27 November 2016 (11.30am service, New Creation Church at Star Vista)
- Sermon delivered by Pastor Joseph Prince
Sermon Notes (Note: These are personal notes and not a transcription of the sermon.)
I.
Redemption
over Creation
God
loves us even as He loves the Lord Jesus:
John 17:23
I in them and
you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will
know that you sent me and have loved them
even as you have loved me.
The
Lord said that if two of you gather in His name, He is there in the midst of
them:
Matthew 18:20
For where two
or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of
them."
Thus,
the smallest majority is two to gather in His name. The Church of Christ is God’s
greatest dream.
The
Lord is always there with the Father.
Genesis
is the book of beginning. There are four characters (heads) that we have to pay
attention to. They are Adam, Noah, Abraham (the God of Abraham; the Father of
the Jewish people/church) and Joseph.
In
the Book of Genesis, four men were described.
In
the four Gospels, it took four men to write the life of one man.
There
is only one chapter on Creation but many chapters on Redemption.
II.
Adam as a
Prototype
Adam
was the first man that God made. We see the prototype of men and God’s design/dream
for men/marriage.
It
is good for us to go back to original, and find out where we missed it.
God
did not put redemption as an afterthought.
No.
Redemption in the history of the world happen after creation but it is not an afterthought.
God has redemption in mind all the time.
All
answers to medicine and the world started from creation. However, God focuses
on redemption. God’s interest is not in creation. Creation has fallen.
There
is a diet known as Back to Eden Diet, whereby one should just eat vegetables,
fruits, and don’t eat meat. However, Eden was there before the fall. When men
fell, the body was not the same. God did not design for man to die or even to
grow old. Thus, Back to Eden Diet cannot work, as men in today’s world are
different from men before the fall.
Growing
old is a curse. Inhabitants of the earth are experiencing the curse. In heaven,
there is no growing old. God has never planned for death. Death is an enemy.
We
can enjoy everything God has for us. The only thing we wait for now is the
return of His son. We are waiting for His son to appear.
The
enemy is attacking the Rapture now, as hope is the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
God told Adam— the day you eat from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, you shall die:
Genesis 2:15-17
Then the Lord God took the man and put
him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And 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.”
God
planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to give men a free choice. God
gave men one tree to let men exercise their free will. However, men failed and
ate from the tree. God didn’t stop them as He was giving them free choice.
After
the flood, men’s life was halved.
Life
on Earth was fully oxygenated before the flood. The Earth was protected by a
layer of canopy. However, the Flood of Noah was the first time there was rain
on Earth, as the protection/canopy was broken.
When
God said that men would live till 120 years, it was a statement of judgment:
Genesis 6:3
Then the LORD
said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal;
their days will be a hundred and twenty years.
However,
many hold living to 120 years as long life today.
Fossils
of marine creatures in many mountains are the remains of the flood. After the flood, God gave four seasons as He
tilted the Earth to freeze the excess water. He also gave animals to mankind as
food.
After the flood, it was a fallen Earth.
The
body of men is a fallen body. Thus, a vegetarian diet does not work as before.
III.
Marriage
When
God talked about men’s greatest blessing, He talked about women. God said that
it’s not good that man is alone:
Genesis 2:18
And the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I
will make him a helper comparable to him."
God makes man a helper [woman] comparable to him. Thus, women’s mental, physical, and all other attributes are created to help the men.
Men have authority as Adam gave the animals their names:
Genesis 2:19-20
Out of the ground the Lord God formed
every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to
see what he would call them. And
whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave
names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field.
But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
The whole idea of marriage is God’s idea.
God took a rib near to the man’s heart and created woman:
Genesis 2:21-22
And the Lord God caused a
deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken
from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
God
took the rib near to the man’s heart, for the man to love his woman. When God makes
woman, the man is sleeping. Often, God works the “night shift”.
In
Hebrew, God built women delicately,
however, God formed men.
God formed men from soil/ground. However, God built women from men:
Genesis 2:23
And Adam said: "This is now bone of
my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was
taken out of Man."
In
Hebrew, men are called “eesh”, women are
known as “ish
shah”. In “ish shah” there is the letter “hei” (grace). Thus, women have the
grace for men to love the women.
God
gives women the influence. Men are the head. However, God allows women to “turn
the head”. Women can be influential.
In life, it is important to know who is influential, and not just who the head is.
Physically,
woman is an attraction to man, and man is willing to work for the woman.
A
man shall leave his father and mother after marriage:
Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined
to his wife,
and they shall become one flesh.
Ephesians 5:31-33
"For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and
be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This is
a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless
let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the
wife see that she respects her husband.
A
man should not allow the authority of the parents to rule his new
life/marriage. A man should at least leave his father and mother emotionally
after marriage.
Paul
teaches mystery. However, mystery is not
about something hidden. In the New Testament, mystery is something that was
once hidden and now revealed.
Long
before the fall, God had in mind redemption. We are people who live in
time-bound world.
God’s
first intention in creating is redemption. Redemption is God’s thought
throughout.
While
creation gives up on men, redemption stays with us.
Jesus
is showing men and those who are watching that in creation, there is no hope by
putting mud on the eyes of the blind man:
John 9:6
When He had
said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He
anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.
Jesus
later sent the blind man to the pool to wash his eyes and he came back seeing:
John 9:7
And He said to him, "Go, wash in the
pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and
came back seeing.
The blind man was the “sent one”. Sent is different from “go”.
Even
in missionary work, you need to be “sent”.
If
you see Jesus as the one “sent” by God. He was not part of creation.
Jesus
came in the flesh. Babies were born in the flesh. Jesus is 100%
God, 100% man.
When
the man was asked by the Pharisees if Jesus is not from God, because He
does not keep the Sabbath, he said:
“Whether He is
a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see." (John 9:25)
The
one with the experience could use the experience over arguments of many.
The
ones who have their experience/testimony are the ones who could win those with
arguments.
The pool of Siloam has been uncovered after 2000 years. This means that Israel’s
blindness is coming off.
Some
men abuse the wives. The word “abuse” comes from “abnormal use”.
The
more we understand God, the more we know his intention.
We
live in a culture of shame. We do not just cover ourselves in clothes, but also
cover things when we do wrong.
When
man sin, he forfeited the glory of God which covered over his body.
Rapture
is not the second coming. However, rapture is a coming when believers will be taken
to be with the Lord.
We
will be there with Him for 7 years. There will be tribulation in the world for
seven years. After that, Jesus will come down.
When
the world is dark, He will rise for us.
When
the snake deceived the woman, and the woman gave the fruit to the husband, the husband
was there with the wife when the snake was talking to her though he was the
original guy who heard from God that he should not to eat the fruit.
Adam
was quiet when the woman gave the fruit to him.
Evil
triumphs when men keep quiet.
It’s
amazing that when we come back home, we don’t talk to our spouses.
If
men know something is wrong, men should speak up. Men should speak in a way
that is authoritative.
Adam kept quiet, and the fall happened.
After
the fall, they knew they were naked and ashamed of their bodies. They sewed fig
leaves and made coverings:
Genesis 3:7
Then the eyes
of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made
themselves coverings
Man
was created to obey, man was created to have a master. If men don’t obey God,
they obey Satan.
When
you submit to God, God, the all powerful one, can help you.
After
Adam and Eve sinned, God sought for them:
Genesis 3:8-9
And they heard the sound of the Lord God
walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then
the Lord God called to Adam and said to
him, "Where are you?"
Again, here, it shows that God seeks us out and we don’t look for God.
“Where
are you?”—There is a spiritual aspect to it.
Fig leaves are significant in this context. The fruits of fig
trees will come later. Thus, there is the appearance of fruitfulness.
Any
attempt to cover yourself with self-righteousness, morality, nobility, titles
or achievements is all just covering. Adam was fearful as he sinned against God.
However,
in life, we should not fear. God will heal us. Thus, we should not be afraid
despite any situations. Whatever happens, don’t give in yourself to fear.
The
fear of the Lord should be about worship and revelation of who God is, and not
being afraid of God.
Sin
makes us coward.
Why the tree is call “the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil”?
Men
were innocent, which was good. When you have the conscience, you end up doing
the evil. Conscience makes you blame other people, and conscience makes you
fear God.
We
are creatures of emotions, not just logic. When we sin, we are very quick to
blame other people:
Genesis 3:12
Then the man
said, "The woman whom You gave to
be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate."
Generally,
people will blame everybody other than themselves, and that’s sin.
Strong
is the person who can say— it’s my fault, I am sorry.
Adam
blamed the God for giving him the woman who let him have the forbidden fruit.
Nowadays,
people have been blaming God.
Job
acknowledged his mistake and was restored.
You
got to blame yourself when things go wrong. However, you should not to blame
yourself in a condemning way.
People
who know grace and that their sins are forgiven past, present and future can
talk about sins/mistakes freely. Now we talk about sins, knowing they have been
paid for.
Don’t
cover up your wounds, pain or faults, as people
will see through them and wonder when you would admit to them.
Eve placed blame on the serpent:
Genesis 3:13
And the Lord
God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said,
"The serpent deceived me, and I
ate."
You can judge yourself but not to condemn yourself. If you can judge yourself, you will not be judged. If you know you are wrong, judge yourself.
IV.
Conclusion
Genesis 3:14
So the Lord God said to the serpent:
"Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more
than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat
dust All the days of your life.
Satan
wants to bring you under his curse. For instance, if you believe in horoscope,
you are touching his things.
Genesis 3:15
And I will put
enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall
bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
Satan crushed Jesus’s heel, and Jesus crushed Satan’s head.
In David’s line, there was once when there was one baby boy left, and the boy kept by the maid, was only revealed when he has grown.
It implies that the true seed of David will be revealed.
God
offered the first sin offering. He killed animals and blood was shed to cloth
Adam and Eve:
Genesis 3:21
Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God
made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
Both Cain and Abel brought offering to the Lord. However, Cain brought the
offering from the cursed ground while Abel brought the lamb. Cain brought the
food from the ground whereby the food was cursed. The Lord did not respect Cain
and his offering.
Genesis 4:3-6
And in the process of time
it came to pass that Cain brought an
offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his
offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very
angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you
angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be
accepted?
Many
people come to God trusting in their own righteousness.
1 John 3:10-12
In this the children of God and the
children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is
not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message
that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain
who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his
brother's righteous.
When
you bring your work to God, it is evil work, but when you bring Jesus to God,
it’s righteous work.
Genesis 4:7
If you do what
is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is
crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
“Sin
is crouching” – this was before Cain murdered the brother. One produces love; and another produces
hatred.
Genesis 4:8-12
Now Cain talked with Abel
his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose
up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain,
"Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my
brother's keeper?" And He said,
"What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me
from the ground. So now you are cursed
from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from
your hand. When you till the ground,
it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you
shall be on the earth."
The ground was cursed. However, Jesus’s blood on the ground gives
redemption to us:
Luke 22:44
And being in
anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his
sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Jesus
shed his blood on the cursed ground while praying in the garden of
Gethsemane before his crucification. It is only under
intense pressure that your capillaries will burst.
Blood shed on the ground by Jesus has redeeming power.
Wherever we go, we are walking on the
blessed ground!
With
Jesus, we live life loved and protected. Amen!
