Question 3 What can be done?

With Adam and Eve’s disobedience, the sin nature was passed down to the human race – and man was banned from the presence of a holy God because of it.


In all the centuries since, we have tried to earn our way back into God’s favor, usually by trying to be and do all the good things we can, things like:

o   Keeping the 10 Commandments

o   Doing “religious” things – faithfully attending church, observing the sacraments, practicing the golden rule.

All of those things are good, but if trying to keep them is what you have been counting on to win you favor with God, how successful have you been at keeping ALL God’s commandments, faithfully and consistently?  Did you know that to fail to keep even ONE, you have sinned, and sin breaks fellowship with God?


Would you like to know what God says about us when it comes to all the good things we try to do?  Here it is from Romans, chapter 3, verses 10-12:

There is none righteous, no, not one;

There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God,

They have all turned aside;

They have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.

Maybe you’ve never read that, and you’re wondering, “Whoa, is that how God really sees me?  All of us?  How can that be?”.  


Let me ask a question.  When you’re trying to determine whether you’re doing enough to earn God’s favor, with whom do you compare yourself?


The problem is that we tend to compare ourselves with the people around us.  (Admit it, it’s what we do, right?)  We can always find people who, in our estimation, are not as “good” as we are. 



But OTHER PEOPLE are not the standard God uses.  Would you like to guess what standard He uses?   Wait for it ----- Himself!  

(The Bible: Leviticus 11:44; 19:2; 20:7; and I Peter 1:15)

Be holy as I am holy, says the Lord.

I read that and see immediately that I am in serious trouble if I think my own goodness could ever come close to God’s holiness.  I understand then that no matter how hard I try, something – gossip, a little white lie, making judgments of others based on their dress – and a ton of other things – will do me in.  Just one of them is enough to cause me to fall short of God’s perfect holiness. 

Nope, we could never earn God’s favor by trying to be “right and holy”.  Actually, what the Bible says is that what we have actually earned through our sin is DEATH.  (The Bible: Romans 6:23)

So, what happens now?   How can I EVER hope to live a life that pleases God when sin taints everything I think and do?  God is right when He says, “there is NO ONE who does good, not even one”.

Question 3:  What can be done about my sin so that I can be right again with God?

What can be DONE has been done, but it could not have been done by you, or me, or any other sinner, no matter how hard we tried.


God is righteous and holy and just and because of that, He can not, NOT punish sin.  We, sinners all, HAVE to die to pay that penalty.  


The only way we could avoid our deserved death was if a substitute – who was NOT also a sinner – offered to stand in our place – the guiltless for the guilty - to satisfy God's just judgment against sin. That is exactly what GOD had planned.


Out of His great love, mercy and grace, God provided the dearest thing He had, His Son Jesus, to be our substitute – the sinless for the sinful - to stand in our place and endure the death that was meant for us.  


But that’s only half the story.  


On that Good Friday more than 2000 years ago, Jesus satisfied God’s righteous judgment against sin in His own body on the cross and because of it, God forgives your sin and mine, and imputes (transfers to OUR account) the very righteousness of Jesus Himself.  Now, when God looks at me, He sees, not my sin, for that has been paid for by Jesus, but the righteousness of His Son in which I am now clothed.


Finally, by faith, I can be in a fit state to draw near to God, to enjoy the intimacy of relationship with Him for which He made me!


And what’s more, Jesus’ death broke the hold sin had on me.  Whereas, before Jesus, I could not NOT sin, now that my faith is in Jesus, I can say NO to sin!  I can choose NOT to sin by His power.


And what about that last enemy, DEATH?  


Jesus overcame death by rising from the dead three days after His crucifixion.  Because He lives now, I know that I will live also.  Death no longer holds any sway over me.  When I die, I will go immediately into the presence of Jesus.  I will see Him face to face and live with Him for all eternity.


At the cross Jesus also won the war with Satan.  Although skirmishes are still being waged by him against God's purposes, and against those who belong to Jesus, he knows he has LOST, and one day will be destroyed.


If you went into a Walmart tomorrow to exchange a dishtowel and they offered you in exchange something SO much more awesome, valuable and priceless than anything you EVER imagined in your life – wouldn’t you take it?


How then, do we take hold of this gift Jesus has made possible for us?

What CAN we do to about our sin so that we can be right with God?

• ·       Agree with God when He says that I am not, nor can I ever BE, righteous before Him.  No matter how hard I might try, how much good I do that I think outweighs the bad, a sinner who sins is who I am.
• 
  
• ·       Accept that when Jesus died on that cross for sin, He was taking MY place, atoning for MY sin – bearing the death I had earned and rightly deserved.
• 
  
• ·       Believe that Jesus’ death paid completely for my sin and amazing as it seems, His own righteousness can now be credited to MY account and clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, it will be forever the way God sees me from this point on.
• 
  
• ·       Believe that Jesus rose from the dead, as a sign of His Father’s approval and acceptance of His sacrifice on my behalf.  Because He lives forever, I will also live forever with Him.  
  

All of the blessings of what Jesus did for you, God offers to you as a gift of His grace.  All you need DO, is receive it.  

The Bible:  Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. 

If you think that that’s IT, as awesome as it IS, you would be wrong.  There is so much more – “above all that we can ask or even imagine”.   


Wait for it. . . . . . .

Question 2 What went wrong?

It was beautiful, the garden the Lord God made for Adam and Eve.  The best part of life in the garden was the wonderful, intimate relationship they enjoyed with Him, and with each other, until something went horribly wrong.

Question 2 – What went wrong?

Genesis, chapter 2, verses 16-17:

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but 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’”.

There was a cunning serpent in the garden who had a way with words, and he introduced doubt in the mind of the woman about the truthfulness and faithfulness of God.  (Genesis, chapter 3)


The serpent said to the woman:

Has God REALLY said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’

You will NOT surely die.  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

Suddenly, the fruit of that tree was a MUST have!  But when Adam and Eve had eaten it, everything changed.


They instantly realized they were naked, and in their shame, they covered themselves with fig leaves.  


When they heard the sound of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, instead of running to greet Him, they hid themselves from Him.


When God called out to them, Adam acknowledged his new found fear of God, a fear that caused them both to hide from Him.


When confronted with God’s, “What have you done?”, the blame began – she did it, no the serpent did it!  


The Lord, who had made them in His own image, the One who loved them, and gave them free will to choose relationship with Him or not, pronounced the consequences of their rebellion and disobedience.


First, He addressed the serpent:

You are cursed more than every beast of the field.  On your belly you shall go all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed (descendants) and her Seed (Descendant).  He shall crush your head (a fatal blow), and you shall bruise His heel.

Then to the woman, He said:

I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception.  In pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.

Then to Adam, He said:

Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth.  In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for dust you are and to dust you shall return.

The Lord made tunics for them of the skin of animals and then sent them out of the garden, placing angels with flaming swords to guard the way, so that they could not reenter, and eat of the Tree of Life, and live forever in their sinful state.


Paradise lost. . . . .


What Adam and Eve did that day, in exercising their God given free will in an act of disobedience to the One who had created them for Himself, is the cause of everything that is wrong today.  


In what way, you might ask: 


First, they passed down a sin nature to everyone who came after them. 


Sin is not just the things we do that are against God’s commands.  Sin is the source of our rebellion, disobedience and indifference towards God.   Adam and Eve first exhibited that rebellion in the garden, and then passed it down to us – the way we pass down blue eyes, or curly hair, to our descendants.  It’s as if sin is part of our DNA.  Every member of the human race since, has been born with it.


Observe any two year old, and you will see that nature in action.  We cannot NOT sin, it’s against our nature.


That sin nature is evident in broken relationships – not only with God, but with each other.  It’s the underlying cause of selfishness, meanness, murder and all kinds of evil, as well as those things we think of as lesser evils – gossip, anger, immorality and pride. It’s the source of a me first, nobody is going to tell me what to do attitude, that sets me up as the center of all things – and not God.


Sin doesn’t just affect us, it affects all of creation. Coronavirus. droughts, floods, disease, weeds, mold, birth deformities, infertile soil that’s difficult to farm, crop eating locusts – the Bible tells us that all creation is groaning under the curse of mankind’s sin.  


Adam and Eve’s sin initiated a war between the “seed of the serpent” and the “Seed” of the woman that continues on to this very day.  There is a war going on all around us between Satan, the ancient serpent of the garden of Eden, and all those since who want no part of God – and the “Seed” of the woman, those who belong to God by faith in His Son Jesus.  


Death entered the picture.  When the Lord told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He warned them what would happen if they did.  They would surely die.   They didn’t die immediately, but die they did, and death has been the ultimate enemy of mankind since.  


You and I are suffering under the curse of Adam and Eve’s fall right up till today – a curse that affects all of creation, our relationship with God Himself, and our relationships with each other.  A curse that resulted in physical death.  A curse that has so tainted us that it is altogether impossible for us to please God in our current state.  A curse that initiated a battle between those who belong to Satan and those who belong to Jesus.  


What a bleak picture!  What a terrible loss.  How can we ever hope to enter back into the relationship of intimacy with God that was lost when Adam and Eve fell?


What can we do??  All seems hopeless. . . . . ah, but IS it?


Watch for question 3 to hear about a hope beyond your wildest imaginings!!  


Question to ponder:


What is your source of hope in our world of pandemics, wars, broken relationships, natural disaster, disease and heartache, and especially DEATH – when God seems so incredibly far away – if you think of Him at all?

Question 1 What is my purpose?

When you get to be my age and realize you have fewer years ahead than behind you to live, you might find yourself asking this question:  

Why am I here and what is my purpose?

While I was thinking about this blog, some slogans from products and bumper stickers were going through my head.  They might just express how some in our society would answer that question.  Like:

• ·       Be all that you can be. . . In other words, maximize your potential, make goals and pursue them!

• ·       Go for the gusto. . . Grab all the good stuff the world offers while you can.

• ·       Have it your way. . .Never mind what everyone else does, or who it might hurt, do things YOUR way

• ·       The one who dies with the most toys wins. . .  So amass stuff – maybe a new car, a boat, a house at the beach, a lucrative financial portfolio, a big bank account, the best clothes, jewelry, whatever. . . . .

• ·       Save money, live better. . .Save money so you can live comfortably when you retire

• ·       Because I’m worth it. . . You are the MOST important person in life, you have all the very best things coming to you!

• ·       The relentless pursuit of perfection. . . Strive to rise to the top in your company, gain the respect of your peers, earn another degree – it’s the only way to feel valuable

Some of those slogans represent worthy goals.  After all, who doesn’t want to maximize their potential, or take good care of their families, or advance their career?  

What if I told you that your whole purpose for living is SO much greater than any of those, even the best of them?  Would you want to hear about it?  Well, here goes:

It all began with the phrase:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  

(Genesis, the Bible, chapters 1 through 3).

The world God began with was formless and empty.  All He did was speak and the power of His word brought all that is into being, out of nothing.

• ·       The heavens and the earth
• ·       The sky and dry land
• ·       Grasses, herbs, fruit trees.
• ·       Sun, moon and stars
• ·       Sea creatures and birds in abundance
• ·       Cattle, creeping things, animals

And then, God made man, the absolute pinnacle of His creative genius.

·       He made man in His image, in His likeness, male and female, and gave them dominion over all the other things He had made.  

·       God formed man out of the dust of the ground and then breathed His own breath into him and gave him life.

Genesis 1, verse 31 tells us that God saw everything that He had made, and declared it, very good.


God planted a garden and put the man in it to tend it. God brought every animal and bird to the man so that he might name them, BUT in all of them there was not a helper comparable to him.


And so, God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and from his rib, God made a woman.  When God brought her to the man, to live together as husband and wife, he reacted with the ancient equivalent of, WOW!!.  


Best of all - Adam and Eve, God’s first man and woman, walked and talked with Him in the garden in a wonderful, intimate, face to face relationship. 


They were both naked and were not ashamed.

_________________________________________________________________

So, you might be asking, how does this answer the question:

Why am I here and what is my purpose?

I’m glad you asked.  Let me suggest some things:


You are here by God’s design. 


In other words, you are not here by random chance, and you are NOT a mistake. 

Your life matters to God more than you can imagine.  He loves you more than you can imagine, even if you feel no one else ever has, God has, because He made you and knows you.  And that gives your life, and every life, honor and value and purpose.  Every life is precious to God.


God formed you while you were in your mother’s womb.  He saw you though you were yet unformed.  Even the days of your life here on earth have been written in God’s book, every one is important to Him.  He declares that YOU have been “fearfully and wonderfully” made.  (Psalm 139)


God made you for relationship with Himself.


God made Adam and Eve and placed them in the garden He had made for them, to work it and bring forth fruit, but then He didn’t just leave them to it.  He met them there.  He walked with them and talked with them in a face to face relationship (see Genesis 3, verse 8).


Imagine!  This great God who had brought all things into being with the sound of His voice, actually wanted a relationship with this man and this woman, these creatures He had created, and into which He had breathed His own breath.


You know, that hasn’t changed.  God made you for a relationship with Himself – something nothing else in all His earthly creation is capable of.  He wants a relationship with you, and me.  That is the purpose for which you have been made – to know God – to live in relationship with Him every day, from now throughout eternity. 


If this was God’s purpose, you might ask, then how is it we end up living our lives in pursuit of so many lesser things?   

What went wrong, you ask?  Good question.  


As a matter of fact, it’s a question for another blog.  Watch for it! ________________________________________________________________

In the meantime, think about this:


What is YOUR purpose?  What are YOU living for?  Will what you live for outlast you, or is it just for today?  How’s it working for you?