Blueprint - The end of The Beginning

Welcome To The River. City Church podcast and a

message by our lead. Pastor Jason Powers our prayer

is that this message would Inspire and encourage you, build

your faith. And point you to the

life-changing love of Jesus, may you enjoy the goodness of God as

you follow him today. Hey, that last song, Jason, by

the way. Welcome glad that you're here.

Hey listen. I see all kinds of sin around

the room in your colors this morning.

So we're praying for your hunches kid and I have to do

this. Hey, we sang that song.

It's your breath in our lungs. So I'll pour out my praise.

And at song has all these talk about about creation, right?

And we touched on that last week, right?

Remember we saw it's the breath of life.

It's God's breath that he put in us that caused us to come alive,

that worship song. That is a great example, an

illustration of why we do worship because as we come in

here and we sing these songs, we sing, it's your breath in our

lungs, in those images, in those pictures, Draw us back to

Creation. Draw us back to purpose and to

order and what so great. I love when a plan comes

together because that wasn't a plan.

I just heard that song and I was like, oh my gosh, it's perfect

for where we are. So before we finish, we're going

to finish this whole Genesis thing series up.

Today, I hope it has been enlightening for you.

I hope it has stretched. You challenge you, maybe some of

the things that you think, maybe it is see and experience God in

a different way. But more than anything for you

to know that God's desire, ER for you is life, God's desire

for. You is goodness, to give you the

fullness of life here and abundance of goodness here.

So if we're going to understand how we get from there to here,

there's a very important concept and a very important idea that

we have to cover because a lot of us, we know, kind of where

the story goes. Like, we read in the beginning

and we read God created Mankind and he placed them in a Many

brought in the animals and it was male and female, he created

them and it was good and it was wonderful and it was very good

and you go. Yeah.

Here we are. How do we get from there to

here? We're going to talk about that

today, and I just want to acknowledge up front.

I here's what I'm going to ask for you.

Will you up front? Give me Grace.

Because this is hard. This is a very difficult thing,

right? And my idea is, listen, if

somebody comes in and they're offended by the message, there's

nothing I can do really. It's not my Message, right?

Like we come, we believe that juice here, but if you're

offended by the messenger, that is my issue, right?

And so, we want to deal gently and kindly and lovingly.

And remember the goal here when we leave is to have hope the

goal when we leave here is to see and hope and understand, and

believe that God is not just kind of arbitrarily,

theoretically good, but actually good for our Good in this world.

So here's a big idea that we're going to have to contend with

and wrestle with. If we're going to understand

Genesis chapter 3 and that is the idea of Covenant.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

Let me give you a definition, a dictionary, dictionary,

definition of Covenant, a covenant is an agreement.

That brings about a relationship of commitment between God and

his people, okay? So this is a theological

definition of Covenant, anytime you can have a covenant.

It's like a legally binding agreement between two parties.

That should be that must be carried out.

Okay, so specifically, when we're talking about theology,

when we're talking about church and God's people and God it is

this agreement, that brings about a relationship.

So now we have to talk about relationship, right?

Like when we just say Jesus died to be in relationship with you,

we have to understand, right? Because relationship,

technically the word relationship.

Just talks about how to beings. Exist toward each other, right?

One is on top of each other. Those two are in relationship to

our opposed to each other. Those two things are in

relationships. So the question is, how do we as

people as humans stand in relationship church?

Sometimes will say in right relationship and we can

understand what that is just a little bit, but we're going to

talk about this Covenant that brings us into relationship with

with God, right? So Covenant is kind of an old

idea, it's an old term and there are a couple different kinds of

covenants. Okay?

So now we're going to get really kind of nerdy.

The first one is kind of kind of company, we called generally

called the law, okay? And in the way ancient old times

it was there is as called the suzerainty Suz, ER, AI n.

Okay. And so is the way kind of

cultures and cities were established, you would have like

a leader, a sovereign over an area over a Graphical area and

the leader would be called the suzerainty and he would pass

laws and order for the rest of his for the rest of his area,

right? And they always took the form of

these if then conditional, right, if you will do what I

say, then I will provide you with protection with food, with

opportunity, with housing with whatever it is.

But it is an agreement, right? If then conditional, there's an

example in the law of An if-then, conditional, listen

Genesis are Deuteronomy chapter 30 starting in verse 15.

Deuteronomy 30 · chapter mention

Okay, God's people are standing at the edge of the mount on the

edge of the promised land, and Moses stands up to recount the

law to them, and listen to what he says.

See, I have set before you today life and good death and evil.

If you obey the command of the Lord, your God that I commanded

you today by loving the Lord, your God by walking in his ways,

and keeping his Commandments, and his statutes and his room.

rules if Then he says you shall live and multiply and the Lord,

your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to

take possession of it. That is a covenant, that is the

Covenant of God's law with his people.

If you do this, then I will do this.

There's a different kind of Covenant and it is simply like,

call it like a like a promise, right?

We can call this a unilateral. Oil Covenant, where one party on

the other just says, hey, I am gonna do this or I am not going

to do this and it doesn't matter.

It doesn't say if you wear a nice shirt, I'll do this.

If you obey. It just says simply because of

who I am. I will do this and we find this

in Genesis chapter 8, right? This is a God talking to Noah

Genesis 8 · chapter mention

After the flood right? Listen.

What he says, Genesis 8:21, when the Lord smelled, the pleasing,

Genesis 8:21

Aroma the Lord said in Heart. Now, listen, I will never again

curse the ground because of, man, for the intention of man's

heart is evil from his youth. Did he say, hey mankind, you've

shown me that you're trustworthy.

Hey, you've shown me that you can do.

No, he said I won't even though the condition is always evil

from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike

down every living creature? As I have done while the Earth

remains seedtime and harvest cold and heat summer and winter

day and night shall not cease. Now, let me just back up real

quick and talk about when God explains this Covenant to Noah,

right? And the Covenant is unilateral,

I will never notice what he talks about.

What does he go back? He talks about the rhythms and

creation seed time and harvest. Remember we talked about day

three, right? God, created agriculture, dry

land, and he created seasons and a space in the sky before day

and night. So God is saying, from this

point, I will protect my creation.

So we had these two different kinds of Covenants, right?

We have the suzuran kind of law. Covenant, if you go and start

talking about, Susan law and Covenants, right?

First of all, most people are going to like go blank.

You're going to have so much to say and so many situations.

And I really think most of it is going to be helpful for you.

Right. Because the other part is when

God and our case, God simply comes and says, guys, I'm gonna

do this for you, not because of who you are but because of who I

am because of what I'm about, right?

So now there are vocations and if you Go in the scripture.

There are different vocations, right?

You have the Covenant with Abraham where it says, I'll make

you a nation of the Covenant of the law with Moses.

We have a covenant with David where he says you will reign

forever and all my people right? But there's another Covenant in

scripture, right at the beginning of Genesis, it doesn't

say at no point. Does God say I'm establishing my

Covenant with you, but there is a covenant established and it's

one of these suzuran covenants, right?

And we call it the Covenant of Kane.

So, this is very important. What we know about covenants,

it's an agreement between God and people to establish a

relationship, right? And so, God doesn't say, I'm

going to establish my Covenant of relationship with you.

But here's what he says in Genesis chapter 2, starting

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

verse 15. We read this last week.

The Lord God took the man, and he put him in the Garden of

Eden, to work it, and keep it, he put him there, what was man's

purpose in the garden to work the garden and to keep it.

Now as he works, the Garden to keeps it.

Does he get to enjoy it? Of course.

He does. He looks and we've seen over and

over. It was good for food, it was

pleasing to the eye. It was everything was good.

And the animals were coming and God's presence was there, and it

was great and the Lord, God commanded, the man saying, you

may surely eat of every tree in the garden, right?

Except right? What did he say?

But you can't eat from the one, right?

If then if you do good, if you listen to my commands, if you

enjoy the Kingdom, right? If you work the garden and you

For it. What's the word for that

obedience? Do you hear?

Do you hear? Why?

Obedience is important? Obedience isn't some arbitrary

thing that God just has. This is it?

Just because I want to be your boss.

The idea is God created a system and he placed us within that

system. And in order for the system to

work, everything has to work. So he says, if you will do your

part, if you will work my kingdom, if you will multiply Be

fruitful have dominion. Remember he says have dominion

over creation expanded and fill the whole word.

If you do that you will enjoy abundant goodness forever.

Make no mistakes. Those are the terms of the

conditions in Genesis 1, 2 and 3, if you will manage my

creation, according to my image, the image of God that he put me.

If you do that, you will enjoy. Goodness and life forever.

And not only you but the whole earth Adam and Eve.

If you will simply follow and do that, all of Earth will be

fruitful and full, right? So here's the idea.

I'm just going to say this and I wrote it, put a note in my it,

because right now this makes me happy, right?

Like this idea. And the idea of the recovery of

this makes me so happy. So I wrote it.

And I put a note, just say it, right?

Because here it is. Listen God created, man.

Mankind to Bear God's image into creation.

That means bring order right. God created the cosmos.

Let there be light and dark and sea and sky and land and I make

it or any place mankind. There in says be fruitful and

multiply expand the garden to fill the whole earth to Bear

God's image because that's what God is like God is like order

and so he put us into a wild disorder chaos and he said bear

my image into the world so God created Mankind to Bear God's

image into creation and to reflect the worship of an

orderly creation. Back to God.

Does it make sense? So here we have God as The

Sovereign ruler and Creator and God over here, he created all of

creation and it was good and it was fruitful but it was limited

and God said expanded and make it fill the whole earth and

between the creation. And between God, he placed the

Mankind and Mankind in the middle is to reflect Flecked

God's goodness into creation by putting it in order and to

reflect the Beauty and the worship of an orderly creation

back to God, do you see the flow?

God mankind creation, creation mankind.

God mankind creation forever and ever and ever do we see God

created this system and he called it good.

So now we come to Genesis 3 and Genesis Three introduces us to

the concept of sin. And when we talk about Sin, so

many times, we think sin as the bad things that someone said we

did. But what I want to do today is

unpack, this idea of sin as broken Covenant, What sin is, is

not just some arbitrary thing that God said, don't do this

because I'm a stick in the mud, but sin is a reflection of

broken, Covenant and listen, the point I would make is up to this

point the entire creation. Depends on Covenant.

Got, listen, it doesn't diminish.

God if he chooses to operate within the system that he

creates God could do it any way that he wanted and he Dated a

system where mankind would be responsible for filling the

Earth with all of the good things and then mankind would in

turn look back to God and go God look at what you have done so

that it would be about him sin. Now becomes the problem sin,

then this idea of broken, Covenant becomes the thing which

has to be undone. So listen to Remember at the

beginning, when we talked about being reborn, there's something

about rebirth in Jesus is mine. That's To the rest of, you know,

the restoration, the Redemption on that.

We're going to see this at the end, but there's something in

Jesus mind that has to do with rebirth and vocation vocation,

is this idea that God created you for, it's bigger than job,

it's bigger than work. It's something reflective of the

very fiber of your being. It's that thing that when you do

it, you heard a flow state, right?

It's that thing. That when you do it, you forget

time, you forget space, you Just get into this Rhythm where you

sense things blooming and my conviction is God created us for

that and God gave us everything that we need to know that and to

experience that within the confines of what he's done,

right? So here's what we're going to do

today. Alright, I'm going to real quick

and then we're going to run through this.

The first thing I'm going to do is I want to help us understand

Temptation. What does it mean to be tempted?

Then we're going to look at what is the essence of Man kinds of

decision to break that Covenant with the Covenant of vocations

that God put us here to work and fulfill and multiply this Earth,

the goodness in this Earth for his glory.

And at some point for some reason, we said no we want to

wonder why we want to find out. We want to observe the

implications of the broken Covenant.

What does it mean? When that happens and most

important? We want to make sure that we

don't leave ourselves at the end of today, hopeless and crushed,

by the sad, State of Affairs that we have walked ourselves

into. So are you ready?

You're like I'll tell you when we're done whether we're ready

or not, let's go. The first thing that we need to

see is that the archetype of sin begins with temptation.

So what we see in Adam and Eve is, whatever this temptation,

whatever that sin, whatever that thing that you're wrestling and

walking in. And listen, Maybe even at thing

that you wonder and you just go, I'm not so sure.

Someone said, this may be a sin but I'm not so sure.

This is a sin. Well, what we find in Adam and

Eve what we find in this fall, is this archetype that really

can be laid over and used to evaluate all different kinds of

and all different kinds of sins and problems and issues that

come up and degradation of the vocation and calling and all of

that stuff. And so, what I would say is this

really becomes an archetype a picture, the big picture of what

happens to us, When we get drawn away from our vocation of

Covenant, right? So it begins with temptation.

So the primary techs are going to be looking at today is

Genesis chapter 3. If you have your Bible, if you

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

have it on your phone, or your iPad, or however, you get your

scripture, you can turn there and we can look at it, right?

Okay. So Genesis 3:1, I'm just going

Genesis 3:1

to read this real quick and draw something out, right?

It says, now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast

of the field that the Lord God has made.

So, notice we talk about the serpent, you know, the Serpent

is this is a beast. He's a created thing.

We know what a serpent is, right.

But what it says is he went and he was more crafty and we talked

all throughout a lot of kind of unpacking Genesis 12 and 3 comes

down to kind of the words that we use.

So what does that word crafty mean in Hebrew?

It's interesting this word crafty only shows up in three

books in the Bible each time that it's used in a book.

It's used that translation in that book but not in any other

words. So, if you go to the Hebrew and

this translated in the King, James Wright, the oldest one,

the way that word crafty is translated is as subtle.

Okay. So now you can have this idea,

right? He's craft, you know what

crafting means? But also subtle.

Here's another one that I like, if you go to the word, if you go

to the Book of Proverbs, right, which is this book of wisdom?

Well, Proverbs 12 uses this word, the Hebrew word, but it

discuss, but it translates that word as prudent K, which is like

Awful, right? And so here's the idea.

So now the serpent was more crafty than the other beasts.

He was more subtle than the other beasts, he was more

prudent than the other beasts. Right.

And so what do we know what the questions I'm coming to?

Like, to God, really say that. Let's go on.

Let's look verse 2. He said to the woman, did God

really say that you shouldn't eat the tree in the garden,

right? And remember, he's subtle he's

Prudence like. Well, I wonder why.

I mean, I looking around, I'm just like geez.

I mean, I'm sure it's fine. But, I'm just looking around and

it's all good. I'm just wondering.

Eve, why would I wonder why God would say that?

You can't eat that. And the woman says, well, we can

eat of any tree in the garden. But guys, exchange the tree in

the garden because now you can't even touch you.

You're gonna die. And you see Eve doing the right

thing, right? Like this is this is it?

Yeah right like now God didn't say that you touch it, you would

die, God just said hey don't don't eat it right so See, Eve

trying to be the thing, right? Trying to be strong and I'm just

like, where's Adam, bro? Adam, stand up.

So he says hey yeah you can't hit it, she said but the sermon

right? The Prudent crafty subtle

servant. He says, You won't die.

You not worried about you dying, you know, he's worried about for

God knows that your eyes are going to be open and you'll be

like, God knowing good and evil knowing is one of those words as

good Hebrew words, the Hebrew word is Yad.

All right, yada. And it is used when it says Adam

knew his wife and they had a son Adam yada, right?

And Adam knew his wife. In the same way Adam, he knows

that you will Yaya doll, good and evil.

He's talking about carnal knowledge, the physical

experience and understanding, so he sang.

So if you just eat that, then yeah your eyes will be open and

you'll be like God and you'll be able to experience good and

evil. And the subtle implication here

is God's holding out on you. God said for you not to eat that

tree because that tree is the best tree.

And if you just eat tree, eat fruit from that tree, then you

will know what. Real goodness feels like and we

see it all the time when we walk around and we see stuff and

there's this temptation and we go home and I'm not supposed to

do that and then in our mind reader's, yes.

Because it's probably really good.

Yes, he really God really doesn't me to eat that because

he's really terrible and he doesn't want to do that, right?

But what I would say is we set up this, right?

The Temptation is the temptation to neglect and to Bandon.

And to reject our vocation. What did God tell Adam and Eve

to do, when they walked in the first thing, he says, is have

dominion over creation, which means to have authority.

It doesn't mean to browbeat. It doesn't mean to have us take.

It doesn't mean Napalm and firebomb the whole thing.

It means to make the whole thing.

Expand in. Goodness mankind was supposed to

be giving directions and Order. Good wise, loving instructions

to Creation. Be fruitful and multiply

expanded fill the whole earth of it happened.

Dominion over be good to it. Mankind was supposed to be in

control of the creatures and instead here's this creature

walking up to eat going. You should just disobey God and

Adam and Eve were like, yeah, maybe we should.

See, the problem is Temptation comes up and says what you're

really missing is out there somewhere and so we're tempted

to abandon the thing that God created us for.

He created us to have dominion over creation and instead what

we do is we submit to it. I know because every time I have

a hunger I submit to it I'm like well I better eat 17 large meals

a day, right? I better drive too fast.

I better all you know I drive this person's driving T.

So I better mean, Bug out them so they know how terrible they

are for me, right? All of these things.

Right. Rather than keeping my appetites

under control. I feel like my appetite is the

thing that I must Express. Surely this anger at the guy

driving too slowly. Surely, this is from the Lord,

right? And so rather than mastering our

appetites, we express them, instead of having dominion over

creation, we submit to Creation instead of trusting in God we

say I'll decide I will see what is Good.

You've heard Thomas Jefferson's Bible right Thomas Jefferson

loved the Bible except for all of those Supernatural parts,

right? So what Thomas Jefferson does is

he goes and he cuts out all of the Miracles, including the

resurrection because Thomas Jefferson and lots of other car

around, like, they couldn't handle the chance, that there

would be anything in creation, that doesn't fit with their

Enlightenment, understanding of what is they were super smart,

guys, they were proud. Ducks of the Enlightenment

they'd seen? They think they for therefore,

they are. And so instead of submitting to

Creation that they can't understand, they believe that

their intellect, their Insight, their wisdom is superior and

supreme. Now they did all kinds of great

and wonderful things. I'm grateful for their

contributions to culture into society and all of that but I

can look at Thomas Jefferson's Bible and say there's no room

within that for God, Mankind and creation.

One of those things has Has been left out.

Not God is Jefferson. Wanted him to be, but God has,

he actually is, do you see when we go about creating God in our

own image? God ceases.

He doesn't cease to be. He ceases to be to us because

he's God and we're not and we don't get to create God in our

own image, right? So I need to not get off this

ride so we not, he could, we move from, not from trusting

God, to choosing for self. Remember, our vocation, the

garden was to look around and God says, Hey multiply, and be

fruitful to trust him to be. And to know garden was to stand

back and go, you know, that Divinity thing God's Got That

under control, but what I should just do is multiply his goodness

and walk it out and as I do that I don't need to be God because I

have the full experience of every good thing but there's a

problem. The problem with human nature is

this John Piper says I don't quote John Piper a lot but I

love this, he says this the experience of God which is what

we had in The garden. The experience of God is

accompanied by a temptation to reproduce the experience as God.

Read that again, the experience of God is accompanied by a

temptation to reproduce the experience as God.

So send then is not just some arbitrary thing that God said to

you to make you have a terrible boring life.

Sin is the temptation to get you to say yes to something that is

not the main thing as if it was the main thing.

Listen, I am convinced and I could be wrong.

This, I'm gonna get to Jesus someday statement for Jesus and

he can go like you, you screwed that up.

But listen, I'm convinced that there was nothing magic in that

tree. Do you know what was magic about

the tree? God said, don't God said, don't

do it and Adam and Eve were confused and they were tempted,

right? And so temptation is to make not

the main thing, the main thing, right?

And so that brings up the fundamental question in

Temptation, are you listening if you want to know the fundamental

question behind every Temptation that you're going to face now?

And for the rest of your life, it is the question.

Who says what good is This is the question.

Whoever gets to Define. What is good?

Is God right? We read in Genesis 1 over and

over and over and over again. That's good.

That's good, that's good. That's good.

And in fact, when we get to Genesis 2 and we find God saying

that's not good, what do we find God getting involved again?

And finally going now. It's good.

So when we find goodness, we find God.

This is the fundamental question in Temptation, right?

And here's the question is food, good?

Cause Course, it's good. Thank you.

Someone over here. Yes, food is good, right?

Food is wonderful for sustenance.

In First Corinthians Paul, says food for the stomach and stomach

for food, but God will destroy them.

Both food is wonderful for sustenance.

Food is terrible to comfort me. When I'm grieving over sadness

over my disobedient, children do you understand when I grieving

over sadness over my children, everything I want to do is stand

in the fridge and like sandwiches and stuff like that.

But what I need to do to my kids is go Kids, that behavior is an

effective when you write. I need to talk to him and

insurance. A listen, when you say that to

me and hurts my feelings, it makes me small or I need to go

to my kids and go, listen, I have social anxiety, and so when

this happens, when you say that, to me, it makes this happen,

right? It's easier to go, right?

But that's not helpful that doesn't do.

Food is created for sustenance, right?

But if I say, oh, but I can also use food to calm me down, then,

it's not good. What about stuff is stuff bad?

It was a little hesitation that of food were sure.

So food is good. Everything that God created he

said it is good. So what's the problem with

stuff? The problem with stuff over here

is nothing. Creation is good.

The problem is when stuff goes here, Right God stuff.

Mankind, or what happens is when dust when we do this.

God really just gets out of the picture or maybe God goes back

here and what we say is like I'm just going to worship the stuff

right. And so what's going to make me

happy and sad is when my stuff go listen, Okay?

So first thing I want to apologize to you for something.

I said last week, my mom's going to know this is right, that's

enough. I spent a whole lot of time

telling you that your dog wasn't going to go to heaven.

Some of you are at home and I, why would you say that?

I can't my amen. I know it's good.

I deserves this and I can't back away cuz I can buy that.

But like here's the thing that I would say is like we should

enjoy God's good creation for every ounce that it is.

But when we find his portrayal of what goodness looks like, we

can submit to that and just go in your heart is terrible at

this. As this is, I believe you have

made every provision for my goodness.

When we circumvent the order. When we dismiss God's revelation

is plan is perfection. We find when we put stuff in the

middle, we just go. I can't have.

God without that. What we've done is we have set

creation in God's place and we worship, and I could be

anything, it could be sex, it could be food.

It could be not dogs, not not not a know, anything like that,

right? But we have that, when we find

those inordinate, when those giant hungers and appetites in

our life, we have to be careful. We have to look at those and go.

Is that taking the place? Is that?

Am I putting that? Head of my relationship, right?

Because I can only see this way and if I see stuff here than God

is invisible and he might as well be behind me.

But what really happens is I put myself first and I see stuff as

the stuff that can satisfy and assuage me, what only God was

created you and then God is somewhere behind that.

And really when he gets behind that, we don't really care where

he is. Maybe we love him.

We want him to like, sanctify and bless our stuff or whatever.

But he just becomes kind of like a, like a Talisman, right?

Okay. So, Food Comfort stuff, right?

Okay, so the archetype of sin begins with temptation

temptation. But listen, it's not a sin to be

tempted. Some of you really need to hear

that it is not a sin to be tempted.

When a thought pops into your head.

You have a choice to go. Yes or no.

And this in CS Lewis talks a lot about this.

This is really important. I'm not going to unpack this.

I want you to take go home and meditate on it when you say yes

or no whatever you might want to say or think or believe about

yourself when you're faced with the And you are precisely the

kind of person who says yes or no to that Temptation.

For instance, if you are tempted with food to comfort you and you

say yes you can just say oh I'm not a compulsive overeater, I

just do that. And what I would say is, if

you're the kind of person who eats their feelings, you're the

kind of person who is a compulsive overeater.

We cover that we put a because we don't want to deal with

shame. We don't want to deal.

With the fear, the pain, the hurt of having broken Covenant.

Now here's the thing, we would wrap, we're going to see it will

get there. The story will tell itself,

right? So here's the thing, Temptation

becomes sin. When we choose to Define for

ourselves, what good is? So we have this temptation that

says don't do that, but in our head, when we go, what's the

worst that could happen? That's when it becomes sin.

We see this in verse 6. So when the woman, what did she

do? She saw a The tree was good for

food, use of that, looks delicious.

And that the tree was to be desired to make one wise.

She's like, if I eat it, then I'll know things that I don't

want to. I just want you to know, right?

Real quick. That's my Temptation, the

template. Like I want to be smart.

I want people to think that. I know a lot of things I want,

people think all of those things.

And, so, sometimes full disclosure, that's why I talk so

much, right, because there's this real temptation to just,

say all of the things that I know and you're like, even so

don't take you 40 minutes. That's not that much.

So, Way. Where was I?

Oh, yeah. Delight to the eyes and it was

to be desired to make one wise, unless and she took of its fruit

and she ate. And she also gave some to her

husband who was with her and he, and he ate, oh, by the way,

that's where Adam is right there the whole time.

At any point Adam. Hey, you're a snake, you're not

supposed to be talking to me, flying side, kick it to the walk

and servant the whole thing goes away but Adams they're like no

I'm just going to see how this plays out.

You see the sin you see the Temptation.

Adam have dominion Adam, get out there and make things work.

Adam, you're naming the animals. You know what that guy is?

You know, that guy's more subtle, you know, that guy's

crappy, you know, that guy boot that down even For Adam.

I told you not to freaking stand by a tree.

Why are you by the tree? Good grief.

Listen. Do you struggle with

pornography? Put a freaking filter on your

phone. Give your wife, the passwords.

Let her have access. Do you want to trust her be

trustworthy? He says to himself.

Right? This is the thing.

Adam, where are you being passive watching this going?

And then at the end, right? We're going to see what happens,

right? So he says he's standing there.

There. And she gave some and he's like,

well, maybe it's not so bad, I don't know, right?

Like but listen then. She ate, she gave it, he ate,

then the eyes of their open now. Do you remember what the promise

was? If you eat the tree then you'll

know what good and evil. So here's the thing in all

creation, what is good, actually, good God, and His

creation that he made in his order, right?

So then is there ever any condition where God could not be

good? So when he says they're going to

know good and evil, the only thing that they don't know is

evil. What do you think the evil comes

from? Where do you think they're going

to recognize and realize in creation is evil.

Them their desire, when she stood back and looked and took

it and saw it and gave and she looked at Adam, she realized

what was in her was the thing that was separate.

She realized that Disobedience that think was it any was there

anything new in creation? That was evil or was it simply

the revelation of something that had been there the whole time

and now we have to ask the question, do you think God knew

what was in there? Yep.

And somebody like well how could God create the Awesome.

Why did God have to put the tree if I take my 16 year old son

Jackson, and I take him in the garage and I sit in there and I

saw her all the door shut and I lock in there and I go, you can

never leave because I love you so much.

I just want you to love me so much, but your captive here

forever. Is that love?

Would any of you just go, man? That is sweet.

I love the way that he treats his son.

For sure, not right. For there to be love.

There must be a choice and so God planted Mankind and a garden

with one tree and said don't eat that tree.

And you know what Adam should have done with his naked self

and his nekkid wife, he should have hop on one of those rivers

and sailed on to the Sunset and plant that Garden that way

forever. A million miles from that tree,

he should have looked and said God is good.

Enough. I don't need that anyway, and he

should have split. He's like tying himself to the

tree, right? We're just like that Temptation

that we have where I go every day staring at him.

I hope I can withstand it, get out, get out.

But what happens is, you know how I got a dog?

Side note. It's going to get there, I

promise. For a long time.

I didn't have a dog. I didn't really want a dog even.

I mean, I always wanted to, but even think about a dog, and then

one day, I started going me. I should get a dog, a dog would

be nice. I didn't think about it again

for like, a month, but then I saw another dog and I think I

should get that dog again. And so, I go from thinking about

a dog once every month. I think about a dog once every

two weeks or whatever. And then before, I know it all

the time, The dog for the kids, right?

And it's just over and over and over and over again.

And Natalie didn't want a dog. She wasn't raised with a dog but

what happened is one day when I had that first thought about a

dog? And I said yes to thinking about

a dog that thought gets in and it starts filling up my brain

and eventually I can't not have a dog for the love of the kids.

Natalie, we need to have a dog. Guess what?

I got a dog. And so, when I start thinking,

and she don't understand me, you know, who understands me, Jackie

at work, she gets me. I should talk to Jackie at work,

right? Or you know what?

I know, I shouldn't should be generous, you know?

But I'm just going to do this from here is like I know I

should forgive but I'm just not going to forgive I'm gonna but

you know, I should, you know, go hold your tongue and not but I'm

going to just fire off because I want to say that and I want to

do that. And you know what, it's fine

because I want to look at I said that right when we decide what

is good and best for us, we sit ourselves in the place of God.

God says listen God's word says obedience is good. .

Obedience is good. And in the garden we have a

harder time seeing it. But in the garden, God Santos,

look, everything is good. Every tree that I create except

that one is good, everything is good.

Except for that, just go run, everything is good.

I've filled the world with goodness things for you with

good things. For all you, all you have to do

is trust and you know how you trust God by enjoying the good

things, by enjoying all of the other stuff they could have

said. Well, that trees good for food

to. I don't need that that trees

Pleasant to look at. I don't need that.

But instead, they're like, I wonder what it'd be like to eat

that tree and we do the same thing.

We stare at that thing and we feel like that's got to be the

only solution rather than going. God said it.

And he's built the world for my goodness.

So I'm going to turn around and I'm going to run I don't know

what it is. Are you an addict?

Give your spouse, your debit card, have them drive you to

work. Tell him, I'm going to be

terrible to you for a week or for a month.

Her for two months. You can do it.

Figure out a way. The thing is, we worship.

What we say, yes to are saying, yes, is worship when we say yes

to good for food, good. To look at useful for making us

wise. We're saying yes to that over

God right? So listen to what NT Wright

says, in this is gets us to it, right?

To become a Christian is not to say no to the good world.

The whole God is approved. Thing is just it's doesn't bear

with reality, it doesn't. Bear with the revelation of God

in scripture. God has said, things are good to

be a Christian. It's not to say no to the good

World which God has made. It is of course to turn ones

back on all of the Corruptions into which the world has fallen

and into which each individual has fallen.

Here's the idea, what Adam and Eve understood and figured out

was what would happen when they ate that.

They ate that fruit, right? So what happens verse 9, the

Lord God Called To The Man and said, where are you God knew

where they were as a very limited space.

He had seen all that. He's asking.

Adam Adam, what are you doing? Where are you?

And he said I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was

afraid because I was naked and I hid myself and God said who told

you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of

which I commanded you not to eat all that we got it.

Yep. What is it?

That man said the woman that you gave me Yeah, she gave me the

fruit of the tree and I ate in the Lord asked the woman.

What is this that you have done in the woman said, the serpent

deceived me. And I ate, yeah, don't be

surprised when that servant deceives you because that's what

the serpent does. Don't be surprised when your

prowling around on the internet at 12:00 at night and you end up

on the site where you're not supposed to be, that's what the

internet does. Don't be surprised when you're

on social media and you say that thing that's hurtful and

offensive and divisive and rude and you get off and go man.

Why did I get off? Why did I say that?

That's what social media does. It draws and it infects and it

corrupts and it makes us and it makes us crazy, right?

And so what happens is Adam and Eve, they thought well I'll just

be wise. Then I'll know all kinds of

things. And what happened was when they

ate that fruit, they went from being seen to being hidden.

They went from being vulnerable to being full of Shame.

What they learn was what they realized was God makes all

things good. But anything without him.

Isn't. Here's the deal.

Is electricity, good. Maybe you thinking around as

long as it's in a wire and not in your bathtub while you're in

it. Is sex, good.

Yeah, as long as you're in a committed relationship with

somebody who is not going to use your nakedness against you

someday and you know, the only way that can happen till death

do us part. It's not because God's approved

and doesn't like sex, it's because God knows the best sex

is married sex. I've had both kinds, I can tell

you, I don't back away from it. I mean, it there's something

about looking at a person and knowing Forever until we are

done and listen. If you've been divorced and

you're feeling guilty or ashamed of that, don't feel guilt and

shame over that now. Just acknowledge you just

recognize what God created in the marriage is hard and it's

difficult, but it's made to be worked out.

It's made to be entered into rationally and calmly and

slowly, and intentionally, and with an abundance of, caution

and recommendation. But within the context of that

loving Garden of a marriage is supposed to be fully alive.

Live and vulnerable and seen and without the hint of rejection

and red and blame and shame. And all of the things that we

see in the garden, God didn't say keep sex till marriage

because he's a prude. He said it because he wants

what's best for you. We have placed ourselves in a

position to step back and go. Thanks God.

You did all the creating will now do the defining will now

say, what is good and what isn't good.

So the only Change that happened.

Was that the Adam and he became aware of themselves.

They knew that God was still good.

They didn't try to hide God, they knew that they weren't.

They knew that in their heart was striving, they knew that

they weren't content with the garden.

They weren't content with the lot that God had planted them.

Which by the way, was to be the most fruitful life getting

people ever ever created to experience every good thing now.

And for all of eternity instead, what they got was hiddenness and

nakedness and fig leaves. And shame.

And we read the curse and we're like well, God is so mean like

how could God curse them? Why would God yell at those

people? Just for eating that fruit.

Very important. You haven't heard anything else.

This is important. You're listening.

God did not in n. And God said, okay, so he

explains it right? So listen, the Covenant right

was the Covenant, the Covenant was Adam and Eve as obedient

priests. They get to enjoy all of the

goodness of the world forever. All they have to do is keep

Creation in its place and they have to put God first and

exercise their Dominion. Right.

They could enjoy they could do all that stuff and instead what

they did was use it for themselves.

Put their desires, their wants their appetites first.

So what did God say? Real quick verse 14.

The Lord God said to the serpent because You've done this cursed,

are you above all livestock? And above all the beasts on the

field on your belly? You shall go and dust.

You shall eat all the days of your life creation.

The created order was not intended to look Mankind in the

eye as equals God did not create this world and make us it's

servants. He said have dominion over it

rule at lead it. Now he also didn't say use it as

your trash can use it. However you see fit.

'If it he said multiply it make more of it, use it wisely

Steward the Earth as a gift that I have given you and use it as a

reflection of God's good and wise provision for you.

It matters, if you put yourself first, Adam, or if you put

creation first Adam, everything falls apart.

Right. So the serpent, you're going to

rise up. You're going to stand up and

look Mankind in the, I know you're not.

For the rest of Eternity, you will, you will fall, you'll be

down, there will be mistrust verse 16 to the woman.

You remember what the Woman's Place was?

She was taken out of atoms side out of mankind, she was going to

be the mother of all living. We're going to find in just a

few second hurt. She was created.

Eve, is the only one in creation that was not born alone.

She was born into relationships, her relationships, where the

context where she came and so what did she do?

But she She didn't consider relationship, she put herself

above the relationship, and then when she got caught, she, you

know, misery loves company. So, like, so she brought him in,

we've already saw, I shouldn't have to say this, if you look at

Genesis chapter 3 and think that the lesson is that men need to

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

keep their woman in order. It's almost impossible for you

to read Genesis 3 anymore incorrectly.

That's that's not what it says. It is mankind together falling

and what Says to me to woman, I will multiply your pain and

childbearing in pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be contrary to your husband but he shall rule

over you. The idea here is there's going

to be this conflict and he physically stronger.

Is going to have a way guys. This is not something that we

should celebrate. This is not a thing, I'm sure.

Yeah, woman live up to the curse.

That's just dumb. We should try to be pre curse,

right? Right.

Good. I like that.

Let's aim for that and Adam he says because you have listened

to the voice of your wife and have eaten, the fruit of the

tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it.

Cursed is the ground because of you because Adams vocation was

the garden was to walk in it and watch God bless it and multiply

it as he had dominion. And now he says it's going to be

hard thorns and thistles it will bring for you and you will eat

the plants of the field and by the sweat of your face, you'll

eat bread until you return to the ground for out of it.

You were taken for you are dust and to dust you will return.

See, when you have God work as experience of fruit.

But when you just say, no, thanks, God will try to be like

you will handle this from here. God, all of a sudden things stop

growing and so the destruction of the Covenant of vocation

means that nothing is ordered as it should, it means that we

become people Pleasers and we become worshippers of stuff and

God and his way in his and obedience.

It's becomes an afterthought or a thing that we use to get what

we want disorder in this life. Looks like lust, it looks like

compulsions. It looks like obsessions.

And what I would say to you is it never satisfies sex for sex

sake. Never satisfies stuff for Stuff

sake. Never satisfies fun for fun

sake, never satisfies. We are satisfied in God alone.

And when we are satisfied in God, every single extra thing is

gravy. Now your weekend on the beach,

it's not so that you can have peace in your life it's because

you have peace in your life. So what do we do man?

I'm gonna blow through this. Are you ready?

The first thing that we have to do is you have to confess own

your disorder own it just say go to the Lord and say God I have

chosen sex over intimacy. God I have chosen food as

comfort over you. The second thing is we have to

repent, repent is to turn. Here's what that looks like to

talk about food a lot, right? If food is the thing that you go

to a food is how you bring comfort.

Then what you do is you recognize that you confess, it,

you own it, and then you do something to discipline that.

That's where the discipline of fasting comes in.

If you say, hey, I use food to comfort myself.

You say tomorrow, I will eat zero food and then you can

expect for all that emotional turmoil that you've been.

Used to covering with Bagels. You can expect that to come

rushing up. And now instead of right you go,

Lord, this is really terrible. What should I do and he'll tell

you they'll you know maybe all you do is pray.

Maybe you confess something, I don't know.

But you follow him right? That's repenting when we turn to

God instead of turning to that thing and finally is submission,

we redefine good as what God says.

Okay so listen The story's not in a good place right now.

Adam and Eve are without God, they have sinned, the whole

thing is falling down around them.

I cannot leave you with bad news so I don't want to tell you is

something called the protoevangelium, going to be so

smart when you talk to your friends, right?

It's like the original, good news, right?

The that the shape of the good news to come, right?

And here it is. Genesis chapter 3 verse 21

Genesis 3:21–24

through 24. And I'm going to wrap up with

this verse 21 janissary and the Lord God made for a demand for

us. I've garments of skins and

clothed them. If you think God is interested

in exposing your shame and making you ashamed and Afraid

and depressed not so he covers them a life is given so that

Adam and Eve can be covered so that their shame is done away

with then the Lord God said, behold the man is become like

one of us in knowing good and evil.

Now listen Les he reached out his hand and take also of the

tree of life and eat and live forever.

God sent him out from the garden of Of Eden to work the ground.

Do you know why he keeps them out of the garden because of

Adam and Eve at eating that Tree of Life, The Hope for Redemption

is gone because what did God say the wages of the death?

If you eat that there will be death.

And so Adam and Eve had to go so that they could die and you say

well that's just terrible. I know but listen.

Verse 24. He drove the man out to the east

of the Garden of Eden and he placed the cherubim and a

flaming sword that turned every way to guard to the tree of

life. So now the Garden of Eden is

locked. Oh my gosh.

Are you ready? Genesis are Revelation 21:1 and

Revelation 21:1

I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven.

And the first Earth had passed away in the sea was no more.

And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of

Heaven, from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband,

and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold

lessen. The dwelling of God is with,

man. Does it sound like the garden to

you? Remember he created all of

creation to be a temple where he would Reign and rest and Rule

from within his creation among people are?

He would dwell with them. He says the dwelling of God is

now with mankind. He will dwell with them in the

sea and they will be his people and God himself will be with

them. And I will be their God, he will

wipe away every tear from their eyes and Death Shall be no more

neither shall there be mourning or crying or pain anymore for

the former things have passed away.

It sounds like we got back in the garden verse 22.

Then the angel showed me the river of the Water of Life.

Remember, all the rivers in the garden, showed me the river of

the Water of Life bright, as a crystal flowing from the throne,

through the middle of the street of the city.

And on either side of the river, the tree of life, we know where

the tree of life is, it's the Garden of Eden, how is it God,

shut it in our big flaming sword and there's angels all around,

except in Revelation, we get back.

How do we get back there? Because Jesus of Nazareth, he

went under the Flaming A sword himself.

It looked like a cross and they killed him.

And he lives and he is resurrected.

The garden is open because Jesus opened it.

So when I say, I want you to follow Jesus, it's not because I

don't want you to have sex because I'm proved, it's because

I want your life to be abundant and eternal and Jesus makes that

happen. The highest design for your life

is a radical selfless Life Giving Medians to the way of

Jesus. From now until Easter, we're

going to see how Jesus undoes this.

It's going to take your breath away.

It's the best story in the world that you can't miss a week.

Kim is a week because what Jesus does to undo, this is amazing.

So Jesus, I pray that you would plant this in our hearts and

show us. And I confess my sin, I confess

that I am a sinner and I confess that I have sinned and I confess

that I have misused sex, and drugs and rock and roll and food

and everything. Thing.

So I ask for your grace and I ask for your forgiveness and I

ask that you would lead us into righteousness in your presence

Lord, we love you. And we thank you and your name.

Amen. Thank you for joining us today.

River City Church is all about experiencing and expressing

God's love in our lives and community.

And we hope that you've been able to experience that today as

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