Who, Me?

Who, Me?

He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:10-13)

A new Pastor in the Church decided to go out and visit all of his parishioners. As he went out knocking on all the doors of the homes most were glad to see and meet him. They shared each other’s distinguishing moments in life and built a foundation for a lasting relationship. At one home that he stopped at the Pastor heard someone moving around in the house. The Pastor knocked on the door and waited for the knock to be answered. So the Pastor knocked again and waited. Still no one came to the door. The Pastor then decided to leave his card and left the following scripture reference on the back of the card, Revelation 3:20. The next Sunday morning, as the Deacons received the offering, the card was returned in the offering plate with the following Scripture reference on the back of the card, Genesis 3:10. When the Pastor saw this he reached for his Bible to check the verse out, the Pastor broke into laughter as he read the verses. Revelation 3:20 reads, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock,” and Genesis 3:10, “I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid, for I was naked.”

Let us look closer at Genesis 3:10-13.

“I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” Before the fall of Adam and Eve they had walked in the Garden of Eden with God as companions but now after they had eaten of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which God had forbid them to do, sin, rebellion against God’s Word, had entered into the world. Now, for the first time, Adam knew the despair of disobedience, Adam knew the feeling of guilt, and instead of being drawn to the voice of God Adam was in fear of it. This is as mankind is today; men do not want to hear the truth of God’s Word because it makes them aware of their sin, sinful behavior causes the consciousness of man to feel guilt, and a guilty feeling makes one walk in despair. Who hear wants to feel guilty? Who here wants to live a life in despair? Thankfully we know the remedy for sin and come to Jesus that He may forgive us and lift the burden of sin from us. We have all been there, we have all felt the burden of sin. We have all at that moment while in the deepest of the pit called out to the name of the Lord and He reached down and lifted us from the tragedy of living for our self.

“Who told you that you were naked?” God of course knew the answer to this question but He wanted to allow Adam to make the best of a bad situation. God was giving Adam the opportunity to confess his disobedience to the Word that God had spoken to him. We all feel the pressure of disobedience pushing down upon us, and we all know the cloud that sin puts between us are our fellowship with God. It is as on a cloudy day, we can see the light of the sun but we cannot see the sun. God still loves us, we are still going to spend eternity with Him, but that cloud of sin has broken our intimate fellowship with Him. Confessing our sin before God is also a way of expressing our love towards God. It is the way to acknowledge that we have actually sinned against Him and to give Him the glory for His forgiveness. This principle is seen in the conversation between Joshua and Achan. “Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.” So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and this is what I did:” (Joshua 7:19-20) God then removes that cloud and our fellowship with God is restored. We can also glorify God by seeking forgiveness from the one we have hurt by our sin. We can explain to them how God has forgiven us and ask the same from them. If they also forgive us, them our relationship is not only restored with God but also with our neighbor.

Sin has weight that presses down on us. Not so much like picking up a ball and chain, but a weight than burdens our consciousness, our soul, and our spirit. We have learned to come unto Jesus, as He is the one for those “who are weary and heavy-laden,” if we call upon Jesus He “will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) Still, today, people love their desire for this world and do not care to repent from it. What about these people, maybe they do not know, and we should be in prayer for them. Lord we pray that you would open their hearts to you truth that they may seek you and find their salvation from the perils of living for this world and the abundant life living towards the next to come in His Kingdom.

“Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” God confronts the problem directly towards Adam. If was not a wardrobe problem, or the lack of a wardrobe, it was a sin problem. Neither could the problem of Adam’s fear or his self-understanding be addressed until the sin problem was taken out of the picture. Sin is the root of our problems and the problems will not go away until we have rid ourselves of the sin in our life. As I said before God knew what had happened and how it happened. God questioned Adam, as Adam is the Spiritual head of the household. “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.” (Ephesians 5:22-23)

Adam answered God. In verse twelve we read, “God do not blame the woman which thou have given me. It is I Lord who must bear the responsibility for the sin against thee.” Is this what your bible says? Did Adam accept the responsibility for the lack of his being responsible? Okay, this is how the verse actually reads. “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Adam did as we often do, first tried to place the blame on someone else and ultimately place the blame on God. Lord you placed this unrighteousness opportunity before me, you promised to deliver me from evil. This is a very confused argument that we have towards God. God fulfills his promise of deliverance by His forgiveness and it is the adversary that tempts us. We have been given free will and we must accept responsibility for the choices that we make. God gave us the lesson of responsibility in Genesis 1. “God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) If we have been given rule, then we must accept the responsibility for the way in which we rule. We were given charge to subdue the earth and also give the instructions in His Word to accomplish a righteous ruler ship. If we choose to disobey then it is not God but we who are responsible for the outcome. Few of us are simply willing to say as David did, “I have sinned against the Lord.” (Samuel 12:13)

Today we have thrown God’s Word out of our society. We have changed the law to what is common to our own sinful behavior. Many have blinded themselves to the truth that God’s Word seems foolishness to them. No longer does the many seek a knowledge of God. Solomon wrote, “Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God.” (Proverbs 2:5) If mankind would have a knowledge of God, then man would have a sincere fear and reverent respect for God. Solomon, who was the wisest man to ever live, went on to write, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10) By our understanding of God and His character we will know that God is love, and that God is just by His Word. Rather today or in the Day of The Lord, we will be responsible for our own deeds and words in the flesh and some day each one will have to speak for themselves and the actions they have taken. Not those of someone else or what we have claimed belong to someone else, we will bear the responsibility of our own, and we will not be able to blame God. God has made the greatest sacrifice to pay the debt we own for our sin, and by His grace He offers the payment to all that will believe upon His Son, Jesus Christ. My friends, be ready for the day draws near. “So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12) Who will answer for the good and for the bad that you have done in this world? You.

Thomas N Kirkpatrick

First Baptist Church of Durant, Wednesday, February 26, 2014