asks

him

to

do

that

there's

something

that he's

really

unwilling

to do

for God

and he

goes away

very sad

and Jesus

is sad

but he's

tried to

come to

God

on his

own

terms

but then

there's

the other

story

which is

just

before it

in Luke's

gospel

Jesus

tells this

parable

to some

who trusted

in their

own

righteousness

and who

looked down

on other

people

two men

he said

went up

to the

temple

to pray

one of

them's

a

Pharisee

a really

good

religious

person

and the

other

is a

tax collector

he's

scum

and filth

and traitor

and all the

rest of it

and the

Pharisee

stands by

himself

and he

prays

God I

really

thank you

that I'm

not like

other people

I really

thank you

I'm not

an extortioner

I'm not

unjust

I'm not

an adulterer

I've never

done any

of that

dirty

stuff

or even

like

especially

I really

thank you

that I'm

not like

him

see

his

response

to Adam's

nature

is to

say

God

and it's

with

thanksgiving

to God

God I

thank you

that I'm

such a

good boy

I thank

you that

I've really

done so

much that's

just right

in your

eyes

and the

other man

won't even

raise his

eyes he

knows he's

a bad

boy for

want of a

better word

he beats

his chest

and he

says

God have

mercy on

me

the

sinner

God

have

mercy on

me

the

sinner

he knows

his life

is absolutely

barren

he knows

he's got

nothing to

commend

himself

he knows

that life

and relationship

with God

is absolutely

shattered

he knows

that he's

despised in

the eyes of

other people

and they can

see his sin

for all that

it is

and yet he

comes to

God

he comes to

Jesus

and he

throws himself

on his

mercy

God have

mercy

on me

the sinner

doesn't pretend

to be anything

other than what

he is

and he

does

what Adam

never did

he owns

his sin

he throws

himself on

the mercy

of God

and Jesus

says

I tell you

that this

man

went down

to his

house

justified

rather than

the other

for everyone

who exalts

himself will

be humbled

but the one

who humbles

himself will

be exalted

and so

brothers and

sisters

I think

where I want

to leave you

tonight

and what I

want to say

to you

I want to

go back

to the

what if

question

in that

moment

when we're

shamed

and we're

exposed

and we're

seen for

all that we

were in

terms of

rebellion

against God

which Adam

certainly was

not to

take a

defiant

stand and

still blame

everybody else

for what I'm

like

and what's

happened to

me

but in

that moment

to throw

ourselves on

the mercy

of the

Lord Jesus

and say

Father

yes

Father

I have

sinned

against

heaven

and I've

sinned

against

earth

and I

deserve

nothing

of your

mercy

but I

throw myself

on your

mercy

and ask

for your

grace and

your forgiveness

in my

life

and we

are empowered

to do

that

because

God has

acted

apart from

us in

Christ

and sent

his son

to be

the atoning

sacrifice

for our

sin

he has

put things

right that

were broken

in the

garden

and because

he has

put things

right that

were broken

in the

garden

we are

safe

and do

not need

to fear

confessing

what we

are really

like

and what

we really

need

from God

our

heavenly

father

amen