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.

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