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Pastor Rev. Stephen Coates

DIVINE PRODUCTION

God’s Force For Redemption

• After creation God delegated the oversight and development of it all to Adam and Eve.

• They were to be producers in husbandry and remain accountable to Him!

• As long as they obeyed the Lord, they enjoyed:

1. Great Freedom

2. The abundant fruit of creation.

God’s Tree

One particular area that God reserved for Himself and that was the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

God Taught

• From the beginning God taught mankind that freedom was not absolute.

• With delegated opportunity also comes:

  1. Responsibility

  2. Accountability

STINKING THINKING

• Sadly satan caused stinking thinking through deception in mankind, to believe that disobedience could produce quicker and better results.

• This in fact cost Adam and Eve, a great opportunity in production and lost resources.

• DECEPTION – is the state of being deceived or misled.

• ANARCHY – is the lack or want of government – through political confusion.

• ACCOUNTABILITY – is the responsibility for a trust; the state of being liable to answer for one’s conduct.

• REDEMPTION – is deliverance from bondage or distress, or from liability to evil.

God Is A Producer

• God is a provider of opportunity.

• God created mankind in His own image with creative abilities and great opportunities.

• Genesis 2:15 (English Standard Version)

 ¹⁵The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

• Mankind named the animals and enjoyed the idyllic garden – a paradise.

• Genesis 2:17 (English Standard Version)

¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

• Beyond that, they were given the opportunity to expand paradise throughout the earth while enjoying each other’s unique companionship and producing children.

• Genesis 3 (English Standard Version)

Genesis 3

The Fall

 ¹Now 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^[a] shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" ²And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³but 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. ⁵For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." ⁶So 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.

 ⁸And 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. ⁹But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" ¹⁰And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." ¹¹He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" ¹²The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." ¹³Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

 ¹⁴The LORD God said to the serpent,

   "Because you have done this,
   cursed are you above all livestock
   and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
   and dust you shall eat
   all the days of your life.
¹⁵I will put enmity between you and the woman,
   and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
   and you shall bruise his heel."

 ¹⁶To the woman he said,

   "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
   and he shall rule over you."

 ¹⁷And to Adam he said,

   "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
   and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
   'You shall not eat of it,'
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
¹⁸thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
   and you shall eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹By the sweat of your face
   you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
   for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
   and to dust you shall return."

 ²⁰The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. ²¹And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

 ²²Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—" ²³therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

• The only reservation given to them was to abstain from eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

• The Tree represented God’s ownership, and the first fruits were His!

• This is a principle maintained throughout the Bible.

• The Tree also represented God’s ownership and the necessity of obedience to some rule or government if creation was to operate successfully.

• In addition, God seems to be saying that moral knowledge is no substitute for FAITH and OBEDIENCE, when it comes to productivity and stewardship.

• SO – being smart or brilliant doesn’t necessarily make one productive.

Satan is only a force for failure.

• We need to remember that Satan once occupied a lofty place in the heavenly order.

• Isaiah 14:12-15

Isaiah 14:12-15 (English Standard Version)

 ¹²"How you are fallen from heaven,
   O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
   you who laid the nations low!
¹³You said in your heart,
    'I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
    I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
   in the far reaches of the north;
¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
   I will make myself like the Most High.'
¹⁵ But you are brought down to Sheol,
   to the far reaches of the pit.

• Satan was exceptionally intelligent, beautiful, and musically gifted.

• Ezekiel 28:17

Ezekiel 28:17 (English Standard Version)

¹⁷ Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
   you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
   I exposed you before kings,
   to feast their eyes on you.

• Satan was thrown out of heaven because, in his pride, he led a rebellion against God.

• The issues of:

1. Recognition of God

2. Delegation

3. Stewardship - all of these issues are important and eternal, these have bearing on human history.

• Proverbs 6:16-19

Proverbs 6:16-19 (English Standard Version)

 ¹⁶There are six things that the LORD hates,
   seven that are an abomination to him:
¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
   and hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked plans,
    feet that make haste to run to evil,
¹⁹ a false witness who breathes out lies,
   and one who sows discord among brothers.

Satan’s real problem was with God!

• Satan hates all:

1. Authority

2. Obedience

3. Faithfulness

• These virtues remind him of God and his own fallen character.

A Productive Order Is Righteous!

• Satan is looking for:

1. Weaknesses to exploit

2. Destroy Peace

3. Destabilize Order

• Satan destroys through:

1. Sowing doubt

2. Seeds of discord

• Genesis 3:1-5

Genesis 3

The Fall

 ¹Now 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'?" ²And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³but 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. ⁵For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

• God had put only one restraint on human freedom.

• Satan attacked that restraint:

1. Through Eve because?

2. Adam had gotten his instructions directly from God.

3. Satan created doubt – 1 Timothy 2:14

1 Timothy 2:14 (English Standard Version)

¹⁴and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

• Satan appealed to Eve to know for herself, so he deceived her – Genesis 3:8-13

 ⁸And 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. ⁹But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" ¹⁰And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." ¹¹He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" ¹²The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." ¹³Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

• Adam and Eve hid from God because they felt:

  1. Their Nakedness

  2. Their Self-awareness

  3. Their Disobedience

• Adam and Eve were accountable!

• Adam was held responsible for both his and his wife’s actions.

• The process towards failure is:

1. Disorder

2. Doubt

3. Deception

4. Deliberate Sin

• Adam was not deceived.

• Creating your own rules for success, while ignoring God’s prescribed principles is a tragic error.

• Adam and Eve’s behaviour brought God’s disapproval.

• For the first time they felt:

1. Separation

2. Guilt

3. Shame

4. Condemnation

• Genesis 3:15-24

¹⁵I will put enmity between you and the woman,
   and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
   and you shall bruise his heel."

 ¹⁶To the woman he said,

   "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
   and he shall rule over you."

 ¹⁷And to Adam he said,

   "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
   and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
   'You shall not eat of it,'
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
¹⁸thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
   and you shall eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹By the sweat of your face
   you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
   for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
   and to dust you shall return."

 ²⁰The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. ²¹And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

 ²²Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—" ²³therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

• For the first time:

  1. They blamed each other

  2. The refused personal accountability

  3. They were disobedient

  4. They lost innocence

  5. They lost relational harmony

  6. They lost paradise

• Following Satan’s force for failure resulted in:

1. Forced Departure From Eden

2. Death Because Of Sin

3. Labour For Production Was Increased

4. Disobedience Brought Less Freedom

GOD IS A FORCE FOR REDEMPTION

• God’s plan for man and creation was not destroyed by disobedience.

• Mankind’s sin brought judgement and loss of blessing.

• God’s plan and purpose was still in effect.

• Genesis 3:15

¹⁵I will put enmity between you and the woman,
   and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
   and you shall bruise his heel."

• Romans 11:28-36

Romans 11:28-36 (English Standard Version)

 ²⁸As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ²⁹For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now^[a] receive mercy. ³²For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

 ³³Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
 ³⁴"For who has known the mind of the Lord,
   or who has been his counselor?"
³⁵"Or who has given a gift to him
   that he might be repaid?"

 ³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

• God’s Promise In The Midst Of Judgement On Sin:

1. The Seed Of The Woman Would Triumph Over The Enemy

2. The Promise Of Salvation Is Fulfilled In Jesus Christ:

1. Born of a woman

2. Conceived by the Holy Spirit

3. Seed (Offspring) of the woman

4. Is the Son of God

• God’s Sacrifice In The Garden:

1. Covered man and woman

2. Removed their sense of shame and embarrassment

3. This animal sacrifice was the first offering of the innocent for the guilty

4. Prophetic foreshadowing of Christ’s own death, after His time in the garden

5. His (Christ’s) Innocence for our guilt

6. By Faith, our nakedness or our own sins are covered with His righteousness

7. When God looks at us, He sees Christ’s own righteousness

• Genesis 3:21

²¹And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

• Romans 5:20-21

Romans 5:20-21 (English Standard Version)

²⁰Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

• CONCLUSIONS

• We are Stewards Not Owners

• A Right Relationship With God Provides:

  1. Great opportunities in God

  2. Great Freedom in God

• We Must:

  1. Wait for His promotion

  2. Cut down our pride and ambition for power

• Jesus Offers Us:

1. Grace of Favour

2. Redemption

3. Restoration

4. Forgiveness By Faith

5. Acceptance of our own responsibility

6. He becomes our Overcomer of temptation

7. He is our True example of Faithfulness and Promotion

Compiled By:

Pastor Rev. Stephen Coates

Church On The GO www.churchonthego.ca

June 28^th, 2010

Resources:

www.biblegateway,com

www.csmpublishing.com/

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