Genesis 6:11 - 14
The world God created was quickly increasingly becoming more evil and wicked. The Sons of God procreated with women and their offspring were a race of super human giants called the Nephilim. God saw the wickedness of the world and his heart was broken because humanity had turned completely away from him they were completely and continually evil. The Lord declares he will blot out humanity and all living creatures because of their wickedness. Amidst all the evil there was one righteous man in the land; his name was Noah and he found favor with God. Vs 11: The earth was corrupt - spoiled… ruined. We know that the world was intended to be filled with living creatures; animals and humanity but instead it became filled with violence. Violence - This denotes brute force or the oppression of the weak by the powerful, the poor by the rich or the unintelligent by the clever. This same word was used in various passages to denote injustice, murder, and rape. The world had become a place of evil. Verse 12: “God saw…” implies that God was shocked at how corrupt the word had become. Twice we are told that the world was inhabited by evil that it was corrupt and wicked. “All flesh” – Both man and animals had become corrupt. Verse 13: “God said to Noah…” We are told in verse 9 that Noah walked with God. This reveals to me the fact that a man who walks with God will communicate with God and God will communicate with him. Since Noah and God have a close relationship God reveals his plan to destroy his creation. “I have determined…” God’s response to the corruption and violence on earth is to declare (It is implied that it is irrevocable, it is set) that he will destroy the world. He will not only destroy it but he will also destroy all living creatures with the earth. Verse 14: There is salvation for the righteous. Noah is righteous and since God is about to ruin or destroy the earth he tells Noah to make an ark built to His specifications. The ark is intended to be a place of refuge during judgment. “Ark” – interestingly the only other time this word is used is in Exodus 2:3, 5 where it signifies the basket Moses was placed in as a baby. The ark is a symbol of Christ. I'll talk about this more in the days to come.
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Genesis 6:5 -10
Vs 5: The Lord saw the wickedness of his creation… If we were to compare this statement with Genesis 1 where the Lord saw his creation and said that it was very good we would understand why his heart broke. God saw that humanity had become evil to the core and they were getting worse and worse. Humanity had…
Vs 6: Sin always grieves God. Yes, even the sins you and I commit grieve God. In this grief or regret we see the passion of God for humanity. His grief and regret was so great that he was sorry he even created humanity. Not only was he grieved (sorry) but He was also provoked to a fierce reaction. Vs 7: God declares he is going to destroy humanity and all living things. We see that sin not only stirs God’s heart of sorrow but also his anger towards sin. Vs 8: But Noah found favor with the Lord. God is going to destroy humanity but among all the evil and wickedness he finds Noah. Why Noah?
God spares the righteous from his judgment. What is the take away today? God sees… These are words that stick out to me and I ask you take them with you today. God sees the way we live our lives. Our actions matter to him. I believe the way we conduct our lives, treat people around us and how much we allow God to be the Lord of our lives matters. When we sin it grieves his heart. How does that make you feel? Does it cause you to reconsider how you live your life? Does it scare you? Think about this today. We are God’s creation and we bring much joy to him so let us commit to living for him unashamedly. Let us be mindful of sin and the affects it has on us personally and how it grieves the heart of God. Although sin is ever present around and in us we do not have to fear the harsh judgment of God. This is not to say that God will not punish or discipline us for the sins we commit. It does mean that we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, who has bore the punishment for us so we do not have to face the harsh judgment of God; instead we are redeemed as children of God so let us live as children of the King. Genesis 6:1 - 4
Vs 1: In Genesis 1:28 God gave the command to the man and woman to be fruitful and multiply. Apparently this was happening as the population of humanity was steadily increasing and daughters were born. Obviously children were being born and humanity was being faithful to God’s command; this was good but soon the beautiful act of procreation would become tarnished as wickedness increased and the task of being fruitful and multiplying becomes a defiled act of wickedness. Vs 2: The sons of God – We are now introduced to our first group of mysterious biblical creatures. The phrase “sons of God” is mentioned only three other times in the Bible and all three are in the book of Job (Job 1:6, 2:1 & 38:7). There are varying opinions as to who these sons of God are but if we look at the context of these passages I think we can safely deduce that they are angels. In the first two passages (Job 1: 6 & 2:1) the passage alludes to these sons of God as spiritual beings as they present themselves to God and Satan is there with them. They are not actually “sons” of Elohim; the idiom is a poetic way of describing their nature and relationship to God. The phrase indicates their supernatural nature, and their submission to God as the sovereign Lord.[1] In the third and last passage (Job 38:7) the sons of God were present when the foundation of the earth was laid. The oldest and most popular interpretation is that they were in fact supernatural beings and most probable angels or fallen angels. In the non-canonized (not considered inspired) Jewish book of 1 Enoch chapters 6 – 7 we are given a glimpse of another description of the Sons of God. 1 Enoch 6 1. And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. 2. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.' 3. And Semjâzâ, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.' 4. And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.' 5. Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it… 1 Enoch 7 1. And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. 2. And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: 3. Who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, 4. the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. 5. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood. 6. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones In pagan literature sons of God refer to lesser gods or deities of the Pantheons. There are three interpretations as to who the sons of God were.
Regardless the sons of God saw the women or daughters were beautiful and took for themselves wives any they chose. It is interesting to note this sin lines up with the sin of Adam and Eve… Adam and eve saw the fruit was a delight to the eyes. The sons of God saw the daughters were attractive. Adam and Ever took the forbidden fruit and consumed it. The sons of God took for themselves the forbidden daughters for themselves. In both cases they saw and took what was forbidden. I believe the Bible shows this to be the pattern of sin. This is really what the root of sin looks like. Sin often looks attractive, pleasant or satisfying and we selfishly partake in what is clearly forbidden our response of partaking or consuming that which is forbidden leads to full blown sin. Vs 3: “My Spirit will not remain in (contend or strive with)” God has had it with humanity and their sins. God will no longer put up with sinful humanity. He passes judgment. The judgment is the days of man will be 120 years. 2 possibilities 1. The life span of a human should not exceed 120 years. 2. In 120 years the flood will come. Vs 4: The Nephilim – The offspring of the sons of God and daughters of men are a race of creatures called the Nephilim. The actual Hebrew word is uncertain but it is translated as giants and is used one other time (Numbers 13:3). The Hebrew transliteration means “fallen ones”. We are told the Nephilim are mighty heroes or warriors of the world. They gained a lot fame in the land. Many commentators suggest that the Nephilim are similar to the cultural legends of the demigods and Titans. It is widely held that these Nephilim were the basis on what these legends were based on. The NET Bible says they were super human beings who held the world in their power and who lived on in ancient lore outside of the Bible. [1] Biblical Studies Press. (2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press. Genesis 4:11 - 17
The Curse of Cain Vs 11, 12: The result of Cain’s sin - Cain is cursed from the ground. This is the first time God curses a mortal (Cain). He will work and get nothing and he will forever be wandering the land; never finding a place to settle. Cain would be a restless wanderer and the ground would not yield to him. This was pretty harsh but if you think about it Cain gets off pretty easy. Cain should have received death (for God’s law will eventually say, “whoever sheds blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed”). As is common in the early writings of Genesis God’s mercy is always present alongside his judgment Vs 13 - 15: Cain thought his punishment was more than he could bear. He believed it was unfair! I think if he knew the other option (death) he may not have been so quick to speak. Unfortunately this is a common response of the unrepentant sinner caught in the act of rebellion and disciplined for it. He may say, “It’s not fair! My punishment is too great!” Yet again we see God’s mercy in placing a mark on Cain so he will not be killed; his life will be spared. We are unsure of the mark placed on him. Twice we have seen God’s grace and mercy present. He does not kill Cain and he protects him. Did he deserve this? No more than you and I deserve the grace and mercy God pours on us. Vs 16: Cain went away from the presence of the Lord. This sentence says much about Cain. Once again we see the separation sin causes in the relationship between man and God. He is pushed farther away from God and his presence… He eventually goes to a land called Nod (which means wandering). Cain’s Genealogy Vs 17: Cain and his wife (no name mentioned) have a son and they name him Enoch. Many of his children (great/grandchildren) are credited with making many cultural advances in society. Enoch built a city. Jabal was a farmer. Jubal was a musician and Tubal Cain was a forger of all instruments bronze and iron. These people were making technological advances in culture. However with all these advances we also see in the life of Lamech (the son of Enoch) that the heart remained dark. Lamech was quite a character. He was the first man to marry two wives (polygamy) Adah (Jewel) and Zillah (Melody). God clearly established monogamy as the rule for a man and woman in Eden and now Lamech cheapens this beautiful gift by having two wives. He was also a man with a bloodlust for revenge. I think it would be safe to assume he was a prideful and boastful man who thought more highly of himself than he ought. He informs his wives that he killed a man for wounding him and a young man for striking him. Lamech was not going to be pushed around. He was ready to crush anyone who got in his way. If anyone dares stop him or attempt to kill him revenge would not just be seven fold as his great great great great grandfather was promised but a self declared seventy sevenfold. He has no regard for justice because in his mind he was the judge and jury. He was like the comic book character Judge Dredd who let everyone know, “I am the law.” I think it is safe to assume that since Cain walked away from the presence of God that his children had no instruction or care for God as well. Cain essentially establishes the first godless society. Adam’s Genealogy From this point on Cain is no longer part of the picture. Both the sons of Adam and Eve have perished in more ways than one. Abel was murdered by his brother and Cain was cursed and walked away from the presence of God. Adam and Eve have another son named Seth. Adam and Eve clearly were hopeful for this son since his name means “appointed”. God in his mercy sent another child who was appointed by God to carry on the lineage of the first man created by God. Seth, unlike his brother Cain, walked with God and at this time people began to call on the name of God. Genesis 4: 1 - 10
In this particular passage anger, bitterness, wrath and jealousy are all present in Cain’s heart. These are all sinful actions. They are what lurk in the evil heart. Cain is angry with God, he is jealous of his brother and he becomes embittered with both of them. Why?Because God looked favorably on Abel’s offering. Cain could have been thinking that God liked Abel better and this made him jealous. Maybe even Cain thought God was rejecting him but we see God was not rejecting him he was actually correcting him in love because of the evil in his heart. God is telling Cain to step back and take control of the sin in his heart. God gives him the opportunity to do what is right and He ultimately says you can be right with me if you do what is right… however if you choose to stay angry, bitter and jealous then it is going to overtake you and it will eat you alive and eventually you will do something that you will regret. How true this is for all of us today. Anger, bitterness and jealousy are very contagious sins and they can leave a trail of destruction. Hebrews 12:15 says, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;” When these sins take root in our hearts they defile us. Think of anger and bitterness as a growing cancer that takes root in the heart of each of us and slowly over time consumes, controls and eventually kills you. Ephesians 4:31 says, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” The Apostle Paul tells us to put away bitterness. Don’t let it be present in your lives. How does that happen? I believe God says to us, like he said to Cain, that he has given to us the resources (the Holy Spirit) to have control over our sins so they don’t consume us. I Corinthians 6:5 – 10 tells us that we used to be controlled by sin but now we are washed, sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus Christ and BY the SPIRIT. Anger, bitterness, rage etc are all powerful and dangerous emotions which can negatively affect our relationship with God and with loved ones but they can be controlled. In Christ all of these sinful actions do not control us. God in his loving mercy has given us the Holy Spirit to abide in us and cause us to live lives of holiness. Our sins no longer control us but we now have control over them through the Spirit of God. Genesis 4:1-10
Up to this point in Genesis we have witnessed the wonderful act of God’s Creation, the joys of the Sabbath, the unfortunate fall of man and woman, and the necessity of God's judgment. Things couldn’t go any worse... or could they? Unfortunately our tale goes from bad to worse and ends in tragedy. Vs. 1 & 2: Adam and Eve have a son named Cain – which means “I have gotten a son”. The name Cain sounds similar to the Hebrew word meaning "gotten" or “I have acquired”. There is an implied sense of anticipation in naming Cain with Eve in the birth of her son. If you recall God told her that her offspring would crush the head of the serpent and I am certain this picture was in her mind when she gave birth to her little boy. Could it be she thought the Savior had come who would make things right? This is possible, but unfortunately this is not the case. They also had a son named Abel whose name means "breath, vapor or vanity" and this was certainly a foretelling of his short life. Both brothers were hard workers… Cain was a worker of the ground and Abel was a shepherd. Both were valid legitimate workers. There is no indication in the text that shepherding was a better trade than farming. Vs 3 - 5: Over the course of time both brothers brought offerings to the Lord. We are uncertain as to why they gave offerings since the sacrificial system had not yet been established and there is no mention that God required offerings from them. Cain is mentioned first as bringing an offering of fruit from the ground and Abel brings an offering of his flock (animal sacrifice). We are not told why specifically but Abel’s sacrifice had regard (favor) with God and Cain’s offering God had no regard (unacceptable). Some have deduced and probably rightly so that the reason for this was not so much about what was given but how (the attitude) they were given. The issue was with the heart. The text suggests that Abel gave an offering out of worship and Cain gave out of duty. According to 1 John 3:12 Cain’s deeds were evil because Cain became angry with God. He didn't like the fact that God didn’t accept his offering and he acted on his anger as well. Cain was mad at God! He was indignant. The words “very angry” could be translated as Cain “burned with anger.” He harbored bitterness towards God and his brother in his heart. Why? Vs 6, 7: The Lord asked Cain why he was so angry; not because he didn’t know but he was giving Can the opportunity to openly confess his sin that was lurking in his heart. God was challenging Cain to step back and look at his heart and make the necessary changes to do right. God basically says Cain had a choice to make, “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” God mercifully challenges Cain by telling him he does not need to be angry. He can do the right thing and God will accept him. However if, “you do not do well” then sin will overtake him. “Sin is crouching at the door” – This imagery is vivid and it is of an animal waiting to pounce its prey. If Cain continues to harbor anger in his heart this sin will overtake him and ultimately dominate him. “Its desire is for you…” The word “desire” is the same word used for the woman whose desire shall be for her husband. His sin will control and have power over Cain if he does not subdue it. God has given Cain the opportunity and the ability to take control of his sin. Vs 8 - 10: Apparently Cain does not heed God’s warning or challenge. Verse 8 tells us that Cain murders Abel. We are not told how the crime was committed but we are told the end result... the death of Abel. Once the deed was done Cain responds similar to his father and tries to hide what he has done (Like father like son). God comes to Cain and asks where his brother is. Again, God is not asking because he does not know but because he wants Cain to confess his transgression. Cain defiantly responds by telling a lie. “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” He says he has no idea where his brother is (which is a blatant lie) and in irritation lashes out at God. In Cain’s response and action we see that he has been overtaken by sin and he chooses to remain in it. What are some situations in life that most quickly cause you to become angry? How can you better prepare or anticipate some of these situations? What action steps can you take today to not allow anger, bitterness, rage, and jealousy consume and control you? Genesis 3:17 - 24
The Curse Verse 17: Some have incorrectly interpreted work as being the curse. Work is not the curse, it is the ground that God curses. Before the fall work was something man did for God joyfully. He cared for and tended the garden that God gave to him. In cursing the ground God now declares that the work man will do to survive will be hard, laborious and painstaking. While in the garden man had all he needed for survival (food, water and life) and now man will no longer be allowed to reap the benefits of the garden. By the sweat of his brow he will have to work to eat until he returns to the ground. He will face the frustrations of work as he tills the ground and fights against thorns and thistles making it difficult to grow food easily. Because of his disobedience man can no longer eat of the tree of life which apparently sustained humanity. Now man will face death. His body will now return to the ground which apparently was not true of the original creation. Death was not introduced until the curse. Verse 20 – 24: The Lord made garments of skin to clothe them. God covers their nakedness. God covers their shame. I think we sometimes miss the fact that in order for God to make the skins of clothes something had to die. Sacrificing an animal will eventually become the method for Israel to atone for sins as God establishes the priesthood. Yet in the NT Jesus becomes the perfect sacrifice that not only covers all sin and shame but cleanses and washes it away completely. The man and woman are banished from the garden and a cherubim is placed at the entrance with a flaming sword so that no one may enter the garden and eat from the tree of life. The Blessing Having read this account the judgment God issues to the Snake, woman and man may seem harsh at first. One could easily look at this and deduce that God is a crotchety old man just waiting to dish out punishment to everyone who disobeys him. Many focus so much on the judgment that they miss the true character of God. It is important to understand that yes, there are consequences for sin. God cannot and will not overlook our disobedience and he cannot or will not turn a blind eye to our rebellion. In order for him to be fully just, loving and holy he must discipline us when we sin. He does not discipline because he is angry and wants us to suffer, in actuality it is just the opposite. He disciplines because he loves us. Mercy God does not kill Adam and Eve. He does not even kill the serpent. God would have been justified in doing so. He stated “If you eat then you will die.” He could have said, “You disobeyed and I told you if you disobeyed you would die; so ‘off with your heads!” In God’s mercy he spared humanity. Grace Not only did he spare humanity from death (physical & spiritual) but He put his plan in place allowing for humanity AND all creation to be restored once again through the offspring of the woman… Jesus Christ. This was/is God’s gift to humanity. We have inherited the sin nature that was caused by the sin of man and woman but through Jesus Christ we can find true restoration and redemption to the full glory of what God intended for humanity by grace through faith. Victory Through God’s mercy and grace we know that Satan’s work cannot stand. Satan is defeated. The curse of the Serpent/Satan opens the door of hope for us. We know by reading the end of the Bible that Satan is not victorious. He is doomed. We are told that at the Day of Judgment Satan, death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire and tormented for all eternity. This is Satan’s fate. His future is not bright in fact it is very bleak Care God made clothes of skin to cover their nakedness (shame). God may not make physical clothes for us today to cover our shame and spiritual nakedness. He does though, provide a covering through Jesus. For those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ no longer need to live in the shame of our past or in the shame of our sins because Jesus has covered, atoned or washed away our sins with his blood. God took great care in sending Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice who takes away the sins of the world. Something had to die in order for God to cover our shame and that was Jesus. The NT Gospel of John tells us that “God loved the world so much that he GAVE his one and only son…” Yes, God gave up something so we could have everything. Genesis 3:14 - 17
In today’s passage we will see the effects or the consequences the fall had on all creation and humanity in particular. Sin has been committed and it must not be overlooked. Because of the man and woman’s disobedience in the Garden and the serpent’s blatant act of deception we see there are consequences for their actions. God is about to dish out his judgment. Verse 14 – 15: God speaks to the serpent first. Because of his trickery and deception God curses the serpent above all creation. Chapter three begins by calling the serpent craftier that all other creatures and now he is cursed over all creatures. He is cursed to be on his belly and the text implies that he will now slither on the ground. God speaks of enmity or hostility between the snake and humanity. From a literal perspective some interpret this as a natural hostility between man and snakes but a long-established translation implies much more. From this point on the serpent (who we have come to know as Satan) will continually be at war with humanity. Satan knows that humanity is created in the image of God and He has a special care for humans over all of creation. Thus Satan will spend the remainder of his days trying to destroy and separate us from Him. At first He succeeded. But only for a moment. Verse 15 - “Protoevangelium” or the first gospel account of the Bible. The Offspring spoken of in this verse refers to Jesus Christ, the Messiah. This offspring of the woman is foretold as being at war with Satan and his “offspring” (his followers; the demons and evil powers). This will be a war for the soul that Satan cannot win. A prophecy is spoken and proclaimed over the serpent. "He shall bruise your head" – Death, resurrection & redemption. Jesus delivered a fatal blow to Satan and his demonic kingdom because he was the perfect sacrifice for humanity. All who believe will be redeemed and made right with the Father; thus destroying the work of the devil. You shall bruise his heal – Satan will seemingly celebrate a short and temporary victory as the crucifixion unfolds. The death and rejection of Jesus will be painful and harsh and temporary and non-lethal (bruise his heal). From the offset it will appear Satan has won but in the end Jesus will be victorious. Verse 16 - The woman’s one time joy in conceiving and giving birth will now be marred through pain and labor. I have not met a woman yet who enjoys the pain and labor of childbirth. "Your desire shall be for your husband…" From the outside this looks like it could be a positive thing (at least from the husband’s standpoint) but the wording could be better stated “You will want to control your husband.” That may not sound as appealing. Plus the husband shall rule over you, could be read as “Your husband will want to dominate you.” We can paraphrase the last two lines of this verse this way: “You will now have a tendency to dominate your husband, and he will have the tendency to act as a tyrant over you.” [1] The effects of the fall not only strain the relationship between humanity and God but it also strains the relationship between man and woman. The battle for power in the marriage has begun. She will have the desire to usurp Adam’s headship and Adam will have the sinful desire to rule over or dominate the woman. This will cause a rift in the relationship (and rightly so) that was intended to be a blessing cause unity. [1] Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible commentary (Ge 3:16). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers. Are you familiar with the old saying, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”? It is called Murphy’s Law. It is a law I am very familiar with. I am so familiar with that every time I start a home improvement project, car repair or some big project I try to factor this law into my plans. I am not trying to be a negative Nellie; I’m just a realist. Whether I am taking apart the pipes to unclog a drain or figure out plans to make home improvements to the house I know inevitably that I am going to run into at least one unforeseen setback. The problem is I don’t know what exactly the setback will be until it occurs. Unforeseen setbacks are a pain in the neck. They can be costly, time consuming and frustrating.
I consider the Garden of Eden incident (the Fall of humanity) as the first case of Murphy’s Law in recorded history. I am sure Adam and Eve may agree. Think about it for a moment. God created a perfect paradise, everything was great and everyone should live happily ever after. Unfortunately when the woman and man ate the forbidden fruit and sin entered the picture; it seemed like God had to go to plan B. Fortunately this was not the case. God was not surprised by their disobedience. This was not an unforeseen setback on his part. The man and woman (and even you and I) could have seen it that way BUT Murphy’s Law does not apply to God. There are no such things as unforeseen setbacks with Him because nothing can happen outside of His purposes. He wasn’t relaxing up in heaven when suddenly red telephone started ringing indicating that there was trouble in the Garden and a sin was committed. He didn't have to go down to the bat cave and change into his super hero apparel so he could go out and fix the situation. No He was not surprised at all. The Bible teaches about the sovereignty of God and in this particular situation God knew this was going to happen all along. It was part of the plan. God did not have to go back to the drawing board to come up with a new plan. This WAS the plan. In his sovereignty he already had a plan in place. This does not mean that it wasn’t a significant event in the early stages of creation; Adam and Eve's fall was unfortunate. It is a disheartening act of disobedience. God was upset with the situation. Because of their sin all of humanity inherits their sin nature so it is a big deal and it does affect us greatly... but God was not surprised by what happened, He had it all under control. When Murphy strikes in my life, and he has recently, I need to continually remind myself... Ok, I wasn't expecting this, but God new it was. He knows what is going AND He has everything under control. Genesis 3
Verse 10 - 13: Fear and blame enters… Man replies, “I was afraid and I hid…” Instead of coming clean with God both the man and woman do what humans do best… they blame each other for their sinful actions. Man (what he said) - "It is the woman you gave me… It’s her fault. She gave me the fruit and I ate it. You gave her to me and she told me to eat so it IS her fault... Well, actually God it is your fault because if you wouldn’t have given her to me then I wouldn’t have eaten." Man (what he should have said) – "Yes, I ate of the tree and I am sorry please forgive me." Woman (What she said) – "It’s the snakes fault! HE tricked me! If it wasn’t for this vile creature that you created then I would have never eaten of the fruit. So really, this is all your fault God!" Woman (What she should have said) – "Yes, I ate of the tree and I am sorry, please forgive me." We would all do a huge favor to ourselves and to others if we would just take responsibility for our actions when we sin. This is a hard lesson because blame comes so naturally. How easy it is to blame others for our faults, sins and wrong doings. I am guilty of this. You are guilty. We are all guilty. Here are three realities of sin. 1) Sin always severs fellowship with God. Sin has separated us from God. This is why we need Jesus. Jesus has mended our broken relationship with God by offering himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin and this allows those who believe to be restored with God. When we choose to allow sin to control us then we choose to break fellowship with God. Most if not all of us know that when we are in the very act of sinning God is usually not in the forefront of our minds. 2) Sin causes us to be irrational. The man and woman tried to cover their sins by hiding and covering their nakedness. This is preposterous; but we often try to cover our sins from God as well. We try to cover our sins (usually by sinning more) or “fix things” instead of going directly to God and confessing what we have done wrong. Only the blood of Jesus can cover and I mean fully cover and cleanse us from the awful sins we have committed. 3) Sin causes us to blame others. When we sin it is nobody’s fault but your own. Nobody can force you to sin. The snake did not force the woman to eat. The woman did not force the man to eat. They both ate willingly and they were both to blame. It is so much easier to blame someone for the sins I commit. I can blame someone who said something mean to me as an excuse to treat others poorly. I can blame the stresses of work as an excuse for being short with my family, friends and loved ones. I can blame the person who cuts me off on the road as an excuse for having road rage. I don’t have a problem finding someone to blame for the sins I commit and this my friends is the problem. We all need to take a step back and know that our sins are a choice we make. My sin is nobody’s fault but mine. That’s a hard pill to swallow but it is the truth. |
Jeff has been in full-time ministry for thirty years. He currently serves as Executive Director at Anchor House Ministry at SeaPort Manatee in Palmetto, FL and he is a part-time Campus Pastor at West Bradenton Southside in Bradenton, Florida.
Jeff Has authored A Lent Devotional (A Spiritual Journey to Lent) an Advent Devotional (The Advent of Jesus) and a devotional on the book of James (James: Where Faith and Life Meet). All three are available on Amazon. He is married to Carrie and they have four children, Micaiah, Gabe, Simon, and Berea. Preview or purchase Jeff's Books
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