Paradise Promised
Series: Beginnings
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 10th November 2024
Passage: Genesis 3:7-20
00:00:00 --> 00:00:10 H.G. Wells was an English writer, quite popular in the end of the 19th century and the mid-20th
00:00:10 --> 00:00:17 century. He was prolific. He wrote in many different genres. He wrote more than 50 novels,
00:00:17 --> 00:00:24 dozens of short stories, such as The War of the Worlds turned into a classic movie with Tom Cruise
00:00:24 --> 00:00:34 back in the day. He started life as someone who was, in his own words, sympathetic towards God
00:00:34 --> 00:00:43 and religion, but he ended life as an atheist. He started life hopeful, but ended life actually
00:00:43 --> 00:00:52 quite depressed and despondent. In his short History of the World, which is quite an ironic
00:00:52 --> 00:00:58 statement, title for a book, quite a bold and ambitious thing actually, Short History of the
00:00:58 --> 00:01:07 World, he wrote, can we doubt that presently our race will more than realise our boldest imaginations,
00:01:08 --> 00:01:16 that it will achieve unity and peace, and that our children will live in a world made more splendid
00:01:16 --> 00:01:24 and lovely than any palace or garden than we know, going on from strength to strength in ever widening
00:01:24 --> 00:01:32 circle of achievement. What man has done, the little triumphs of his present state, form but a prelude
00:01:32 --> 00:01:43 to the things that man has yet to do. That's written in 1937. Nine years later, after the awful carnage of
00:01:43 --> 00:01:49 World War II, and just before he died, in fact, this book was published just after he died, he wrote
00:01:49 --> 00:01:57 this. This is his final work. The cold-blooded massacre of the defenceless, the return of deliberate
00:01:57 --> 00:02:04 and organised torture, mental torment, the fear to a world from which such things had seemed well
00:02:04 --> 00:02:22 nine banished. Nine years later, from hope, the world is only improving, improving, improving, to
00:02:22 --> 00:02:29 this is the end of all things. It's hard to avoid the conclusion, which is what we've been looking at
00:02:29 --> 00:02:36 here in the book of Genesis, that there is something fundamentally wrong with the world in which we live.
00:02:37 --> 00:02:47 Every worldview, every philosophy must come to terms with the experience of life in this world, and the
00:02:47 --> 00:02:53 difficulty of the experience of life in this world. According to the Christian faith, as we've been looking at
00:02:53 --> 00:03:05 in the book of Genesis, our biggest problem is what the Bible calls sin. That is the linchpin of what is wrong with
00:03:05 --> 00:03:16 our world. Last week, we saw how sin entered the world through the rejection of God. And what we're doing
00:03:16 --> 00:03:24 today, and what we're doing next week, is we're hanging around this chapter a little bit to look at what the results of
00:03:24 --> 00:03:30 sin are in our world and in our lives, and what God does about it. And so if you've got the St. Paul's app, there's
00:03:30 --> 00:03:39 really two points today, with a couple of sub-points, just to expand it a little bit. But really, it's just the curse and the
00:03:39 --> 00:03:47 blessing. The curse of sin, as we see in the Bible, has touched every aspect of life. It is
00:03:47 --> 00:03:56 comprehensive in the way that life has been transformed. There's not a single aspect of life
00:03:56 --> 00:04:03 that is beyond the reach of sin and its consequences. And so I really want to look at four consequences
00:04:03 --> 00:04:09 really briefly, without unpacking them too much, four consequences of sin that we see in the verses that were
00:04:09 --> 00:04:17 just read out for us. The first thing that happens when God is disobeyed is Adam and Eve are cut off from
00:04:17 --> 00:04:27 God. They experience the curse of spiritual alienation. We looked at this last week, we're going to do it again,
00:04:27 --> 00:04:28 verse 8.
00:04:28 --> 00:04:48 Now, walking is a Hebrew idiom. It's an idiom for fellowship. It's an idiom for friendship. It's an
00:04:48 --> 00:04:58 medium for closeness and intimacy. And this is what they had with God before sin entered the world. And
00:04:58 --> 00:05:07 now they are hiding from God. We see it in the prophets. We see it in the New Testament with Peter.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:16 Peter, when they are in the presence of God, they want God to leave. They want God to go.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:23 They cannot be coping with the presence of God. They are terrified. They can't stand. They are overwhelmed.
00:05:24 --> 00:05:33 They can't look at God. Now, of course, in our world, not everyone feels this sense of alienation from God.
00:05:33 --> 00:05:45 That is mainly because anyone in our world who does not know the God of the Bible and his grace and his mercy in Jesus,
00:05:46 --> 00:05:50 what has happened is we've created gods in our own image.
00:05:52 --> 00:06:00 Sort of like if you watch The Simpsons for too long at all, and you will find the cartoon God of The Simpsons,
00:06:00 --> 00:06:08 a God who is powerless, a God who just does not want to be disturbed, who wants to be kind of separated from the
00:06:08 --> 00:06:16 irreligion and the religion of the world, a God who's disconnected, a God who simply shrugs his shoulders
00:06:16 --> 00:06:23 and tolerates our views and our lives. And occasionally when he gets disturbed, he just gets cranky
00:06:23 --> 00:06:28 and throws the odd lightning bolts here and there and so on. That's the kind of God that we have
00:06:28 --> 00:06:34 in our mind. And so we don't feel alienated from that God because it's a God that we've made.
00:06:37 --> 00:06:42 The Bible tells us that we are alienated from the God who creates, the God who defines,
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 the God who sustains all things, including our very lives.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 The second thing that happens when God is disobeyed
00:06:48 --> 00:06:57 is that we are cut off from our self. So spiritual alienation, alienation from God,
00:06:57 --> 00:07:05 leads to personal alienation or psychological alienation. We do not know our true self.
00:07:06 --> 00:07:16 Notice the contrast with Genesis 2.25, which says Adam and Eve were both naked and they felt no shame.
00:07:16 --> 00:07:27 Shame. Shame is an internal uneasiness that's at the centre of the self.
00:07:28 --> 00:07:35 The minute we lost God, there was a dislocation with the self.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:44 The consequence of sin is that we are no longer easy with who we are.
00:07:44 --> 00:07:54 Sin causes every single person to have a deep sense of inadequacy. When we lose God, we lose ourselves.
00:07:55 --> 00:08:03 And the great John Calvin, the theologian, a church reformer, said that we cannot know ourself.
00:08:05 --> 00:08:11 We cannot contemplate who we are unless we have first contemplated and gazed upon who God is.
00:08:11 --> 00:08:21 With the loss of God comes a loss of identity and the drive to cover up that deep inadequacy that we feel.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:28 There is not a single person alive who believes that they are entirely okay.
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 Not a single person.
00:08:30 --> 00:08:43 Other people and circumstances in life might aggravate our sense of inadequacy, but they are never the cause of it.
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 They are never the cause of our inadequacy.
00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 Spiritual alienation leads to psychological alienation.
00:08:53 --> 00:09:00 The third thing that happens when God is disobeyed, for Adam and Eve here, is they are cut off from others.
00:09:01 --> 00:09:06 So spiritual alienation leads to psychological alienation, which leads to social alienation.
00:09:07 --> 00:09:09 Back to chapter 3, verse 7.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:29 That is, they are not just hiding from God and they are not just trying to hide from themselves, but they are hiding from each other.
00:09:29 --> 00:09:40 Sin, this is very general terms, but sin is the source of every single personal relationship problem.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 Every single one of them.
00:09:44 --> 00:09:51 If we cannot be utterly transparent with God, then we cannot be utterly transparent with another human being.
00:09:51 --> 00:10:03 And unless we are resting deep in our hearts in the assurance that God delights in us, despite all of our flaws and inadequacies,
00:10:03 --> 00:10:10 then we move into every single relationship desperate for the approval of others.
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 And we sit in the process.
00:10:13 --> 00:10:23 Gossip comes from a deep sense of inadequacy in me, and it's the way that I connect with others.
00:10:24 --> 00:10:36 Gossip becomes a relational connector point for me, where I'm constantly communicating information in the hope that this person will connect with me,
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 and love me, and approve of me in some kind of way.
00:10:43 --> 00:10:50 If we are not sure about our own lovability, then we seek to extract it from others.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:52 I'm just using gossip as an example.
00:10:54 --> 00:10:57 I will destroy that reputation in order to build this one.
00:10:58 --> 00:10:59 That's what gossip is.
00:11:01 --> 00:11:06 It's relationally destructive in order to build this relationship.
00:11:06 --> 00:11:14 If we choose people and relationships that make us feel good about ourselves,
00:11:15 --> 00:11:19 that is one of the results of our social alienation.
00:11:20 --> 00:11:24 I'll only choose those relationships that will make me feel good.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:34 And in that sense, I'm simply using other people to build up my own sense of self because of my deep inadequacy.
00:11:34 --> 00:11:37 And therefore, keep covering up.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 Have to keep covering up more and more.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 Keep covering up, keep covering up, keep covering up,
00:11:42 --> 00:11:46 lest they will see the real me.
00:11:49 --> 00:11:52 We can see how sin creates barriers in verse 11.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:54 God comes into the garden.
00:11:55 --> 00:11:56 He finds Adam and then says to him,
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 Who told you you were naked?
00:12:01 --> 00:12:06 Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 Now, what God's trying to do here with Adam in this moment,
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 he's trying to get Adam to confess his sin.
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 He's trying to get Adam to repent.
00:12:16 --> 00:12:20 He's trying to help Adam see that he has failed.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:22 And so Adam has a choice.
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 He knows God.
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 He's walked and talked with him in the Garden of Eden for who knows how long.
00:12:29 --> 00:12:30 He's got a choice here.
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 He could lean into God's mercy.
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 He could have admitted this point.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:38 You're right.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 I am so flawed.
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 I have done the wrong thing.
00:12:43 --> 00:12:46 Instead, he makes a decision to justify himself.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:47 In verse 12,
00:12:47 --> 00:12:55 You see what he does?
00:12:57 --> 00:12:58 Oh, come on, God.
00:12:59 --> 00:12:59 Seriously.
00:13:00 --> 00:13:04 You know that helper that you gave me?
00:13:05 --> 00:13:06 She did it.
00:13:08 --> 00:13:09 Not only is he blaming Eve,
00:13:09 --> 00:13:10 he's blaming God.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:12 You know?
00:13:12 --> 00:13:13 I mean, if it wasn't for the helper,
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 we wouldn't have this scenario.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:22 He turns the focus away from himself onto Eve and onto God.
00:13:23 --> 00:13:24 And Eve does the same thing.
00:13:24 --> 00:13:25 Verse 13,
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 The serpent deceived me and I ate.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 There is even a breakdown in relationship with the animal world.
00:13:35 --> 00:13:36 God, it's not my fault.
00:13:38 --> 00:13:39 The dog ate the homework.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 Not my fault at all, God.
00:13:42 --> 00:13:42 God.
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 Racism, sexism, classism,
00:13:47 --> 00:13:52 every other relational barrier that we keep fueling
00:13:52 --> 00:13:56 is linked to Genesis 3 and the decision to disobey God.
00:13:58 --> 00:14:02 The fourth thing that happens when God is disobeyed
00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 is Adam and Eve are cut off from nature.
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 There's even physical alienation.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 Verses 17 onwards.
00:14:11 --> 00:14:15 Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 about which I commanded you, you must not eat from.
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 Cursed is the ground because of you.
00:14:21 --> 00:14:25 Through painful toil, you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 It will produce thorns and thistles for you.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 And you will eat the plants of the field.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:35 By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground.
00:14:35 --> 00:14:37 Since from it you were taken.
00:14:38 --> 00:14:39 For dust you are.
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 Into dust you will return.
00:14:42 --> 00:14:46 We saw in the second message of this series,
00:14:47 --> 00:14:53 humanity was created to steward creation as God's representative.
00:14:54 --> 00:14:58 From the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God,
00:14:58 --> 00:15:04 it put them and us at loggerheads with the creation that we were meant to steward.
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 Things do not work well.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 And there is this big problem.
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13 Nature draws us in.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 It is meant to draw us in.
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 We are meant to delight in it,
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 but it is not our friend.
00:15:22 --> 00:15:26 Disease, floods, extreme weather, earthquakes, landslides,
00:15:26 --> 00:15:30 and the weeds I was trying to dig out in my garden yesterday.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:32 And on it goes.
00:15:33 --> 00:15:34 And goes and goes.
00:15:35 --> 00:15:41 Because sin ruined our relationship with the natural world.
00:15:41 --> 00:15:45 The great English preacher George Whitefield once asked,
00:15:45 --> 00:15:48 haven't you ever noticed that when you come near the animals,
00:15:48 --> 00:15:49 they growl at us?
00:15:50 --> 00:15:51 They bark at us?
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 The birds screech at us and fly away?
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 Do you know why?
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 They know that we have a quarrel with their master.
00:16:02 --> 00:16:05 Nature draws us in and it wears us down.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:11 It's why we go to work and we delight in it on one level
00:16:11 --> 00:16:12 and it ruins us on another.
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 While it's satisfying on one level,
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 but deeply dissatisfying on another.
00:16:19 --> 00:16:23 It's why the emails keep coming and keep coming and keep coming
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 and keep coming and they will never stop.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:36 Now all of these alienations come because we have rejected
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 and we are now hiding from God.
00:16:40 --> 00:16:47 This is how the Christian faith understands what is wrong with the world.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 What the problems of the world are.
00:16:50 --> 00:16:55 It's deep and it's complex and it's quite devastating.
00:16:56 --> 00:17:03 Every single area of life is touched by sin.
00:17:03 --> 00:17:08 Now I would suggest that every other worldview,
00:17:09 --> 00:17:12 every other worldview, whether it be religious or secular,
00:17:12 --> 00:17:16 is more simplistic in the way it tries to understand the world.
00:17:16 --> 00:17:20 What I mean by that is other worldviews tend to identify
00:17:20 --> 00:17:25 the source of the world's problems or our personal problems
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 in one or two of the alienations I mentioned,
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 but not all of the alienations of the world.
00:17:32 --> 00:17:35 The stream right-wingers say that the problem with the world
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 is the left-wingers.
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 They're the bad people.
00:17:41 --> 00:17:42 They're the bad people over there.
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 Those other people are the problem.
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 Others say it's psychological oppression
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 is the problem with our world.
00:17:52 --> 00:17:57 Give everyone a healthy self-esteem
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 and the world will be changed.
00:18:02 --> 00:18:04 Others say it's social isolation.
00:18:05 --> 00:18:07 Learn to love
00:18:07 --> 00:18:10 and the world will be problems and be solved.
00:18:12 --> 00:18:17 You see, what happens with every other way you look at it,
00:18:18 --> 00:18:22 every other solution wants to find some villain in the world.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 And if we can solve that villain,
00:18:26 --> 00:18:27 then our problems are fixed.
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 The Bible says that villain is sin
00:18:31 --> 00:18:36 and it's touched every single thing in our existence.
00:18:36 --> 00:18:37 Everything.
00:18:38 --> 00:18:38 Sin's the problem.
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 It's not religion and it's not irreligion.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:43 It's not right-wing.
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 It's not left-wing.
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 It's not this racial group.
00:18:47 --> 00:18:48 It's not that racial group.
00:18:49 --> 00:18:52 It's not the body nor the mind.
00:18:53 --> 00:18:54 Sin is the problem.
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 And that's why the Christian church,
00:19:00 --> 00:19:05 as well as the life of the individual Christian,
00:19:06 --> 00:19:09 our response to a broken world
00:19:09 --> 00:19:12 ought to be one of comprehensive healing.
00:19:12 --> 00:19:15 comprehensive healing.
00:19:15 --> 00:19:18 Some churches,
00:19:19 --> 00:19:23 you might call these churches more conservative churches,
00:19:24 --> 00:19:28 would focus on the spiritual alienation
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 and a little bit of the psychological alienation.
00:19:31 --> 00:19:35 Others, which tend to be more liberal churches,
00:19:36 --> 00:19:40 focus on the physical and the social alienation in our world.
00:19:40 --> 00:19:43 What we desire here at St. Paul's
00:19:43 --> 00:19:46 is to have an appropriate balance
00:19:46 --> 00:19:52 of seeking to meet all kinds of alienations in this world.
00:19:52 --> 00:19:57 The problems of this world are not just solved
00:19:57 --> 00:20:02 by people needing just to love each other a bit more
00:20:02 --> 00:20:06 and just by being accepting and embracing of everything.
00:20:07 --> 00:20:11 Nor are they solved just by telling them
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 you need to repent of your sin.
00:20:12 --> 00:20:21 It's proclamation of the truth of salvation in Jesus Christ
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 and works of service
00:20:23 --> 00:20:26 of serving the alienations of our world.
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 It's all of those things.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 This is how we seek to bless the world
00:20:29 --> 00:20:31 that is broken by sin.
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 Which brings me to
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 the second point, the blessing.
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 How does the blessing come then to our world?
00:20:39 --> 00:20:42 How does this broken world get healed?
00:20:42 --> 00:20:46 Verse 15 is a tremendous hope.
00:20:47 --> 00:20:52 Verse 15 is only one of two places in the Bible.
00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 Only one of two places in the Bible
00:20:55 --> 00:20:58 where God verbalizes a curse.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 The others in chapter four of Genesis.
00:21:01 --> 00:21:02 The only two places in the Bible.
00:21:03 --> 00:21:07 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10 between your offspring and hers.
00:21:10 --> 00:21:14 He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.
00:21:16 --> 00:21:19 What's interesting here is the division of the world.
00:21:20 --> 00:21:23 The division between the serpent and the woman
00:21:23 --> 00:21:28 and the serpent's offspring and the woman's offspring.
00:21:28 --> 00:21:31 Now, is that saying, therefore,
00:21:32 --> 00:21:34 that all people from here on in
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 are going to have a problem with snakes?
00:21:37 --> 00:21:40 Well, now, I've got to agree with Indiana Jones.
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 I don't like snakes.
00:21:42 --> 00:21:42 All right?
00:21:42 --> 00:21:44 Not a personal preference.
00:21:44 --> 00:21:48 Although, I don't like spiders more.
00:21:48 --> 00:21:52 But that's not what's being said here.
00:21:52 --> 00:21:53 Let me just take that out
00:21:53 --> 00:21:55 in case you're putting that down in your notes.
00:21:55 --> 00:21:57 John 8.44 sheds a little bit of light
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 on what's being said here.
00:21:59 --> 00:22:00 You belong to your father.
00:22:01 --> 00:22:02 This is Jesus speaking, the devil.
00:22:03 --> 00:22:06 And you want to carry out your father's desires.
00:22:06 --> 00:22:08 He was a murderer from the beginning,
00:22:08 --> 00:22:09 not holding to the truth.
00:22:09 --> 00:22:11 For there is no truth in him.
00:22:11 --> 00:22:15 When he lies, he speaks his native language,
00:22:15 --> 00:22:18 for he is a liar and the father of lies.
00:22:18 --> 00:22:23 So the serpent's children, according to John 8.44,
00:22:23 --> 00:22:27 the offspring are those who buy into his lie.
00:22:29 --> 00:22:32 His lie that God is not good.
00:22:33 --> 00:22:34 That lie.
00:22:36 --> 00:22:38 And as we saw last week,
00:22:38 --> 00:22:43 this lie permeates right through to every human heart
00:22:43 --> 00:22:46 that God cannot be trusted.
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48 He cannot be trusted.
00:22:50 --> 00:22:53 In fact, this is not in your notes.
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 I said, for those of you who are reading it,
00:22:56 --> 00:22:58 I said a couple of weeks ago,
00:22:58 --> 00:23:03 the language, the name of God changes in Genesis.
00:23:04 --> 00:23:05 So from in Genesis chapter one,
00:23:05 --> 00:23:09 it is Elohim, almighty God,
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 the creator of all things, Elohim.
00:23:12 --> 00:23:14 And then when he creates humanity,
00:23:14 --> 00:23:16 it shifts to Elohim Yahweh,
00:23:17 --> 00:23:19 the creator almighty God
00:23:19 --> 00:23:22 who is in covenant relationship with people.
00:23:23 --> 00:23:25 And I said, that is Elohim Yahweh
00:23:25 --> 00:23:27 is the dominant name for God
00:23:27 --> 00:23:30 in Genesis chapter two,
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 the end of chapter two,
00:23:31 --> 00:23:34 right through until later in Genesis.
00:23:34 --> 00:23:36 The dominant name.
00:23:37 --> 00:23:39 There's only one place in Genesis
00:23:39 --> 00:23:43 where once Elohim Yahweh is used,
00:23:43 --> 00:23:45 it shifts back to Elohim
00:23:45 --> 00:23:47 and Elohim Yahweh is not used.
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48 Only one place.
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 In other words,
00:23:50 --> 00:23:52 there's only one place in Genesis
00:23:52 --> 00:23:55 where the disconnection happens
00:23:55 --> 00:23:57 between a powerful God
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58 and a relating God.
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 Only one place.
00:23:59 --> 00:24:03 And it's in the serpent's dialogue with Eve.
00:24:07 --> 00:24:11 The main thing that the serpent does with Eve
00:24:11 --> 00:24:15 is he disconnects relationship with God.
00:24:15 --> 00:24:21 And that is the impact of sin in our lives.
00:24:21 --> 00:24:23 And we buy into that lie here
00:24:23 --> 00:24:25 that he is not a good God.
00:24:26 --> 00:24:27 That if you obey him,
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 you follow him,
00:24:28 --> 00:24:29 you trust in him,
00:24:29 --> 00:24:32 you will ruin your life.
00:24:32 --> 00:24:37 And we buy into that lie
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 every time we gossip.
00:24:40 --> 00:24:42 And every other sin.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:46 If you want to be fulfilled and happy,
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 you have to determine
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 how to live your life.
00:24:50 --> 00:24:52 And that is the lie
00:24:52 --> 00:24:54 that's deep in every human heart.
00:24:54 --> 00:24:58 Notice what God says here.
00:24:58 --> 00:25:00 I will put enmity
00:25:00 --> 00:25:02 between your offspring and hers.
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 First of all,
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 God says,
00:25:06 --> 00:25:08 I will take the initiative.
00:25:10 --> 00:25:11 I will put.
00:25:14 --> 00:25:16 It's not saying here
00:25:16 --> 00:25:18 that some are bad
00:25:18 --> 00:25:20 and some are good by nature.
00:25:20 --> 00:25:22 That's not what it's saying.
00:25:22 --> 00:25:25 It says that God will take the initiative
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27 and as a result,
00:25:28 --> 00:25:30 some will reject the lies
00:25:30 --> 00:25:31 of the serpent
00:25:31 --> 00:25:33 because of God's initiative.
00:25:35 --> 00:25:37 Those are the offspring of Eve.
00:25:40 --> 00:25:40 Notice
00:25:40 --> 00:25:44 that he doesn't say
00:25:44 --> 00:25:46 the offspring of Adam.
00:25:48 --> 00:25:49 Have you ever read that
00:25:49 --> 00:25:49 and wondered
00:25:49 --> 00:25:53 why Eve,
00:25:53 --> 00:25:53 not Adam?
00:25:54 --> 00:25:54 I mean,
00:25:54 --> 00:25:56 this is a patriarchal society
00:25:56 --> 00:25:58 where genealogies
00:25:58 --> 00:25:59 were all about blokes.
00:26:00 --> 00:26:00 So,
00:26:01 --> 00:26:01 why
00:26:01 --> 00:26:03 mention Eve?
00:26:03 --> 00:26:05 Why emphasize Eve?
00:26:07 --> 00:26:08 It's a good question.
00:26:08 --> 00:26:08 I'm not going to answer just yet.
00:26:08 --> 00:26:09 We'll get there in a minute.
00:26:11 --> 00:26:13 What is intriguing
00:26:13 --> 00:26:16 is the first part of verse 15
00:26:16 --> 00:26:18 is that it's all plural.
00:26:18 --> 00:26:21 Two groups of people,
00:26:21 --> 00:26:22 children of Satan,
00:26:22 --> 00:26:23 children of Eve.
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 Then there's a shift
00:26:24 --> 00:26:25 to the singular
00:26:25 --> 00:26:28 in the original Hebrew language.
00:26:28 --> 00:26:29 At the end of verse 15,
00:26:30 --> 00:26:32 he will crush your head
00:26:32 --> 00:26:35 and you will strike his heel.
00:26:35 --> 00:26:39 That is,
00:26:39 --> 00:26:40 there is an individual
00:26:40 --> 00:26:43 who will crush the serpent
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 and his lies.
00:26:45 --> 00:26:47 And as he crushes
00:26:47 --> 00:26:49 the serpent's head,
00:26:49 --> 00:26:51 the serpent will be
00:26:51 --> 00:26:52 in an attempt
00:26:52 --> 00:26:52 to destroy,
00:26:53 --> 00:26:55 to destroy him.
00:26:56 --> 00:26:56 The he.
00:26:57 --> 00:26:59 This person
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 is the offspring
00:27:00 --> 00:27:00 of the woman.
00:27:01 --> 00:27:02 Why not the man?
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 Why is it Eve
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 and not Adam?
00:27:07 --> 00:27:09 There is only one person
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 in the history
00:27:10 --> 00:27:10 of humanity
00:27:10 --> 00:27:13 that was the,
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 who was only
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 an offspring
00:27:15 --> 00:27:16 of a woman.
00:27:17 --> 00:27:18 Only one person
00:27:18 --> 00:27:19 in history
00:27:19 --> 00:27:20 who was only ever
00:27:20 --> 00:27:21 offspring
00:27:21 --> 00:27:22 of just a woman.
00:27:23 --> 00:27:23 Not,
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 I'm an offspring
00:27:24 --> 00:27:25 of a man
00:27:25 --> 00:27:25 and a woman
00:27:25 --> 00:27:26 as you all are.
00:27:26 --> 00:27:29 but not Jesus.
00:27:31 --> 00:27:32 And we celebrate
00:27:32 --> 00:27:34 the offspring
00:27:34 --> 00:27:37 of a woman,
00:27:38 --> 00:27:38 a virgin,
00:27:39 --> 00:27:39 will conceive
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 and give birth
00:27:40 --> 00:27:40 to a boy
00:27:40 --> 00:27:42 and his name
00:27:42 --> 00:27:43 will be called
00:27:43 --> 00:27:43 Emmanuel,
00:27:44 --> 00:27:45 God with us.
00:27:48 --> 00:27:48 You see,
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 Genesis 3.15
00:27:49 --> 00:27:52 is the earliest account
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 looking forward
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 to the coming
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 of Jesus Christ
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 who will destroy
00:27:56 --> 00:27:57 the works,
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 the lies
00:27:58 --> 00:27:59 of Satan.
00:28:00 --> 00:28:02 When the creator God,
00:28:02 --> 00:28:03 the rule of the universe
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 comes,
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 he's going to come
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 to bring blessing.
00:28:06 --> 00:28:06 He's coming
00:28:06 --> 00:28:08 to undo
00:28:08 --> 00:28:10 all aspects
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 of the curse.
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 All aspects
00:28:14 --> 00:28:15 of the curse.
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 He went
00:28:17 --> 00:28:18 to the cross,
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20 was abandoned
00:28:20 --> 00:28:21 by his father,
00:28:22 --> 00:28:22 rejected
00:28:22 --> 00:28:24 by his friends
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 in turmoil
00:28:25 --> 00:28:26 in the garden
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 beforehand.
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 Every single
00:28:28 --> 00:28:29 aspect
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30 of the cross,
00:28:32 --> 00:28:32 every single
00:28:32 --> 00:28:33 aspect of the cross,
00:28:35 --> 00:28:35 of the,
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 sorry,
00:28:36 --> 00:28:36 of the curse
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 is dealt
00:28:37 --> 00:28:39 with at the cross.
00:28:41 --> 00:28:42 And we sing
00:28:42 --> 00:28:42 about it
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 Christmas
00:28:43 --> 00:28:44 every year.
00:28:45 --> 00:28:46 The Christmas
00:28:46 --> 00:28:46 carol,
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 Joy to the World,
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 was written
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 by Watts,
00:28:50 --> 00:28:51 based on
00:28:51 --> 00:28:52 Psalm 98
00:28:52 --> 00:28:55 and Genesis 3.
00:28:56 --> 00:28:57 Joy to the World.
00:28:57 --> 00:28:57 It's the one
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58 we always end
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 with every year,
00:28:59 --> 00:29:00 Joy to the World.
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 Joy to the World,
00:29:02 --> 00:29:04 the Lord is come.
00:29:04 --> 00:29:05 Let earth
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 receive her king.
00:29:07 --> 00:29:08 Let every heart
00:29:08 --> 00:29:09 prepare him room
00:29:09 --> 00:29:09 and heaven
00:29:09 --> 00:29:11 and nature
00:29:11 --> 00:29:11 sing.
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 No more
00:29:13 --> 00:29:13 let sins
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 and sorrows
00:29:14 --> 00:29:15 grow,
00:29:15 --> 00:29:15 nor thorns
00:29:15 --> 00:29:17 infest the ground.
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 He comes
00:29:18 --> 00:29:18 to make
00:29:18 --> 00:29:19 his blessings
00:29:19 --> 00:29:20 flow
00:29:20 --> 00:29:21 as far
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 as the curse
00:29:22 --> 00:29:24 is found.
00:29:27 --> 00:29:27 Comprehensive
00:29:27 --> 00:29:28 healing.
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 So first
00:29:30 --> 00:29:30 application,
00:29:32 --> 00:29:34 right in front
00:29:34 --> 00:29:34 of you
00:29:34 --> 00:29:35 in your seats
00:29:35 --> 00:29:35 is invites
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36 to bring people,
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38 invite them
00:29:38 --> 00:29:38 to Christmas.
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 It's all
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 about the
00:29:41 --> 00:29:41 reversal
00:29:41 --> 00:29:42 of the curse
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 that they
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 are experiencing
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 every single
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 day of their
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 life.
00:29:47 --> 00:29:49 Joy to the
00:29:49 --> 00:29:49 World declares
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 as the Bible
00:29:50 --> 00:29:51 declares
00:29:51 --> 00:29:51 that when
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 Jesus comes
00:29:52 --> 00:29:52 to crush
00:29:52 --> 00:29:53 the serpent
00:29:53 --> 00:29:55 he is crushing
00:29:55 --> 00:29:56 all the effects
00:29:56 --> 00:29:57 of the serpent's
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 lies.
00:30:02 --> 00:30:02 Satan
00:30:02 --> 00:30:03 attacked him.
00:30:04 --> 00:30:04 Satan
00:30:04 --> 00:30:06 participated
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 and was in
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 great joy
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 as Christ
00:30:09 --> 00:30:09 was nailed
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 to the cross.
00:30:10 --> 00:30:11 Finally,
00:30:11 --> 00:30:12 I'm killing
00:30:12 --> 00:30:12 God,
00:30:13 --> 00:30:14 not realizing
00:30:14 --> 00:30:14 that at the
00:30:14 --> 00:30:15 time his head
00:30:15 --> 00:30:15 was being
00:30:15 --> 00:30:16 crushed.
00:30:16 --> 00:30:19 he came
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 to make
00:30:20 --> 00:30:21 his blessings
00:30:21 --> 00:30:21 flow
00:30:21 --> 00:30:23 as far
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 as the
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 curse
00:30:25 --> 00:30:27 has gone.
00:30:28 --> 00:30:28 And so
00:30:28 --> 00:30:29 as a Christian
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 church,
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 we seek
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 to make
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 an impact
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 in every
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 aspect of
00:30:35 --> 00:30:35 the curse
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 and as far
00:30:36 --> 00:30:36 as it's
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37 gone.
00:30:37 --> 00:30:38 As a Christian
00:30:38 --> 00:30:38 church,
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 we welcome
00:30:39 --> 00:30:40 everyone
00:30:40 --> 00:30:41 here.
00:30:41 --> 00:30:42 Everyone,
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 however sin
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 has touched
00:30:44 --> 00:30:45 your life,
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 including
00:30:47 --> 00:30:47 if you're
00:30:47 --> 00:30:49 a habitual
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 gossip,
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 however sin
00:30:52 --> 00:30:53 has touched
00:30:53 --> 00:30:53 your life,
00:30:53 --> 00:30:54 we welcome
00:30:54 --> 00:30:54 you.
00:30:56 --> 00:30:57 Whatever
00:30:57 --> 00:30:57 impact,
00:30:57 --> 00:30:58 it doesn't
00:30:58 --> 00:30:58 matter who
00:30:58 --> 00:30:59 you are,
00:30:59 --> 00:30:59 there's not a
00:30:59 --> 00:31:00 single person
00:31:00 --> 00:31:02 who's excluded
00:31:02 --> 00:31:02 from this
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 church.
00:31:03 --> 00:31:03 church,
00:31:04 --> 00:31:05 it doesn't
00:31:05 --> 00:31:06 matter who
00:31:06 --> 00:31:06 you are,
00:31:06 --> 00:31:07 it doesn't
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 matter who you are,
00:31:08 --> 00:31:10 it doesn't matter
00:31:10 --> 00:31:12 whether you're
00:31:12 --> 00:31:12 white-collar,
00:31:13 --> 00:31:13 you're blue-collar,
00:31:14 --> 00:31:14 it doesn't matter
00:31:14 --> 00:31:16 whether you're
00:31:16 --> 00:31:17 neurotypical or
00:31:17 --> 00:31:18 neurodiverse like
00:31:18 --> 00:31:19 me, it doesn't
00:31:19 --> 00:31:20 matter who you
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 are, you are
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 welcome in this
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23 church.
00:31:24 --> 00:31:25 But we want to
00:31:25 --> 00:31:26 bring healing to
00:31:26 --> 00:31:27 your life,
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 healing to your
00:31:29 --> 00:31:29 life.
00:31:29 --> 00:31:31 we welcome
00:31:31 --> 00:31:33 you, but we
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 do not affirm
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 your sin.
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 We do not
00:31:37 --> 00:31:40 affirm it, but
00:31:40 --> 00:31:40 we welcome
00:31:40 --> 00:31:40 you.
00:31:41 --> 00:31:42 We want you
00:31:42 --> 00:31:43 to embrace,
00:31:44 --> 00:31:45 embrace the
00:31:45 --> 00:31:45 healing of
00:31:45 --> 00:31:46 Jesus Christ
00:31:46 --> 00:31:47 in your life.
00:31:50 --> 00:31:51 Because that's
00:31:51 --> 00:31:52 what the
00:31:52 --> 00:31:54 offspring of
00:31:54 --> 00:31:55 Eve do in
00:31:55 --> 00:31:55 the world.
00:31:56 --> 00:31:57 We spread
00:31:57 --> 00:31:58 joy as we
00:31:58 --> 00:31:59 seek to
00:31:59 --> 00:31:59 work to
00:31:59 --> 00:32:00 undo the
00:32:00 --> 00:32:01 curse and
00:32:01 --> 00:32:02 to spread
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 the blessing.
00:32:04 --> 00:32:04 Not that we
00:32:04 --> 00:32:05 all do
00:32:05 --> 00:32:05 everything,
00:32:07 --> 00:32:07 not that we
00:32:07 --> 00:32:07 all do
00:32:07 --> 00:32:08 everything,
00:32:08 --> 00:32:08 each is
00:32:08 --> 00:32:09 gifted in
00:32:09 --> 00:32:09 our own
00:32:09 --> 00:32:09 way and
00:32:09 --> 00:32:10 have our
00:32:10 --> 00:32:10 own
00:32:10 --> 00:32:10 particular
00:32:10 --> 00:32:11 unique
00:32:11 --> 00:32:12 opportunities,
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 but this
00:32:13 --> 00:32:14 is the
00:32:14 --> 00:32:15 work of
00:32:15 --> 00:32:15 the King
00:32:15 --> 00:32:17 that we
00:32:17 --> 00:32:17 at St.
00:32:17 --> 00:32:17 Paul's are
00:32:17 --> 00:32:18 committed to.
00:32:18 --> 00:32:20 We treasure
00:32:20 --> 00:32:20 Jesus
00:32:20 --> 00:32:23 together for
00:32:23 --> 00:32:24 the joy of
00:32:24 --> 00:32:24 all people.