Blame Game - Pastor Dan Cravillion

Blame Game

3-1-2015

Genesis 3:8-13

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"  10 And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." 11 He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12 The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Even with the separation Adam and Eve brought on, but God begins to bridge the gap on the same day. (implied) Gen 3:8-9

·      When they sinned, their conscience was activated & they hid because they now felt guilty before God.

o   It is an instinctive human response to feel guilt, just as it is to hide from those in authority over you.

§  Even if they are a loving & gracious authority….Kids/pastor

God initiates the confrontation in very gentle manner.

·      The word "called" is often used in the Old Testament for summoning someone to give an account.

o   “to the man” Adam was addressed first because he was the head & was held responsible by God.

·      God knows where they are: He wants Adam to take personal responsibility for his actions.

o   Satan’s questions were designed for the fall of man; God’s questions seek reconciliation & restoration.

·      Adam traces the problem to symptoms rather than real cause. Gen 3:10-11

o   Problem isn’t nakedness (we are always naked) but rather sin.

·      So God gives Adam another chance to repent by making it perfectly clear that the issue was Adam’s disobedience to His command.

Yet there was still no repentance but there was blame shifting, self-justification.  Gen 3:12-13

·      The typical human response: the one who is guilty blames someone/something else other than themselves.

§  "Who started this?", "She did! She hit me back!"

o   Recipients of blame include: spouse, parents, siblings, co-workers, boss, weather, dog, serpent. Etc.

Blaming leads to alienation between the sinner & God, & also other human beings.

·      Adam’s blaming Eve hurt their relationship with each other.

o   This is predominant in marriage counseling: must get people to stop blaming each other.

It is a universal tendency to blame another & ultimately to blame God.

·      Thinking...there is nothing wrong with me but there is something wrong with Eve & You for giving her to me.

o   This is the 2^nd time Adam falsely accuses God. (“I was afraid”= He was essentially telling God he was to be feared as a harsh Father, not a loving Father.) 

·      We very seldom openly, out rightly, & blatantly say it’s God's fault.

o   To blame something on circumstances is really to blame the God who ordains them.

§  We can become victims mentality, “I sinned because…made this way, depressed, poor self-image, woman, loneliness.

The hard truth is that nobody seeks after God or can break the hold of sin on our own so we naturally/instinctively hide, deceive, & shift blame. Rom 3:9-12, 5:17, Ps 139:7, 17-18

·      People try to hide from God: deny His existence, and reject or twist Scripture, and redefine Him.

o   But life apart from God is vanity, unfulfilled, and meaninglessness.

·      The only solution is for God to do something, to bring about redemption & restoration.

o   That was accomplished thru the life & death of Jesus.

·      Our compassionate & merciful Lord seeks each of us with the goal of restoration, not condemnation. 

o   The Biblical way to respond to guilt is not flee from God, but to run to Him. That's so counter to what our flesh wants to do. We want to run, not confess.

§  When you sin don’t hide but admit your disobedience and sin to God, and do it without blaming God or others.

This choice which confronts us is not 2 trees but 2 men: Adam  or Jesus Christ. The challenge we have, by God's grace, is that we will choose to follow the way of Christ not Adam.

·

The Beginning of Death - Pastor Dan Cravillion

The Beginning of Death

2-22-15

Genesis 3:6-7

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

The serpent initiated, but now he is letting Eve’s natural desires (flesh) rationalize the facts to justify eating the forbidden fruit.  Gen 3:6, 1 John 2:15-17, Mt 4:1-11

Genesis 3:6

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate,

1 John 2:16-17

For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.

Matthew 4:3, 6, 8-9

3  "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."

6  Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down,

8-9  Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, "All these I will give You, if You will fall down and worship me.

Human Need    Genesis 3:6          1 Jn 2:15-17            Matthew 4:1-11

Physical            Good for food        lust of the flesh        stones into bread

Emotional         Delight to eyes    lust of the eyes    all worldly kingdoms

Intellectual        Make one wise      Pride of life          jump off pinnacle

·      Physical desire: good for food...It meets a legitimate need: food, sex, comfort.

·      Emotional desire: delight to eyes, “It looks good from your perspective.”

o   Not necessarily hungry, but seeing something heightens imagination & appetite for something

·      Intellectual desire: Thinking it will make one wise, “It will make me better.”

o   Satan was trying to convince Jesus to jump. There would be no physical damage and it would confirm that He was divine & would gain popular appeal.

§  Wisdom is not gained by disobeying God, but by fearing & obeying Him.

o   True freedom is not doing whatever we want to do, but rather pursuing holiness.

• Christians now have the freedom to do will of God not their own will.

·      Freedom for responsibility not from responsibility.

A chain reaction has begun: went from thinking (mind) to feeling (emotions), which then overpowered the will & produced behavior.

·      One sin leads to another… taking us lower & lower.

o   The “helper” became an instrument of her partner’s disaster & death

·      Adam joined willfully in sin for reasons not known. 

o   Maybe it was peer pressure & MAYBE he assumed there would be no consequences because Eve did not die!

§  He wrongly interpreted God’s merciful delay as NO judgment.

·      But spiritual, physical & eternal death occurred at that moment. 2 Thes. 1:8b-9, Rom 5:12

2 Thessalonians 1:8b-9

those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might,

Romans 5:12

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned

“She took & ate: so simple the act, so hard its undoing.”  Derek Kidner

Sin has consequences as well as punishment.

·      Their eyes were opened in horrifying way: not to satisfaction, happiness, and god-like qualities; but to guilt, shame, fear, isolation & alienation from God & other humans

·      Sin did not provide more to enjoy, but spoiled the open relationship they had enjoyed.

o   A part of body and source of joy/life became source of guilt & shame.

o   They were naked but concerned with each other. Now they are self-consciousness. Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

When they sinned their conscience was activated….an alarm went off!

·      They attempted to alleviate the problem themselves rather than going to God.

o   Guilt leads them into an attempt to self-atone and self-protect: cover themselves. 

§  This is the attempt @ works righteousness.

·      We “cover” our guilt by attempting to hide who we are from one another. 

  Afraid people will see us and think of us as who we really are. So we  physically & psychologically project a “new image” so people think of us more favorably and more holy.

§  This is the reason we struggle with being honest and open & avoid community & close relationships.

·      The church must become a safe place to be real.

This act of rebellion against God’s authority plunged humanity into darkness.

·      There is Good news: Immediately after Adam sinned God graciously & mercifully sought the guilty sinners & promised to provide a way to be reconciled (made friends again) to Him, despite their and our rejection of Him.

• Promise fulfilled in the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Rom 5:17-19, 1 Cor. 15:47-49

Romans 5:17-19

If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.  For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one Man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

1 Corinthians 15:47-49

The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second Man is from heaven.  As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the Man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.  Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven.

Impugning God’s Character: The Fall Pt. 2 - Pastor Dan Cravillion

Impugning God’s Character: The Fall Pt. 2

2-15-2015

Genesis 3:1-5

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Sly dog now becomes a savage wolf.

·      Went from a subtle suggestion, to planting a doubt, to a lie - slandering God’s character.

o   Satan says God is liar who restricts you out of wicked motives. Gen 3:4

The 1^st lie in the Bible assaults God’s word & the doctrine of eternal judgment.

·      Ultimate lie: There is no punishment for disobedience/sin.

o   He is the God of love, it can't be possibly mean life or death for such trivial matter.

·      God was using the surety of judgment as a restraint for Adam and Eve.

Satan authoritatively “removes” the restraint (judgment) & then “reinterprets” God’s reason behind the command.

·      There will be no punishment; these are simply mere threats of a self-centered, envious deity, who resents anybody who seeks to be His equal.  Gen 3:5, Is 14:13-14

o   Satan has a dynamic delivery and no assurance of doctrinal accuracy.

·      Satan is saying God lied outright (no judgment), & implies there is a new & higher level of existence: become “like God” in nature (deity)....Buddhists, Mormons, other false religions

o   He is accusing God of keeping Eve from happiness & full potential.

This statement is deliberately elusive & vague to stimulate curiosity.

·      The problem is Satan left out an important detail: The fact that they will obtain “knowledge of good/evil” in exchange for death.

·      They really cant grasp the specifics of the offer when they do not know what ‘evil’ was.

·      Ironically they will become less like God because would know evil by doing it…experience.

o   God knows evil like a surgeon (outside) not a patient (experience).

Evil did not come from some magic potion in fruit, but from her heart.

·      Adam and Eve fell when they believed God was flawed and had corrupt motives.

o   sin was conceived in the mind (fallen) > will > behavior. Jam 1:13-15

§  Eating fruit is not the essence/source of the sin, but merely its expression/symbol of it.

In a sense, tree of good/evil is still in the midst of our lives.

·      Almost daily we ponder what forbidden fruit we might partake of.

o   We often feel cheated, deprived of something God should give us. 

·      Satan encourages us to mistrust God’s goodness, character & motives, and to believe there are no consequences for sin.  Prov. 6:27-28, Gal 6:7, Rom 6:23 & 8:32

o   Grace does not eliminate sowing & reaping, even for Christians.

§  Delayed judgment does not mean it’s not certain.

Remember: Sin is not usually instantaneous, but sequential.

• Subtle sins like assuming God’s word is subject to our judgment, or believing God needlessly restricts us.
• By the Holy Spirits power we can remove the seeds of unbiblical thinking and doubt before it produces sinful/evil fruit.

Don’t believe the lie that holiness keeps you from happiness.

• If we obey God, we will not miss out on something good.
• Instead we will have abundant life here & in eternity.