Rebellion – God is rejected

wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman,

did God really say you must not eat from the tree in the garden?

The woman said to the serpent, we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say

you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it

or you will die. You will surely not die, the serpent said to the woman, for God knows that when you eat

of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw

that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining

wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized that they were naked,

so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden

in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

But the Lord God called to the man, where are you? He answered, I heard you in the garden

and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid. And he said, who told you that you were naked?

Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat? The man said, oh, the woman you put

here with me. She gave me some of the fruit from the tree and I ate it. Then the Lord God said to the

woman, what is this you have done? The woman said, oh, the serpent deceived me and I ate it.

So the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, cursed are you above all the livestock

and all the wild animals. You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers.

He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.

To the woman he said, I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing.

With pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule

over you. To Adam he said, because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I

commanded you, you must not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. Through painful toil you

will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat

the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground

since from it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.

Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all the living.

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

And the Lord God said, The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.

He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat

and live forever.

So the Lord God banished him from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the garden of Eden,

cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Well, as we continue to look at God's story, let's pray and ask for his help.

Our Father God, we come before you as the author of this story, this true story,

the creator of all things and the ruler over every one of us.

Father, we ask that you would help us to listen carefully to your story, to its truth,

so that we may understand who we are, what we have become, and our path of redemption.

Father, we ask that these words would not only give us knowledge and understanding with our heads,

but that it would truly show us our hearts and how our hearts can be made new.

We pray for your help in this. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, at a very early age, I decided that I didn't like school.

Maybe that's your story too.

I didn't like homework.

I didn't like the teacher.

And I didn't like the rules.

So we started a rebellion.

One lunchtime, my friends and I began to march around the school building,

as if it was like marching around the walls of Jericho.

Chanting as we went, we're on strike, as we passed the headmaster's classroom.

Soon, the whole school had joined in, from junior infants right up to sixth class,

all of us marching around the school, chanting in defiance of school rules.

It was a deliberate act of rebellion.

He was the headmaster.

We were the pupils.

It was his school, not ours.

He made the rules, and we were to obey them.

And we did not like it.

So in an act of defiance, we rebel.

Now I think that's a picture of all of our story.

In Genesis chapter 3, God tells us the true story of what we are really like.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

It's a story about our deliberate act of rebellion against our loving Creator and the devastating and eternal consequences.

The story all starts with the test to love God.

You may remember from last week as we looked at creation, that God in his love provided man with all that he needed.

Look back at chapter 2, verse 8.

So as God had created everything, we read in chapter 2, verse 8,

Now the Lord God had planted in the garden in the east in Eden.

Eden.

And there he put the man he had formed.

And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground, trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.

Eden is this beautiful, pleasing and plentiful garden.

No wonder it means delight.

Everything is there for man to enjoy.

Nothing going wrong.

There's no sadness or hurt.

No pain or struggles.

In fact, it's in this garden that the man and woman enjoy a perfect, intimate relationship with God.

Look at chapter 2, verse 25.

Here's the scene in the garden.

The man and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame.

You see, we've got to understand this carefully because their physical nakedness reflects a deeper inner nakedness.

Here are two people where there is complete openness between each other, but most importantly, openness with God.

There's nothing to hide.

There's nothing to fear.

They're completely transparent.

There is no shame.

There is no guilt.

Man and woman with their loving creator in perfect relationship.

This is how God designed the world to be.

It is perfect delight.

Now, God's beautiful design is going to be maintained by one simple command.

Go back to chapter 2, verse 16.

For this design to be maintained, there is one simple command.

And the Lord God commanded the man, you are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die.

You see, our love for God is to be something that's free and spontaneous.

It's to be a natural response to God's love towards us.

And the way to demonstrate our love is to obey God.

That's how we tell him and show him that we love him, is by obeying him.

So he says to man, don't eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Now, we'll get back to the tree in a minute.

But for now, I want us to see that God's command to his people is like a test of their love and loyalty.

It's not temptation because God has given them everything that they need.

They have all that they ever need for life.

He simply gives this command as a simple way for them to demonstrate their love to their creator God.

And it's no different for us.

Every single day through our words and actions, we are given opportunity to demonstrate our love to our loving creator God.

Through obeying him, we are showing our loyalty and love to him.

So first, there is the test to love God.

Second, we see there is a desire to be God because tragically, their love for God turns into a deliberate and intentional rebellion.

First of all, we have the talking snake.

Or is it?

Have a look at chapter 3, verse 1.

Now, the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman,

Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?

Now, I'm sure most of you have a picture in your mind as we read of that little scene.

Of this colourful snake wrapped around a tree talking to Eve with a hiss.

Offering this juicy apple in its coil.

It's the kind of pictures we see in kids' Bibles.

Now, I don't think that's really a very helpful picture at all.

Why?

Well, we're not told what he looks like.

In fact, we're not even told where he comes from.

Only that he is a created being.

Look again at verse 1.

Now, the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.

So, he's not the same as God.

But he is dependent on God.

And he is under God's rule.

However, when we do get to the New Testament,

it does become clear who this serpent is.

He is identified as that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan

who leads the whole world astray.

Now, some will say, well, the devil took the form of a serpent.

Others will say it's the symbol for the devil.

But let's get this clear.

Our concern is not what he looks like,

but how he works.

And I think that's the point of the story.

We're interested in how he works.

He is, look at verse 1,

the most crafty of all the animals that God has made.

So, he's not stupid.

He cleverly uses his wit to deceive.

In fact, his main means of deception

is to question God's word.

Look what it says at the end of verse 1.

He said to the woman,

did God really say,

you must not eat from any tree in the garden?

You see, it creates doubt,

and it makes us sceptical of God.

If God is truly loving,

would he really stop you from having everything in the garden?

It's such a subtle question

that he puts to the man and woman.

It's designed in such a way

that we begin to question God and his goodness.

And in fact, such a questioning

puts us over the creator of the universe.

And slowly and but surely,

we allow ourselves to believe

that God is really not that good,

and that he's maybe this mean kind of God,

and he's withholding all the best things from us.

And with a little bit more pondering,

we think,

well, God is the ultimate party pooter

who just says no all the time,

and he's out to spoil our fun

and ruin things for us.

And so we can begin to see the thinking

that is behind the man and the woman

as Satan comes and twists

and distorts what God has to say.

But the devil's deception

is also matched by man's willful desire.

Look at verse 2.

The woman said to the serpent,

We may eat from the trees in the garden,

but God did say,

You must not eat fruit from the tree

that is in the middle of the garden,

and you must not touch it,

or you will die.

Now the woman is just playing with truth here.

God never said anything about touching the fruit.

He said,

Don't eat it.

He never said anything about touching it.

So she's putting words in God's mouth

and making God out to be something that he is not.

Verse 4.

You will surely not die,

the serpent said to the woman.

For God knows that when you eat of it,

your eyes will be opened

and you will be like God,

knowing good and evil.

That's ultimately what the man and woman want.

They want to be like God.

Do you remember what the tree was called

back in verse 17 of chapter 2?

It's called the tree of the knowledge

of good and evil.

Now the knowledge of good and evil

is not just knowing the difference

between good and evil.

It's deciding for themselves

what is good and what is evil.

You see, when God made the world,

he pronounced everything as good.

After he created each stage,

he steps back and he looks and he says,

That is good.

God decides what is good and evil,

not us.

He knows what is best for us

because he made us.

But here's the problem.

That's what man wants.

We want to be like God

so that we decide what is good or evil.

We want to be the ones who declare

what is right and wrong.

In other words,

we've got no longer any use for God.

We don't need God anymore

because we decide what we should do.

Verse 6.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree

was good for food,

pleasing to the eye,

and also desirable for gaining wisdom,

she took some

and ate it.

Now we mustn't think that the fruit

is somehow magical.

It's not like they eat the fruit

and then all of a sudden

they've been given this God-like power.

Now remember that the tree

was a test to show their love

and their loyalty to God.

And they fail.

Rather than give their love to God,

they love themselves.

Instead of being loyal to their creator God,

they become loyal to their own desires

and they follow what's in their heart.

They simply long to be God.

Now the story we've just read

is the story of us all.

We are no different

to what happened in the Garden of Eden.

In fact, as we follow through in the story,

look how it continues.

Have a look at chapter 5, verse 1.

Chapter 5, verse 1.

This is the written account

of Adam's line.

So this is a history, if you like,

of the whole human race

from the beginning of time.

Here's a history.

Look what it says.

When God created man,

he made him in the likeness of God.

He created them male and female

and blessed them.

And when they were created,

he called them man.

So far, so good.

But now look what it says.

Verse 3.

When Adam had lived 130 years,

he had a son in his own likeness,

in his own image.

And he named him Seth.

Do you see what's happened?

No longer are we portrayed

as being made in God's image.

We now share in Adam's broken image.

We are like him.

We have the same desires as him.

We willfully defy God

and replace God

and say,

we don't need you anymore.

I know what is right

and best for me.

In fact,

as the story unfolds,

it gets even worse.

Have a look at chapter 6, verse 5.

This is the account of Noah.

Chapter 6, verse 5.

And God looks down on mankind

and it says,

The Lord saw

how great man's wickedness

on earth had become

and that every inclination

of the thoughts of his heart

was only evil

all of the time.

It doesn't mean to say

that man can't do good.

Man does do good.

But that our motives

and all our thinking

is only evil

all the time.

Everything about mankind,

his very inner being,

his nature,

is to rebel.

Just as I,

as a young kid,

wanted to rebel

against the headmaster.

So we all want to live our lives

in rebellion

against God.

We decide what's right.

But we have not made things better.

We've only made things worse.

In fact,

this sorry story

doesn't stop there.

Have a look at chapter 11,

verses 1 to 4.

As the whole story

begins to unfold before us.

Chapter 11, verse 1.

So now there's a large population

in the world,

but nothing has changed.

Chapter 11, verse 1.

Now the whole world

had one common language.

As men moved eastward,

they found a plain in Shinar

and they settled there.

And they said to each other,

come, let's make bricks

and bake them thoroughly.

They used brick instead of stone

and bitumen for mortar.

And here's the point.

Then they said,

come, let us build ourselves

a city

with a tower

that reaches to the heavens

so that we may make a name

for ourselves

and not be scattered

over the face

of the whole earth.

They're wanting to make

a name for themselves,

placing themselves

above God.

It's just another act

of rebellion.

We don't want God's name

to be great.

I want my name

to be great.

I am God.

I declare what is good

and what is evil.

And so we have a picture

of our sorry story.

Continually through time,

we hear God's word,

but we twist it

and we deny it.

We allow ourselves

to believe the lie

that God is not good

and that he's only out

to spoil our fun.

We ponder over our choices

and decisions

and we decide

we know what is best

and right for me.

We desire to be God.

We rebel against him

and we replace him

with me.

We no longer have any need

of God

because I

am now God.

So,

there is the desire

to be God

but when we rebel

against God,

there are devastating

and eternal consequences.

Look at verse 7

of chapter 3.

Our innocence

is lost.

Chapter 3,

verse 7.

So,

after taking the fruit,

chapter 3,

verse 7,

then the eyes

of both of them

were opened

and they realised

that they

were naked.

this isn't just

a physical awareness.

All of a sudden

they are conscious

of what they've done.

For the first time

in their lives,

they are now living

with this terrible weight

of guilt

and shame

that has come

upon them

and in desperation,

look at the rest

of verse 7,

they sewed fig leaves

together

to make a covering

for themselves.

You see,

they're no longer

enjoying this intimacy

with God

and with one another.

They're now trying

to literally

cover up

their shame.

They're trying

to hide away

but this outward

act of covering

is not going

to do anything.

It's like a sticky

plaster

on an open wound.

Verse 8,

then the man

and his wife

heard the sound

of the Lord God

as he was walking

in the garden

in the cool

of the day

and they hid

from the Lord God

among the trees

of the garden.

But the Lord God

called to the man,

Where are you?

He answered,

I heard you

in the garden

and I was afraid

because I was naked

so I hid.

Do you see,

man sees

his own shame.

He sees

what he has done

and God sees

his rebellious heart.

Intimacy

is now

replaced

by hiding.

The joy

that they had

with God

is now replaced

by fear.

They're no longer

walking with God.

They're now

running away

from God

trying to get away

because they're

too ashamed

and they do not

want to be with him.

And that's what

happens when we

rebel.

we lose

our deep

intimacy

with our

creator God.

We no longer

have that unity

with him

and that relationship.

Instead of his

friends,

we've become

his enemies.

Instead of

fellowship with him,

there is this

broken

separation.

But not only

is our innocence

lost,

but we now

live in a world

where there is

not blessing,

but curse.

Look at verse

14.

The Lord God

said to the serpent,

because you

have done this,

cursed are you

above all the

livestock and

all the wild

animals.

Verse 15,

and I will put

enmity between

you and the

woman and

between your

offspring and

hers.

You see,

instead of the

harmony between

man and creation,

there's going to

be this fierce

battle which is

going to be

played out

between mankind

and Satan.

And his

objective,

as always,

is to turn

people away

from the

loving God

and the

goodness of

his word.

And that's

his scheme

and that's

what he's

doing to

us today.

And that

battle gets

played out

every single

day in a

thousand different

ways as we

continue to

declare what

is good and

what is right.

But with our

rebellion comes

pain and

suffering,

verse 16,

to the

woman,

God said,

I will

greatly

increase your

pains in

childbearing,

with pain you

will give birth

to children,

and your

desire will be

for your

husband.

That is,

you will

long to

rule over

your husband

and he

will rule

over you.

And isn't

that our

experience in

life?

Families and

marriages and

relationships,

they all

begin to

break down

because we

love ourselves

more than we

love God

and we want

to be the

boss and we

want to be

in charge.

But perhaps

the worst of

all of this

is death.

Look at

verse 17.

To Adam

he said,

because you

listened to

your wife and

ate from the

tree from

which I

commanded you,

you must

not eat of

it.

cursed is

the ground

because of

you.

Verse 19.

By the

sweat of

your brow

you will

eat your

food until

you return

to the

ground,

since from

it you

were taken,

for dust

you are,

and to

dust you

will return.

In the

beginning,

everything

lives.

Now,

everything

dies.

Have a

look again

at chapter

5.

Look at

the account

of humanity.

See the

picture that

is unfolding.

So,

in verse

5 of

chapter 5

we read,

altogether

Adam lived

930 years

and then

he died.

Verse 6,

when Seth

lived 105

years he

became the

father of

Enosh.

Now,

look down

at verse

8.

Altogether

Seth lived

912 years

and then

he died.

Verse 9,

Enosh had

lived 90

years and

he became

the father

of Kenan.

Verse 11,

Altogether

Enosh lived

905 years

and then

he died.

On

on and

on it goes

through the

history of

the world

and for

every

mankind

everyone

dies.

And

one day

somebody

will stand

over our

grave

and they

will say

ashes to

ashes,

dust

to dust.

The giving

of life

is now

replaced with

the pronouncement

of death.

What God

had said at

the beginning

was true.

You must

not eat

from the

tree of

the knowledge

of good

and evil

for when

you eat

of it

you will

surely

die.

we may

not have

experienced

death

ourselves

but we've

experienced

in the

sense that

we've all

lost

loved ones.

Death

brings pain

and heartache.

It takes

those we

dearly love.

It steals

away our

joy.

It's a

curse

that we

live with

day in

day out.

Do you

remember what

the serpent

said to

the woman

about eating

the fruit?

The subtle

lie?

He said

you will

not

surely

die.

Do what

you like.

Live how

you want.

Don't

believe this

nonsense about

God judging

people.

It's not

true.

but they

did die

and God

will judge.

In fact

how God

responds

shows how

seriously

God takes

our rebellion.

Look at

chapter 3

verse 23.

So the

Lord God

banished him

from the

garden of

Eden to

work the

ground from

which he

had been

taken.

And after

he drove

the man

out he

placed on

the east

side of

the garden

of Eden

cherubim

or like

angels and

a flaming

sword flashing

back and

forth to

guard the

way to

the tree

of life.

Shut

out.

Separated

from God.

This is

God's

fair,

right and

just response

to our

rebellion.

In God's

judgment we

are eternally

separated from

the source of

all life and

all love.

You see

when we

rebel we

invite God's

judgment upon

ourselves.

And this

is my

story.

And this

is your

story.

It's a

story we

don't like to

hear.

but it's

true.

Well

thankfully

mixed in

with our

story,

our tragic

story is a

story of

hope.

In the

chaos and

in the

disorder and

in the

death that

we see all

around us,

God speaks

a promise.

Chapter 3

verse 15.

This is

what God

said.

I will

put enmity

speaking to

the serpent,

to the

devil.

He says I

will put

enmity between

you and

the woman

and between

your offspring

and hers.

He will

crush your

head and

you will

strike his

heel.

You see

from the

woman,

from this

human race,

one special

person is

going to be

born and

that person

will come

and crush

the devil.

Defeating

him,

destroying

him,

restoring our

broken lives

and renewing

our disordered

world.

How do we

know?

Well have a

look at Romans

Romans 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5.

Romans chapter

Romans 5 · chapter mention

5.

Here we

see the

promise that

God had

given.

We're

reminded,

first of all,

of what we

are like.

Romans 5

Romans 5:12

verse 12.

Therefore,

just as sin

entered the

world through

one man,

so he's

talking about

Adam and

his rebellion,

therefore just as

sin entered the

world through

one man,

and death

through sin,

and in this

way death

came to

all men

because all

sinned.

you see,

it's making

that clear

picture that

we are just

like Adam.

We've all

messed up.

We will all

die.

We will all

face God's

judgment.

But here we

see the promise.

Here we see the

hope.

Verse 17.

For if by the

trespass or the

rebellion of

one man,

death reigns

through that

one man.

So just

because of

rebellion,

this world is

now under the

curse of

death,

and everything

is broken,

and everything

is going

wrong.

Look what it

says at the

rest of verse

17.

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.

Ralph talked

about this at

the beginning,

just as we

sang those

songs.

In some ways

we're all under

Adam, the Adam

of the Garden

of Eden.

But now a new

Adam has come,

Jesus Christ,

one who obeyed

God perfectly,

one who never

did anything

wrong, one who

did everything

that was right.

And he comes

and he takes

all our guilt

and all our

shame and all

our rebellion

and he takes

it on himself

and he is

punished and he

is judged for

me and for

you so that

we can receive

his gift of

life, so that

we are now

covered in his

righteousness, so

that God no

longer sees the

guilt and shame

but now treasures

us and welcomes

us as his own

son.

through the

death of

Jesus Christ,

Satan is

crushed and

defeated and

life is ours

to receive.

The promise of

Jesus Christ who

comes to give

us life so that

we no longer

have to live in

rebellion but

now we have new

life and we can

follow his way

and do what

God says.

But you know

what, that's not

the end.

Just have a look

at Romans chapter

Romans 16 · chapter mention

16.

Look at the way

this is put.

For all those

who have received

Jesus Christ and

who are following

Jesus Christ, look

what he says to

us.

Chapter 16

verse 20.

The God of

peace will soon

crush Satan under

your feet.

Isn't that

amazing?

What he's telling

us here that as

we, as people who

have been put right

by Jesus, begin

to share and

preach and

proclaim and

share the good

news of Jesus

Christ with other

people, as we

tell the gospel to

other people, they're

also set free from

the power of

Satan.

They're also

released from the

curse of death and

judgment and they

are given you

life through Jesus

Christ.

The God of

peace will soon

crush Satan under

your feet.

As we share the

story of Jesus

Christ, lives are

changed, lives are

transformed and they

receive the life

that only God

can give.

This is our

true story.

A story of

rebellion, but

how we are

rescued and

how we join in

with that rescuer

Jesus Christ and

share that same

good news story so

that others are

also rescued from

the predicament that

they are in.

may God give us

opportunity to

share that story

with the world

around us.

Let's pray.

Father, please help

us to see

ourselves clearly.

Please help us to

take off those

rose-colored

spectacles that we

have on that see

us from our view.

help us to see

ourselves from your

view.

And would you

teach us to keep

running to the

Lord Jesus, the

one who has come to

deliver us, the

one who has come to

cover us in

righteousness, no

longer suffering under

guilt and shame,

but treasured and

treated as your own

son.

thank you that life

is ours today

through Jesus.

And we pray that we

would share of that

same message and

that people would be

set free from

following the ways

of Satan so that

they may follow the

Lord Jesus and live

for him.

We pray this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

We're going to

sing in celebration

which picks up some

of those themes,

I will glory in my

Redeemer whose

priceless blood has

ransomed me.

Mine was the sin.

That's the reason why

Jesus had to die was

because of my

rebellion.

But he sets me free

to live a life for

him.

So let's stand

together as we

sing.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.