Sin Complicates Life - Part 1 - Genesis 3:8-24
Posted by Calvary Chapel Fremont at 10/16/2011 8:55 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Pastor Tim Brown Calvary Chapel Fremont Sin Complicates Life Genesis
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Pastor Tim Brown Calvary Chapel Fremont Sin Complicates Life Genesis
Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday October 16, 2011
Sin Complicates Life
Genesis 3:8-24
Mary lies and tells her parents she is at Sally’s house studying when she is really w/ Bob. Simple scenario, right? Mary has a things to juggle now –
Continually repeat the lie when she talks w/ her parents after the fact / Make up for lost study time / Cover bases w/ Sally – make her lie, too / Worry about moral problems w/ Bob / Guilt about the whole thing / Fear about the whole thing falling apart. Simple scenario? I don’t think so. Mary’s soul is all tied up in knots.
Sin complicates life. Water flowing thru hose is restricted by kinks Sin puts kinks in your soul. Not only does sin bring guilt, it restricts the flow of the life of the Spirit in you.
Meredith Kline (Vol. 40: Westminster Theo. Journal V40. 1977 (2) (246)) argues that we have a watered down/diluted understanding of what is happening in this passage. He brings two dynamics of this verse to the forefront -
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden…
The sound isn’t footsteps – its’ the noise of the coming of the Lord.
What Adam and Eve heard was frighteningly loud. It was the shattering thunder of God’s arrival in judgment. The qôl yhwh is loud, magnificently loud. It is likened to the crescendo of ocean/storm/rumbling roar of earthquake. It is the noise of war/trumpeting of signal horns/clamor of battle.
Often, in the Bible, the Lord’s coming was accompanied by awesome sounds. That’s his 1st point – what they heard was the sound of the Lord coming in judgment. 2nd point – what they saw was the piercing light of His glory.
…in the cool of the day…
Cool = ruach: wind/spirit / Day = light.
Immediately after the mention of the Spirit hovering in the darkness over the deep (G1:2), the Spirit’s 1st creative act is introduced: “Let there be light” (v3). God called the light ‘day’
(v5a). The 1st time the word ‘day’ is used, it means ‘light’ v darkness.
So, God isn’t on a routine casual stroll through the garden. He has come into the garden w/ a fearsome noise, w/ the searching light of judgment accompanying Him. I remember being sent to my room by my mom and when my dad got home, hearing his footsteps coming down the hall/light turn on.
We may translate Genesis 3:8a: “They heard the sound of Yahweh God crossing the garden as the Spirit of the day.” The frightening noise of the approaching Glory… told them that God was coming to enter into judgment with them. The sound of judgment day preceded the awesome sight of the coming of their Judge. They heard His coming b4 the searching, exposing beams of the light pierced through the trees in the midst of the garden. For a moment it seemed possible to hide from the eyes of God among the shadows of the trees.
Where are you…I was afraid because I was naked.
Nakedness/exposure was nothing new to Adam (garden was nudist colony!), but fear was. His nakedness was never a point of vulnerability, but now it is. Where b4 he had peace/protection, now he has a sense of being uncovered/gripped by fear. God no longer had his back – he had to hide. You run/hide when you feel like you are in danger. He felt danger being in the presence of God. He never had to hide b4, but now he was naked – guilty self knowledge. God was now not only his Creator, but Judge, too.
Where are you…Who told you that you were naked?
God is not seeking information, but looking for confession – a personal confession of sin. “Have you eaten…?” “Well, let me explain… Let me put this in context. OK, yeah, but…” God didn’t get a confession, but an evasion/excuse/self justification. God does the same w/ us (wants confession), we do the same as Adam (offer evasions).
“Are you sexually pure?” Let me explain the pressure I’m under/temptation I face.
“Are you serving Me?” Let me explain my time constraints.
“Are you faithfully giving to Me?” Let me explain my finances to You, Lord.
All our explanations are evasions – we don’t want to confess sin. For Adam to confess sin was to accept responsibility/face judgment. When you evade/deny/blame/explain you are tying your soul up in knots and complicating your life. When you run from confession you run into complication/confusion/kinks. (Nixon/Clinton)
Adam did it/knew he did it/knew that God knew that he did it, but he had to hide that he did it/make it look like someone else did it. He is working against his conscience/knowledge/relationship. Sin is hard work! Sin complicates life! Confession begins to unkink soul -
To confess sin means that I accept responsibility and we don’t want to face responsibility of the consequences of our sinful choices. If I accept responsibility I have to change something: the way I think/feel/ behave/speak/relate… Why won’t husbands humble themselves b4 their wives/confess sin? Vice-versa? Because change is hard work.
To confess sin means that I have a Judge over me and that I am accountable. The lack of confession gives the illusion of the absence of accountability and the presence of independence.
To confess sin means that I live in relationship/community w/ others – God/people. Relationship puts boundaries around me and confession is an admission of those limitations.
To confess sin means that I am not a radically independent person/that I live in relationship/that I accept responsibility for the consequences of unrighteous decisions I make/that I have violated my conscience and the law of God. No wonder Adam weaved/bobbed. Confession of sin will cost you something, but lack of it will cost you more.
You are Adam/Eve – you run from the approach of a holy God. A holy God is seen as an enemy by sinful man and so you run. You run long/hard. You think you can outpace/outmaneuver/outsmart/ outlast the God who is everywhere/knows everything. Fear of judgment/being brought face-to-face w/ your sin propel your feet fast/furious into pathways of evasion/denial. You hide yourself among the trees of philosophy/religion/excuses/good works/indifference. But you can never outrun the light – that piercing light.
To run from confession is to run from Christ. For the same light that draws forth confession of sin from you/the same light that makes you see the truth about yourself also reveals the truth of God: in Christ Jesus, God is for you. The light that exposes the problem is the same light that reveals the solution. The light that exposes your sin also reveals your Champion.
1st gospel promise - Jesus is the seed of the woman. Jesus fulfills this promise to Adam/Eve. Christ Jesus inflicted the head wound upon the serpent/delivered you from the curse imposed upon creation. In Christ, you can stand in the light of God knowing that ur covered. In Christ Jesus, you can stand b4 God w/o fear. In Christ, God has your back. Sinful man runs from God, but the one who really sees Christ runs to God.
You who are running from God, run to Him. There is no sin so great that He won’t forgive/no depth that He can’t reach/no filth He can’t cleanse/no bondage He can’t break/no darkness He can’t illumine.
God, stripped naked/beaten/murdered – all because we wouldn’t confess. Jesus was afraid of the judgment of God, but didn’t run. He was naked, but He didn’t hide among trees - He hung on a tree/delivered head wound. 2nd Adam did what 1st Adam didn’t do.
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Sin Complicates Life
Genesis 3:8-24
Mary lies and tells her parents she is at Sally’s house studying when she is really w/ Bob. Simple scenario, right? Mary has a things to juggle now –
Continually repeat the lie when she talks w/ her parents after the fact / Make up for lost study time / Cover bases w/ Sally – make her lie, too / Worry about moral problems w/ Bob / Guilt about the whole thing / Fear about the whole thing falling apart. Simple scenario? I don’t think so. Mary’s soul is all tied up in knots.
Sin complicates life. Water flowing thru hose is restricted by kinks Sin puts kinks in your soul. Not only does sin bring guilt, it restricts the flow of the life of the Spirit in you.
Meredith Kline (Vol. 40: Westminster Theo. Journal V40. 1977 (2) (246)) argues that we have a watered down/diluted understanding of what is happening in this passage. He brings two dynamics of this verse to the forefront -
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden…
The sound isn’t footsteps – its’ the noise of the coming of the Lord.
What Adam and Eve heard was frighteningly loud. It was the shattering thunder of God’s arrival in judgment. The qôl yhwh is loud, magnificently loud. It is likened to the crescendo of ocean/storm/rumbling roar of earthquake. It is the noise of war/trumpeting of signal horns/clamor of battle.
Often, in the Bible, the Lord’s coming was accompanied by awesome sounds. That’s his 1st point – what they heard was the sound of the Lord coming in judgment. 2nd point – what they saw was the piercing light of His glory.
…in the cool of the day…
Cool = ruach: wind/spirit / Day = light.
Immediately after the mention of the Spirit hovering in the darkness over the deep (G1:2), the Spirit’s 1st creative act is introduced: “Let there be light” (v3). God called the light ‘day’
(v5a). The 1st time the word ‘day’ is used, it means ‘light’ v darkness.
So, God isn’t on a routine casual stroll through the garden. He has come into the garden w/ a fearsome noise, w/ the searching light of judgment accompanying Him. I remember being sent to my room by my mom and when my dad got home, hearing his footsteps coming down the hall/light turn on.
We may translate Genesis 3:8a: “They heard the sound of Yahweh God crossing the garden as the Spirit of the day.” The frightening noise of the approaching Glory… told them that God was coming to enter into judgment with them. The sound of judgment day preceded the awesome sight of the coming of their Judge. They heard His coming b4 the searching, exposing beams of the light pierced through the trees in the midst of the garden. For a moment it seemed possible to hide from the eyes of God among the shadows of the trees.
Where are you…I was afraid because I was naked.
Nakedness/exposure was nothing new to Adam (garden was nudist colony!), but fear was. His nakedness was never a point of vulnerability, but now it is. Where b4 he had peace/protection, now he has a sense of being uncovered/gripped by fear. God no longer had his back – he had to hide. You run/hide when you feel like you are in danger. He felt danger being in the presence of God. He never had to hide b4, but now he was naked – guilty self knowledge. God was now not only his Creator, but Judge, too.
Where are you…Who told you that you were naked?
God is not seeking information, but looking for confession – a personal confession of sin. “Have you eaten…?” “Well, let me explain… Let me put this in context. OK, yeah, but…” God didn’t get a confession, but an evasion/excuse/self justification. God does the same w/ us (wants confession), we do the same as Adam (offer evasions).
“Are you sexually pure?” Let me explain the pressure I’m under/temptation I face.
“Are you serving Me?” Let me explain my time constraints.
“Are you faithfully giving to Me?” Let me explain my finances to You, Lord.
All our explanations are evasions – we don’t want to confess sin. For Adam to confess sin was to accept responsibility/face judgment. When you evade/deny/blame/explain you are tying your soul up in knots and complicating your life. When you run from confession you run into complication/confusion/kinks. (Nixon/Clinton)
Adam did it/knew he did it/knew that God knew that he did it, but he had to hide that he did it/make it look like someone else did it. He is working against his conscience/knowledge/relationship. Sin is hard work! Sin complicates life! Confession begins to unkink soul -
To confess sin means that I accept responsibility and we don’t want to face responsibility of the consequences of our sinful choices. If I accept responsibility I have to change something: the way I think/feel/ behave/speak/relate… Why won’t husbands humble themselves b4 their wives/confess sin? Vice-versa? Because change is hard work.
To confess sin means that I have a Judge over me and that I am accountable. The lack of confession gives the illusion of the absence of accountability and the presence of independence.
To confess sin means that I live in relationship/community w/ others – God/people. Relationship puts boundaries around me and confession is an admission of those limitations.
To confess sin means that I am not a radically independent person/that I live in relationship/that I accept responsibility for the consequences of unrighteous decisions I make/that I have violated my conscience and the law of God. No wonder Adam weaved/bobbed. Confession of sin will cost you something, but lack of it will cost you more.
You are Adam/Eve – you run from the approach of a holy God. A holy God is seen as an enemy by sinful man and so you run. You run long/hard. You think you can outpace/outmaneuver/outsmart/ outlast the God who is everywhere/knows everything. Fear of judgment/being brought face-to-face w/ your sin propel your feet fast/furious into pathways of evasion/denial. You hide yourself among the trees of philosophy/religion/excuses/good works/indifference. But you can never outrun the light – that piercing light.
To run from confession is to run from Christ. For the same light that draws forth confession of sin from you/the same light that makes you see the truth about yourself also reveals the truth of God: in Christ Jesus, God is for you. The light that exposes the problem is the same light that reveals the solution. The light that exposes your sin also reveals your Champion.
1st gospel promise - Jesus is the seed of the woman. Jesus fulfills this promise to Adam/Eve. Christ Jesus inflicted the head wound upon the serpent/delivered you from the curse imposed upon creation. In Christ, you can stand in the light of God knowing that ur covered. In Christ Jesus, you can stand b4 God w/o fear. In Christ, God has your back. Sinful man runs from God, but the one who really sees Christ runs to God.
You who are running from God, run to Him. There is no sin so great that He won’t forgive/no depth that He can’t reach/no filth He can’t cleanse/no bondage He can’t break/no darkness He can’t illumine.
God, stripped naked/beaten/murdered – all because we wouldn’t confess. Jesus was afraid of the judgment of God, but didn’t run. He was naked, but He didn’t hide among trees - He hung on a tree/delivered head wound. 2nd Adam did what 1st Adam didn’t do.
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