January 4, 2010

"I heard you in the garden," the man answered. "I was afraid. I was naked, so I hid." Genesis 3:10

One of the devastating effects of sin is how it separates man from God - creation from Creator.

This morning I want to deal with another tragic effect of sin that turned Paradise into pain central. Not only does sin separate but sin alienates.

We see this in verse 10 where we find Adam hiding from God. The man who was created to walk and talk intimately with God was found hiding from God. Sin alienated Adam from his God.

In verse 10 there are several aspects of this alienation that are mentioned. The first is self-consciousness. When they awoke that morning, Adam and Eve were conscious only of their God. He was their north star, the focal point and center of their universe. While they were mindful of each other, their relationship with each other was bound up in their interactionn with God. Adam and Eve weren't just a couple, they were a one in Him. It was in God that they lived and moved and had their being.

But, when God came to meet them He did not find them and knew something had changed. They had become conscious of their sinfulness. Self-awareness had degenerated into a negative self-consciousness. The self-consciousness brought with it another consequence - shame. Shame is a terrible and debilitating condition. It is an unfortunate result of being separated and alienated from the Creator. We were designed to have our identity in Him. Sin changed that! That brought shame.

Shame is the emotional response to our self-consciousness. Adam and Eve, who were designed for perfection and who had known perfection were suddenly painfully aware of their imperfections.

The alienation of sin resulted in self-consciousness which caused shame which led to strife. When Adam and Eve were alienated from God they were put at odds with each other. Rather than working as one, it was now everyone for themselves. Where they once completed each other they now competed with one another.

Separation and alienation wrecked Paradise. We are still cleaning up the mess!

Sin is bad news. Once you understand that you can fully appreciate what Jesus, the Second Adam, came to accomplish.

"Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." Romans 5:9-11

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—" Colossians 1:21-22

This morning, thanks to Jesus, you do not have to remain in your alienation and shame! You can be reconciled to God and regenerated and redeemed from your sin! If you choose to remain in your sin - shame on you!

January 3, 2010

"But the Lord God called out to the man. "Where are you?" he asked.

Intellectually we know that God hates sin. And we know that we should too. But, there is something deep in our being that finds it easier to love sin than to love God. That "something" deep within us is called our "sin nature". Genesis 3 tells the sad story of where that nature came from.

The sin nature is a perversion of the free will with which God graced Adam and Eve. That will that had drawn them to God and connected them with God, was twisted against God when they disobeyed Him. You and I have been born with that nature having inherited it from them.

Nowhere in the Bible do we see the ugliness of sin any more clearly than in the Garden where God's grace is so evident. That ugliness is so evident because the consequences of sin are so clear. I want to discuss those over the next few posts.

The first consequence I want to focus on is that sin separates.

Creation was all about God wanting to be intimately related to the beings He had made and placed in a pristine holy environment. And it was good! Very good! So good that He looked forward to being with them each day and strolling through the paradise of Eden.

Think about that! A perfectly perfect God (perfect means complete-lacking nothing) longed to be WITh Adam and Eve! This God Who dwelt in perfect unity within the Trinity, still desired to love and be loved by man! Amazingly good news for us!

I want you to wrap your mind around that so that you can hate what their sin did to God - it created a separation between Him and His created beings. Those whom He had created for Himself were now inaccessible to a holy God not able to experience intimate friendship with sinful ones.

While there is no doubt that Adam and Eve were the big losers in this transaction - and us by inheritance - God suffered from their sin as well. His will was frustrated and His plan was sidetracked.

Sin separates you from God. That explains the deep longing in your soul because you were designed and created and wired to live in perfect fellowship with Him. But sin makes that impossible. Until you comprehend this simple but profound truth, the rest of the Bible will make no sense to you. You must clearly come to grips with the bad news of separation before you can glady embrace the good news about salvation.

Paradise was lost. Perfect union was shattered. In the presence of absolute love and grace, sin is exposed in all its hideousness.

Sin caused us to give up on God, but it did not cause God to give up on us. He still longs for us. He still comes seeking us. As horrible as our sin might be, His love and grace are greater! Though we were helplessly separated from Him, He immediately anounced a plan to reconnect us with Him!

All these years later, God comes to you each morning and longingly calls to you, "Where are you?"

How will you answer?

January 2, 2009

"The Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife to wear. The Lord God said, "The man has become like one of us. He can now tell the difference between good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick fruit from the tree of life and eat it. If he does, he will live forever." So the Lord God drove the man out of the Garden of Eden to work the ground he had been made out of. The Lord God drove him out and then placed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden. He also placed a flaming sword there. It flashed back and forth. The cherubim and the sword guarded the way to the tree of life." Genesis 3:21-24

I am reading through the Bible again in 2010 as I did last year. The plan I am following has an Old Testament reading and a New Testament portion. So, I have been in Genesis.

The events recorded in Genesis 3 are among the most tragic in all the Bible. When God comes looking for Adam and Eve in Paradise and they are not there. His question, "Adam, where are you?" is heart-breaking.

As sad as this story may be, God's response to them is very revealing of Who He is and how He operates. It should bless and encourage each of us.

God's initial response to the disobedience of Adam is one of disappointment and sorrow, not anger and vengence. Our God is not an angry God. Angry people feel powerless and out of control, God is neither. He is soveriegn and almighty. Nothing happens without His knowledge or consent.

His announcement to the serpent is significant because it is the first revelation of God's redemptive plan. He declares that evil will not triumph over righteousness. His curse upon the serpent is the beginning of the end for evil, and for him.

What moves me the most is how God reacts to Adam and Eve. His response to them speaks more of His concern for them than of His anger against them. Though He prounces curses on them and their efforts, these are not intended as punishment but merely the consequences of sin breaking relationship with God. I believe that God's curse on Adam and Eve was simply the removal of His blessing from them because of their sin. Sin separates us from God and therefore cut us off from His blessing. As I see it, this is what happened to Adam and Eve.

In stark contrast to the serpent's deceitfulness and Adam's selfishness is God's mercy and grace. While He doesn't remove the consequences of their sin, He limits the potential for more serious consequences and He initiates a plan to redeem them and restore the relationship.

In His first act of grace, God clothes them to hide their shame. Then He puts them out of the Garden so they will not eat from the Tree of Life and become eternally confirmed in their fallen state. He posts an angel between them and the tree just to assure that they will not access it.

We serve a God Who is always at His best even when we are at our worst. He is not a spiteful God or a vindictive God but a merciful God whose grace always exceeds our sin!

Celebrate His goodness! Rejoice in His grace! Live in His righteousness so you can enjoy the blessings of being in relationship with Him!

January 1, 2010

1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13And the evening and the morning were the third day. 14And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 1

There is a significant reoccuring phrase in Chapter 1 of Genesis. Can you find it?

You are right! It is, "And God said......"!

Actually, anything God says is significant, because of Who says it AND because of WHAT HAPPENS when He speaks!

In this dramatic account of the creation of the universe whenever God says, "Let there be...." - there was! God spoke and His words created! Whatever God commanded became a reality. And everything that happened as a result of His words were perfect!

It figures that perfect words from the mind and the mouth of a perfect God would result in the creation of perfection. Everything He spoke appeared and He pronounced it, "Good"!

The lesson for us, other than awe over the power over of our God, is that everything in the universe obeys God - except people. And everything that obeys Him becomes perfect - even people. His creation was perfect until one person refused to obey God. And it is Adam's disobedience that has ruined the perfect creation and sent the world into chaos.

What would it take to restore order? Is there a way for God's perfect will to be reestablished in His creation?

If there was any hope of it happening it would have to happen through perfect obedience. Perfect obedience by someone like --- Jesus.

Want to add a little perfection to your 2010? Want to be used by God to create a better world? Try a little obedience - or a lot of it!

December 31, 2009

"For with God nothing shall be impossible." Luke 1:37

On this final day of 2009 I want to remind you that not only does God have a plan and a purpose for your life but He has the power to make it happen. Christmas proves it!

There was no way Christmas could happen. Nothing had ever happened like it before or since. Mary's question was quite legitimate, "How can a virgin conceive a child?" It just doesn't happen - unless God wants it to. And He did.

When Mary heard the explanation from the angel, "And the angel answered and said unto her, 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God'", she needed no further explanation. Mary knew that God had power to fulfill His purpose.

For God's plan and purpose to be fulfilled, it would be necessary for a "Second Adam" to be born, one without a sin nature. The only way that could happen was for a virgin to become pregnant without the seed of a human. How could such a thing happen?

Only through the power of God and only through the purpose of the Holy Spirit. It was an ingenious plan - and an impossible one! Except "nothing is impossible with God"!

It is possible that someone might conjur up the idea that a Savior would have to be born of a virgin conceived by the Holy Spirit. The prophets had foretold it, so it was information that was available. But discovering the plan and executing it are two very different things! Only God could do it!

So, the good news heading into 2010 is that God has a plan and a purpose for your life. It will be something so big and wonderful that you will not have the power to make it happen. But God does! And He delights in the miraculous! He brought new life from a dead womb and John the Baptist blessed the world. And He created life in a virgin womb and the Savior was born!

God has everything He needs to bring His plan to fruition in your life to enable you to fulfill His purpose. You don't have to know how it will happen, just know Who will make it happen. And celebrate the God of possibilities Who is your God!

You may be facing some daunting circumstances right now! Perhaps life has ganged up on you and you feel weak and powerless. Maybe you have tried for years to make God's plan happen for you only to be disappointed.

The good news of Christmas is that God has a plan, He has a purpose AND He has the power to pull it off! 2010 will be a year of possibilities!

December 30, 2009

"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:19-21

Christmas wasn't an accident but the fulfillment of a glorious plan that God had envisioned from the beginning of time. His plan was to redeem the human race from the judgment of its sins. Jesus - the God/man came to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

That is only the beginning of the good news about Christmas!

Christmas also proves that God had a purpose! What an exciting purpose it is!

God's Word makes it clear from the moment God created man that He desired to enjoy fellowship with him. A paradise called Eden was created for them to spend time together. How many amazing walks they had winding their way through the incredible beauty of that garden. To make Adam's experience even more complete, God created a human partner for him. God was totally committed to the joy of this crown jewel of His creation.

Unfortunately, even tragically, this paradise was lost when the creatures betrayed their Creator. They exercised their will against their Holy Father and sinned. With the loss of their holiness their fellowship with God was broken. That was very disappointing to God and extremely devastating to man.

So, the plan of a loving God to lavish His love on His creation was interrupted and frustrated. How could a God Who is perfect and holy fellowship with a sinful race of human beings? There was no way His nature would allow Him to become sinful and there was no way that Adam could redeem himself. This was the seemingly hopeless dilemma that gripped the world as the sun rose on that first Christmas day.

Only God knew the promise that day held as He anxiously awaited the birth of His Son, the Child of Purpose.

In a humble stable in lowly Bethlehem under the supervision of two teen-agers, God's Son came, born sinless as a man conceived by the Holy Spirit so He could offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. This "second Adam" would restore the fellowship that was broken by the failure of the first Adam.

Christmas proves that God is seriously committed to His purpose. He desires fellowship with us so badly that He gave up His Son to redeem us. God, Who is love, needs an object for His love and through the grace of Jesus He can once more lavish His love on us.

Christmas was God's plan to fulfill His purpose. It happened on purpose and demonstrates how far God will go to know you and to be known by you!

If God is that determined to know you, how will you respond? What will you live for? Who will you live for? Will you purpose to know Him and receive His lavish love? Why not begin today?

December 29, 2009

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

The messages of Christmas are the essence of the "good news of great joy" which is to all the people.

God's message to the world is that He has a plan, He has a purpose, and He has the power to pull them off!

What was His plan?

His plan was to undo what Adam did. He wanted to restore the Paradise that was lost when Adam surrendered to sin. That plan was announced to the serpent in the garden.

"And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Genesis 3:14-15

In fact, God had a plan for redemption even BEFORE Adam fell!

"but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God." I Peter 1:19-21

Abraham was a huge part of God's plan because through Him, God established a race of people through whom He could send a redeemer.

Moses was a huge part of God's plan to deliver His people, to receive the Law and to follow God to the Promised Land.

The priests and the sacrificial system was part of the plan to foreshadow the coming of One Who would do away with sins.

God even used the Greeks and the Romans to set up the structure and the mindset that set the stage for Christ to come.

When you study history you cannot miss HIS STORY - His plan is evident in every development of mankind!

GOD HAS ALWAYS HAD A PLAN! Jesus was at the center of it! His coming at Christmas proved that God had a plan and He is serious about its execution!

You are part of God's plan! Do you know how you fit in? What will you do today to find God's plan?