Sept. 20, 2020 - The Spread of Evil

Old Testament Survey  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  44:05
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This week we'll continue making our way thru the OT.
• 2 weeks ago we walked thru the creation account, and did our best to put it into context.
• We realized that God had not just merely created everything that exists...
• ...but that He did so in an environment completely void of that which would hinder our pursuit of Him.
• See God takes His glory seriously, and He will not give it to another.
• And so the purpose of all creation, including us, is to magnify God.
• That's the ultimate purpose.
• And so when God created man and woman in His image, all was well with the world.
• But then satan approached Eve in the garden, and he went to work.
• He attacked the command of God (placing doubt in the mind)
• He attacked the result of disobedience to God (you will not surely die)
• He elevated man (you will become like God)
• He did this to ultimately get Eve to take her eyes off of God as her object of worship...
• ...and place them on herself.
• That she would worship herself.
• Well, it worked.
• She took of the fruit and ate, and also gave to Adam and he ate.
• God comes to find them, and they....hide.
• They try to hide from God.
• So what does God do...God seeks after them.
• God questions them...and they proceed to pass the blame around.
• Neither of them takes responsibility for what they did.
• God then renders judgment on the situation.
• He tells Eve that He's gonna turn up the "pain" dial in childbearing, and that her husband will rule over her.
• He tells Adam that the ground of the earth will be cursed and that Adam will eat from it thru sweat and pain.
• He also tells both of them that physical death is now coming for them...
• ...that they will return to the ground from which they were taken.
• Now lest you think that this has nothing at all to do with you as you sit here today:
Romans 5:12 ESV
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
• So yes, this affects you just as much as it affected Adam.
• We are just as guilty as Adam was...no less.
• But God also renders judgment on the serpent, and in doing so, reveals His plan to remedy this problem of sin.
Genesis 3:15 ESV
15 I 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.”
• From the very beginning, God lets us know that one born of woman would come and crush the head of the evil one (satan), being wounded in the process.
• That "one" is Christ.
Galatians 4:4 ESV
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
1 John 3:8 ESV
8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
• So God here in Genesis 3:15 is laying out for us His plan of redemption.
• Verse 15 here has in it's view, the cross of Christ.
· So we have creation, Genesis chapter 1&2 – everything perfect…
· Adam and Eve – in perfect relationship with God…
· Then SIN comes…
· And sin causes a CHANGE in the nature of Mankind…
· Where Adam and Eve were NOT brought forth in iniquity…
Psalm 51:5 ESV
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
· Suddenly – man was being brought forth in Iniquity…
· WHY? - - The Fall!
See MANY people had lived between Adam – and the time of Psalm 51
· Yet ALL of them – brought forth in iniquity
This is the power of – the EFFECT of SIN…
• Before we get to the Cross, sin is going to manifest itself more and more in the world...
• as man continues to multiply.
• Let me know if you know the answer…
Colin Powell 1st African American secretary of state.
Condoleezza Rice 1st woman to serve as US national security adviser.
Steve Fossett 1st balloonist to fly solo around the world when he landed in Australia on 4th July 2002.
Tom Ridge 1st US Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Effa Manley co-owner of the Negro Leagues team Newark Eagles, becomes the 1st woman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Tony Dungy 1st African-American coach to win a Super Bowl.
Ann Dunwoody 1st female four-star general in the United States military.
Danica Patrick
1st woman to win an Indy Car Race - the Indy Japan 300.
Barack Hussein Obama Jr. 1st African-American US President.
• Anytime that the first of anything is about to take place...the world watches.
• When it comes to sin entering the world in Genesis 3, it actually sets us up to witness the first of something.
• It sets us up to witness the destructive power of sin in the lives of those who were the first to be born of woman in Human history.
• The first to be born of woman in Human history was Cain and Abel.
• See we heard God speak of, and render judgment on Adam and Eve in the garden...
• We saw God Himself carry out that judgment in the lives of Adam and Eve.
BUT now for the first time, we get to see the unstoppable, destructive, eternal consequences of sin that now completely saturates the fabric of humanity...
• ...and we get to see it in the first human beings birthed on this planet.
Genesis 4:1–16 ESV
1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
• In looking at this account here, it seems quite easy to see the effects of sin on mankind...
• ...AND some comparisons, with:
1. Abel as Christ
2. Cain as sinful man
Cain seems to lineup with "fallen man".
• He worked the ground. (verse 2)
• We saw earlier in Genesis that the ground was now cursed because of the Fall (Sin).
• Cain tilled and worked the sin-saturated ground of the earth.
Abel lines up with Christ.
• He was a keeper of sheep (Shepherd)
• In John 10:11, Jesus says of Himself...
John 10:11 ESV
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Back to Cain and the effects of sin:
• We now look at the offering made to God.
• Verse 3 says:
Genesis 4:3 ESV
3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,
• And so the ground now being cursed, Cain simply goes thru the motions of making an offering from the cursed ground.
• No bloodshed here...for Cain's offering
• NOTICE - it DOES NOT SAY - the "first-fruits" of the ground, and so it implies here that Cain's just doing his duty to make an offering...
• ...Well, God's not pleased! - - WHY?
• God isn't interested in glum service.
• Not interested in bored service...
• or murmuring service.
Or going thru the motions type of service.
• Cain wasn't worshipping God in his duty driven offering.
• There was no delight in God, in Cain's offering.
• And God was not pleased.
Back to Abel now who lines up with Christ (lines up with the remedy to this problem)...
• verse 4 says:
Genesis 4:4 ESV
4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,
• Abel, in contrast to Cain, worships God...delights in God, in bringing the firstborn of his flock (a Lamb) as his offering.
• What do we have here? Bloodshed.
• He's bringing the best that he's got...
• And God is pleased!
• Abel had faith in presenting God his offering.
• How do we know this?
Hebrews 11:4 ESV
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
Faith and Righteousness
• From the very beginning, we see sin destroy mankind, and God's remedy to the problem.
• Back to the story...
• God rejects Cain's offering.
• God accepts Abel's offering...
• Does Cain seek to provide a more pleasing offering to God at this point??
• NO!
• ...instead Cain gets angry.
• That anger leads to Cain killing Abel. (Cain killed the shepherd).
• Sin killed the shepherd.
• We're gonna see here that the "sin apple" doesn't fall far from the "sin tree".
• God asks Cain - "Where is Abel your brother?"
• Cain's response? - "I don't know; am I my brother's keeper?"
· Sounds familiar?
· Who is Cain’s dad?
· ADAM – the guy that said – Oh, yeah, the woman who You gave to be with me…SHE gave me the fruit and I ate it…
• Like father like son right?
• Not accepting responsibility for his actions.
• But why did Cain kill Abel? What was the reason?
SLIDE: Sin: Now Part of Our Nature

Sin

1 John 3:12 ESV
12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.
• And so where there is righteousness, sin seeks to destroy it.
• But look at the answer again...
• And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.
• What kind of answer is that?
• If a guy steals something, gets caught, and then goes before the judge, and the judge asks him, "Why did you steal that thing?"...
• If the guy says - "because i'm a thief"...
• What's the judge gonna say??
• "Why are you a thief?"
• The guy says - "Because I'm a thief"
• What's he actually saying??
• He's saying - This is who I am - It's my nature to steal - I can't help it
• And so 1 John 3:12 points to the fact that Cain killed Abel because it was who Cain was.
• Sin now being apart of the nature of man, rebels against righteousness...
• ...to the point of murder....brother against brother.
• AND the scary thing for us is that we're accountable for it.
• God then renders judgment on Cain, cursing him from the ground, and causing him to wander the earth.
And here’s the next thing we see regarding SIN…
SLIDE: Sin: Separates Us From God

Sin

• Verse 16 then says:
Genesis 4:16 ESV
16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
• Away from the presence of the Lord, and this separation is spoken of throughout scripture…
Isaiah 59:2 ESV
2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
This is Old Testament…
· Let’s look to the apostle Paul as well…
Ephesians 2:12 ESV
12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
· Cain was now AWAY from the presence of the Lord…
· He MURDERED his brother…
· And SIN – In the beginning – had ETERNAL consequences…
· It brought with it – ETERNAL separation from God…
· SO THAT – every human being – born of woman – would be BORN in INIQUITY…
Cain and Abel were the first – CASE Study involving those BORN in iniquity!
• How did it go?
• From the very beginning, sin sought to destroy righteousness.
• Sin has eternal consequences
• And so knowing that...we should know that from Genesis 3 - on - - it's not good.
• It's not getting any better.
• Just think what Adam and Eve had to be thinking at this point.
• One of their sons killed another of their sons.
• For Adam and Eve, they had sinned against God, and He removed them from the garden.
• They had to be thinking, "ok, we really messed up here, but God has still blessed us with a child.
• Listen to what Eve says about the birth of Cain:
Genesis 4:1 ESV
1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.”
• There's excitement there...she understood where this blessing came from.
• I would think that there was hope now that things would be ok.
• Years later, in the murder of their son BY their other son, they would feel the ever-increasing weight of what they had done in the garden.
• Was their hope completely destroyed?
• I don't know, but what we do know is that the outlook for mankind was devastatingly hopeless.
• To the extent that God Himself would say this in Genesis 6:
Genesis 6:5–7 ESV
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
• "...every intention of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually."
• The power of sin.
• We go from:
Genesis 1:31 ESV
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
• TO
Genesis 6:12 ESV
12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
• See "sin" not only rebels against God, but it renders those who are under its curse, unable to seek after God, or please God in any way.
• This is called - total depravity
• and this is the epitome of Hopelessness.
And this CORRUPTION finds itself in the pages of scripture…
SLIDE: Sin: Affects Every Biblical Person

Sin

· Think of Abraham…
· He is called the Friend of God
· He is known as the Father of all who believe…
· Those who have faith are called – Children of Abraham…
· He had a unique relationship with God…
AND YET –
· Abraham was a traveler…
· By faith – he went out obeying God…not knowing where he was going…
· YET – everywhere he and his wife Sarah went, it seemed the kings of the day wanted Sarah…
· And Abraham thought to himself – If I tell them that she is my wife – they’ll KILL ME…
· So what did Abraham do?
Genesis 20:13 ESV
13 And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”
· Abraham’s plan – was to LIE to all who would ask about Sarah…
· And he put this plan into place – MORE THAN ONCE…
This sin was:
· Intentional
· Repetitive
· Manipulative
· Even a MAN of God?
· Yes – why? - The Fall and the Spread of Evil
HOW ABOUT Jacob?
· Another man – blessed by God…
· But how did that blessing come?
· If you know the story = Jacob and Esau were twins – born to Isaac…
· In Isaac’s old age, he became blind…hard for him to see…
· And so it comes to the point where Isaac wants to BLESS his firstborn son Esau…
· But what does Jacob do?
· He conspires to DECEIVE Isaac…and steal the blessing…
· With help from his mother – a meal is prepared and brought to Issac…
· Jacob comes in – Isaac THINKS it’s Esau, and what does Jacob do?
Genesis 27:24 ESV
24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.”
· WOW – premeditated deception…
· Where does this come from?
· The Fall of mankind and the spread of Evil…
HOW ABOUT David?
· I think we all know the story of David…
· God describes David as a “Man after God’s own heart”…
· David commits adultery with Bathsheba…
· Gets her pregnant…
· THEN – has her husband Uriah killed in the line of duty…at war
· Great sin…
· How? Why?
· The fall of mankind and the spread of Evil
HOW ABOUT Peter?
· We recently walked thru Peter’s DENIAL of Jesus – at His trial…
· Peter – in that moment – elevated his physical comforts over his allegiance to Jesus Christ…
· He DENIES Jesus 3 times…just hours after he declares TO JESUS that he would DIE for Him…
· Who’s been there??
· One minute – praying to God, thanking Him for the day…for His blessing…
· AND THEN – a couple hours later –
· NOT Trusting Him…NOT seeking Him
· Sitting down in the seat of the scoffers
· DOING that which He despises…
· The roller coaster life of a Christian…
HOW ABOUT the APOSTLE PAUL?
· IN chapter 7 of Romans Paul describes his present state of the Christian life….
Romans 7:15 ESV
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
· Who is this again??
· The apostle Paul??
· The apostle PAUL…who wrote 28% of the New Testament…
· …DOING things he NOW hates?
· The apostle Paul - a life of – righteousness – AND sin?
Paul actually calls HIMSELF - the chiefest of ALL sinners!
YES – HOW?
- The fall of mankind and the spread of Evil
- Even the apostle Paul was not exempt…
NOW – fast forward to today – Could we add OUR names to the list??
- We look out at the WORLD and we see – SIN / EVIL
- We see people SUPPORTING things that God hates…
- We see people declaring things RIGHT that God says is WRONG
We see OURSELVES –
· LIKE Abraham…. Plotting and planning deception in our lives (maybe with our spouse, on our taxes, at work
· LIKE Jacob… elevating MONEY in this world, and where ISAAC questioned and asked – IS THAT YOU ESAU, God is asking us today – Are you a CHILD of MINE?
o Have we disguised ourselves with church, when in reality we’re in love with MONEY, or whatever else this world is offering?
We SEE ourselves –
· LIKE David … LUSTING our way thru life. Treating this world as though it OWES us EVERYTHING!
· LIKE Peter… that when the spiritual going gets rough…we walk away from Christ…we DENY Him, in how we respond.
BUT here’s the thing: God WANTS us to see ourselves – as SINNERS.
· He wants us to BELIEVE that we are WRETCHED at heart!
· He wants us to UNDERSTAND that we ARE sinners!
WHY? - Because ONLY then can He break in and CHANGE our hearts!
· These past couple of weeks – we’ve seen:
SUMMARY:
Creation
The Fall of Mankind: Sin
Evil Saturates Man
o Creation… Everything God made was – GOOD
o BUT THEN – disobedience happened – SIN happened
o And the FALL of mankind became a reality!
· SIN separated us from GOD…
· And DEATH (spiritual and physical) – came upon MANKIND
· AND NOW WHAT…
· In the NARRATIVE of scripture.…
• JUDGMENT ENDS UP COMING...in the form of a flood.
• God blots out all that He had created...except for Noah, and 7 members of his family.
• When we look at the family tree from Adam to Noah, we see generations of sinful man in rebellion against God. (the SPREAD of EVIL)
• Generations of sinful man choosing creation over the creator.
• When Adam was 130 years old, Seth was born.
• When Seth was 105 years old, Enosh was born.
• When Enosh was 90 years old, Kenan was born.
• When Kenan was 70 years old, Mahalalel was born.
• When Mahalalel was 65 years old, Jared was born.
• When Jared was 162 years old, Enoch was born.
• When Enoch was 65 years old, Methuselah was born.
• When Methuselah was 187 years old, Lamech was born.
• When Lamech (Laymik) was 182 years old, Noah was born.
• And 600 years later, the flood.
• From the Fall of mankind until God brings judgment in the form of a flood...
• ...we see roughly 1600 years of sinful corruption.
• And God says - Judgment's here.
• So God floods the earth...
• He opens up the heavens, floods the earth and destroys every living thing, except for Noah and 7 members of his family.
• The flood subsides...
• ...and Noah and his family begin repopulating the planet.
• But there's still a problem in the world...
• ...Sin.
• And so God's plan is not complete.
• Next week we'll see God call out Abraham and establishing a covenant with him.
• A promise of hope and blessing that would extend throughout eternity.
To Be Continued...
Let's Pray...
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