The School of Faith

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And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.

Genesis 13:5-6

You and I are in the school of faith. God wants to build faith in us. The curriculum in the school is pain, suffering and problems. God uses suffering to shape our souls and to build our faith.

When Abraham faced famine and the threat of death, he got an "F," for failure. For the next problem, conflict with his nephew Lot, Abraham gets an "F," for faith.

Both Abraham and Lot had large flocks and herds and the land could not support them. Quarreling arose between Abraham's workers and Lot's workers.

Abraham takes the initiative to solve the problem. (Sometimes we delay the inevitable thinking the problem will go away on its own. Instead, the delay just about always exacerbates the problem.) Abraham is gracious to Lot, giving him the first choice of land, even though Abraham is older and Abraham is the one who had been promised the whole land of Canaan.

Then Abraham said to Lot, "Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will got o the left" (Genesis 13:8-9).

Lot proceeds to choose the greenest, most inviting land. Because Abraham trusted God to provide for him and take care of him, he was free to be generous and gracious with Lot. He didn't feel the need to "look after himself" and "make sure he got what he was due." He was free to relax in 

God's

 care for him.

Faith, in God, sets us free.

Faith frees us from self-assertiveness and self-protectiveness.

Faith frees us from greed and worry and jealousy.

Faith frees us to be generous with people and generous with God.

Faith frees us from self.

Faith frees us because we know that ultimately God will take care of us.

The Problems of Life

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And when the Egyptians see you, they will say, "This is his wife." Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.

Genesis 12:12-13

To live life is to live with problems.

The question is not 

whether

 we will face problems but 

how

 we will respond to the problems of life.

When Abraham reached the land of Canaan he encountered major, 

life-threatening

 problems: first famine and then the possibility of being killed. Keep in mind, Abraham is obeying God. He is solidly within the will of God. But doing God's will and obeying God does not mean we have problem-free life. (Think of Jesus. Of Paul. Or of any other believer in the Bible.)

Faced with famine, Abraham goes to Egypt. But because Sarah is beautiful, he realizes he might be killed and Sarah taken.

Faced with a life-and-death problem, Abraham resorts to scheming and deception rather than trusting God.

Think of it. Here is the greatest example of faith in all the Old Testament, the man held up in the New Testament as the example of faith, the man who would later trust that God would raise his son from the dead, the friend of God, resorting to deception, manipulation and self-reliance rather than trusting God to deliver him.

It reminds me that any of us can go from faith to failure rather abruptly. Fortunately, God intervenes and protects Sarah, which Abraham had completely failed to do. God is gracious to us even when we are not faithful (or, faith-full) to him.

How about you? (And me!) What problems are you wrestling with these days? Are you scheming how to solve these problems, with manipulation and self-reliance? Or, are you looking to God to come through for you?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And do not lean on your own understanding,

In all your ways acknowledge him,

And he will make straight your paths.

(Proverbs 3:5-6)

Grand Promises

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"And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Genesis 12:2-3

God's radical command (Leave!) came with a promise. It always does.

Consider these grand promises to Abraham:

I will make of you a great nation.

 Wow! Quite a promise to a 75-year-old man with no children and a barren wife! But it's just like God, who loves to do the impossible.

Against all odds, the nation of Israel exists today, some 4,000 years later, with a power and influence far beyond its size.

I will bless you.

 God richly blessed Abraham the rest of his life. Indeed, Abraham becomes the most important man in all the Old Testament and appears in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament figure. Abraham is the father of the Jews and the greatest example of faith in all the Bible.

And make your name great.

 Has that happened? This unknown man, a childless nomad, is known and revered throughout the world today, four millennia later, by Christians, Jews and Muslims. Yes, God made his name great.

When we exalt ourselves (like the people of Babel in Genesis 11, who cry "Let us make a name for ourselves"), then God humbles us. When we humble ourselves, God will exalt us. Every time.

You will be a blessing.

 The primary way that Abraham is a blessing is through his descendent, Jesus, who has brought unlimited blessing for all mankind.

I will bless those who bless you.

 God so identifies himself with his friend Abraham, that to bless Abraham and his descendants is to bless Abraham's God.

Him who dishonors you I will curse.

 To oppose God's chosen people is to oppose God. Satan has fostered anti-Semitism throughout history - Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Romans, Europeans in the Middle Ages, Nazi Germany in the 20th century, and others. All of these governments have been toppled. This does not mean that Israel is always right, but the Jews are God's people and we should bless, not dishonor, Israel.

In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 

The point for Israel was never to focus on themselves but to be a conduit of God's blessing to others, a light to the nations, an instrument to bring God's grace to the entire world.

Tragically, Israel failed at this calling and turned inward, a mistake so many churches repeat today.

Faith Obeys

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you." Genesis 12:1

Consider the difficulty of God's command to Abram. Abram was not raised in a Christian home. He came from a polytheistic, idolatrous land. He was called to leave Ur, a highly advanced culture with factories, a library, mathematics, extensive trade. This was not a mobile culture. People didn't move every few years like many of us do. People stayed with their family, with their people, within the city walls, within their country's borders. They didn't leave. Travel was dangerous! There was no state police. No Holiday Inns. No McDonald's. No interstate highway ... Would they find food? Would they get lost? Would they be safe? Dangers lurked everywhere. God did not say where Abram was going. He simply said "Go!" Where he was headed was on a need-to-know basis. (Same with us.) In the ancient world, to ask people to leave their ancestral home was to ask the impossible. But Abram obeys. He leaves Ur. He leaves Ur (in modern Iraq) and travels 650 miles to Haran (in modern Turkey), and then later travels 450 miles to Canaan (or modern Israel). Why did Abram obey God? Simple. He trusted God. He somehow believed in God. He believed God was God and God knew best and God was good and God was to be obeyed. Faith obeys. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6). God is still looking for people who dare to trust him. He is still looking for people who believe that he is God and that God knows best and God is good and that God is to be obeyed. Do you want to be one of those people who live by faith and obey God? Even when it's hard? Even when you don't know where you're going? Faith obeys.

God's Chosen Nation

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you." Genesis 12:1

For the first eleven chapters of the Bible God has dealt with people in general. There has been no chosen nation, no special nation, no Jewish nation. God has simply dealt with people. But with Genesis 12 everything changes. God chooses a man, a man living in Ur (in modern Iraq), a man by the name of Abram. With this man God will found a nation, a special nation, the nation of Israel. God will use this nation to create a holy people, a people devoted to him, a people who receive the Scriptures, a people who one day would receive the Messiah. God's intent was to use Israel to show the world what it means to be the people of God. After telling Abram to leave his land for a new land, God gives him grand and incredible promises: "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (12:2-3). God's hand would be on this people. The Jews are not just another people and Israel is not just another nation. This is God's chosen nation, God's chosen people. God has promised to bless those who bless Israel. So, bless Israel! They are not a perfect people but they are God's people. God has promised to curse those who curse Israel. Those who oppose Israel and fight against Israel do not survive. This is true of anyone from Goliath in the ancient world to Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein in the modern world. Genesis 12 is a major turning point in the biblical record. From this point on, throughout the rest of the Old Testament and the Gospels, God's plan focuses on one nation, Israel. Only in Acts 2 at Pentecost, when God births the church, does God's focus shift from the nation of Israel to the international body of Jews and Gentiles, the church. It all begins with Abram in Genesis 12. Two points to clarify: God did not choose Israel because they were deserving but because he is gracious. Fact is, God did not so much choose Israel among all the nations as create Israel as a new nation, with the call of Abram. God's heart has always been for all the nations, for all the peoples. God intended to use Israel to bring blessing to all peoples. Note again the final lines of Abram's call: "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (12:3). Moreover, when Jesus is about to ascend and he gives the Great Commission to his disciples, he charges them, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." Beginning with Genesis 12, God focused on one nation, but only so that Israel could be a light to all nations. Beginning with Acts 2, God now focuses on all the nations, so that people "from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9) can be reached with the gospel. We are part of this call to reach the nations for Jesus.

Tower of Babel

Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." Genesis 11:4

The account of the Tower of Babel is at once fascinating and highly significant, for it results in the scattering of people, the proliferation of languages and the formation of nations. Before Babel, "The whole earth had one language and the same words" (11:1). What happens? The people, moved by pride and fear, band together to build a vast tower that will reach into the heavens. We see their pride in their grandiosity, in their desire for fame and in their rebellion against God. We see their fear because they are afraid of being scattered. Rather than trusting in a loving God to protect them and watch over them they put their trust in one another. God's response is strong. Man proposes but God disposes. He confuses their speech and scatters them over all the earth because if they stay together their potential for multiplied wickedness is simply too great. The tone of God's response is not that of a rival's jealousy but that of a father's concern. God takes radical measures for their sake. The Tower of Babel stands forever in our memory as a warning against human pride and self-reliance. Those who exalt themselves, God is well able to humble. And humble he will. Their greatest strength, their unity, God destroyed. Their greatest desire, fame, led to infamy. Their greatest fear, scattering, was realized. This is what happens when we rely upon our own ingenuity and upon our own efforts. By the way, the city of Babel, or Babylon, came to represent rebellion against God, just as Jerusalem came to represent God's people. The Old Testament prophets spoke of God's judgment upon Babylon. In modern times Saddam Hussein had plans to rebuild Babylon. And in revelation 17-18, the climax for Babylon will come with terrible destruction on a rebellious kingdom.

Floodwaters

For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. Genesis 6:17

Judgment is God's strange work. We know God judges. We sense that he must judge. (God wouldn't be right if he let off a Hitler with no judgment.) But still, judgment is difficult for us, especially when it comes to the flood, which is the greatest demonstration of God's judgment in all the Old Testament. We do not understand all that God does but it may help to remind ourselves of certain things: God is just. He is fair. It is appointed for all humans to die. We do not have a problem that humans die, so why do we have a problem if God has all humans (except eight) die at one time? God is sovereign. He is God. He is free to do as he chooses. We answer to him; he does not answer to us. He is the Potter; we are the clay. God is holy. He hates sin. We cannot begin to fathom the unimaginable holiness of God. At the time of the flood, mankind was exceedingly wicked. (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. Genesis 6:5) Yet, God was patient with mankind. In fact, God waited 120 years to bring judgment upon the earth. 1 Peter 3:20 says that "While God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared." And 2 Peter 3:9 applies God's patience to every generation: "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." God is far more compassionate than we are. We must not kid ourselves; God is far more merciful and loving than we could ever be. In a future day, he would go to the greatest lengths to provide salvation for a rebellious race. We may not fully understand what God did in Noah's flood, but the proper response for us is not to criticize God but to be reminded that God is the Judge of all the earth, that God will bring a great day of judgment on the earth again when Jesus returns, and that we had better flee to God as Savior before we face God as Judge.

The Coming Flood

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. Genesis 6:5

Is there a stronger statement on human sinfulness anywhere in the Bible? Contrast this verse with the dawn of the human race in Genesis 1:31a: "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good." Genesis 6:5 tells us that sin is not just our behavior but it extends to our thoughts and plans and motives, indeed to our very nature. We must face squarely the reality of sin. Furthermore, we must face squarely the reality of our own sin. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously observed: "If only there were vile people ... committing evil deeds, and it were only necessary to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them." But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart? The verse that follows, Genesis 6:6, is touching: "And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart." God of course knew what humans would do but he still grieved. He grieved as a loving parent grieves over a rebellious child. God has feelings too. Stunningly, he is deeply hurt by my rebellion against him. Such is the vulnerability and the humility of God. Despite God's pain, he is a holy God and sin must be judged. So we read of the coming flood: "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'" (Genesis 6:7). God is no safe God! He is no tame God! He does not deal with sin in a half-hearted, wimpy way. He is the holy God, and he is the Judge of all the earth! But, judgment is never God's final word. The theme of the Bible is not God's judgment but God's grace. So it is only fitting that this passage depicting sin and judgment ends with a simple expression of grace. "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8). Noah found favor, grace, with God. With God, the final word is always a word of grace. Thank God it is!

When the Bell Did Not Toll

Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Genesis 5:24

  Genesis 5 is the record of death. There is a consistent pattern found in the chapter.

a. The years a man lives before a son is born b. The years a man lives after a son is born c. The total years a man lives and then his death

For example, the previous man is Jared.

"When Jared had lived 162 years he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died" (Genesis 5:18-20).

We have this pattern throughout the chapter. And then we come to Enoch! Two changes are highly significant. First, verse 24 does not say "Enoch lived" but "Enoch walked with God." Second, Enoch does not die, but rather Enoch is no more because God took him away.

What an incredible man Enoch must have been. Enoch walked with God. He did not merely live the way others did. He walked with God. He lived close to God, intimate with God, obedient to God. He trusted God, served God, loved God. Enoch walked with God.

And not just for a few months or a few years. Verse 22 says Enoch walked with God for 300 years. 300 years!

Not only did Enoch walk with God, but he was so close to God that God just brings him up to heaven. His life is forever a sign of death's defeat, forever a reminder that death does not have the final word, forever a promise of God's grace, forever a symbol of the generation of believers who will not die when Jesus returns because they will be taken up to him.

Hebrews 11 gives us God's commentary on Enoch:

"By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God" (Hebrews 11:5).

God is still looking for men and women who dare to walk with him in the midst of an ungodly world.

Crouching Tiger

The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 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 for you, but you must rule over it." Genesis 4:6-7

We see Cain's true colors in this passage. After God looked with favor on Abel and his offering, Cain is jealous and angry with a wounded pride. What a warning to us to be on our guard against any jealousy when God blesses others. The green-eyed monster of envy can poison our spirit!

God doesn't abandon Cain in his jealous rage but he comes to Cain with fatherly counsel. He pictures sin like a crouching animal, ready to pounce and devour him! But Cain has a choice. He does not have to succumb to the crouching tiger! He can choose to obey God and do right.

So can we. We don't have to succumb to sin. We can choose to obey God. We have the Spirit of God within us. We are slaves to Jesus, not to sin.

We face many choices about sin, choices involving loving a spouse, being honest at work, engaging in gossip, looking at pornography, giving way to materialism, bringing the full tithe to God, being patient with a child, prioritizing prayer, and many more. Sin crouches beside us to devour us in all these situations, but we have a choice. We don't have to give in to sin. We can choose to obey God. We must choose to obey God.

In obedience to God is our joy, our freedom, our life.

Right now, in your life, is sin crouching at the door? What will you do?

Worship

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, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. Genesis 4:4-5a

Genesis 4 contains the first example of worship in the Bible. The passage is not easy. Why did God approve Abel's worship but not Cain's?

The text does not explicitly say why. Some readers suggest it was because Abel had a blood sacrifice and Cain did not. But there is nothing inherently wrong with bloodless sacrifices. In fact, we see examples of bloodless sacrifices in the Mosaic Law. It is true that sin offerings required the shedding of blood but we don't know this was a sin offering.

A better explanation is that Abel's heart was right before God and Cain's was not. That is, the key difference is not the type of sacrifice but the hearts of the worshipers. Several things hint at this explanation.

Cain brings "of the fruit" whereas Abel brings his very best, his "firstborn" and "their fat portions." Cain simply discharges his duty whereas Abel gives his very best.

Also, the text does not say that God looked with favor on Abel's offering but on Abel and his offering. (Admittedly, a subtle point!) Furthermore, Cain's attitude is revealed by his reaction to God's disapproval: not humility and contrition but jealousy and anger. The response revealed Cain's heart, which God of course already knew.

Finally, Hebrews 11:4 tells us that "By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain." His sacrifice was not inherently better but it was better because it came from the heart of faith.

In conclusion, we see the worship that pleases God is worship that comes from a worshiping heart, worship that brings our very best to God, worship that comes from a genuine heart to please God and trust God.

God does not want our religious duty. He does not want our religious ritual. He wants our hearts. He is seeking worshipers, worshipers who cheerfully, gratefully, wholeheartedly, bring their best to God.

Does God see in you a heart of worship?

Blaming

He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of 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 fruit of the tree, and I ate." Genesis 3:11-12

Adam's reply to God's question is spineless.

He manages to blame Eve (directly) and to blame God (indirectly) at the same time!

Adam may have been the first to play the blame game but he wasn't the last, was he? We have all done our share of blaming.

"It's her fault!" "It's his fault!" "It's my mother's fault!" "It's my teacher's fault!" "It's my boss's fault!"

In contrast to Adam, real men accept responsibility for their actions. Adam refused to take responsibility. But God would one day send a Second Adam who would take responsibility not only for himself but for the whole human race.

After Adam's abysmal reply, God turns to Eve and asks her a question. She does no better than Adam.

Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate" (Genesis 3:13).

Eve also blames others. She blames the serpent. One wit commented: "The man blamed the woman, the woman blamed the serpent, and the serpent didn't have a leg to stand on!"

Blaming doesn't work. Blaming doesn't help matters. There is a better way, God's way. It's called confession.

God wants us to accept responsibility for our sin, own up to it and confess it to God. When we do that, God promises to pour out grace and forgive our sin.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Notice the contrast between our way to deal with sin and God's way.

Our way: Sin → shame → fear rejection → hiding → blaming

God's way: sin → confessing → grace

Where does our way leave us? It leaves us alienated from God and each other, feeling isolated and alone, blaming and bickering. It destroys marriages, among other relationships. This is where Adam and Eve were.

Where does God's way leave us? Forgiven! Right with God and free to love others, free to be open and honest and real - with God and with others.

Choose God's way. Take responsibility for your sin. Take your sin to God for liberating grace.

Hiding

But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." Genesis 3:9-10

Is Adam honest with God? Does he come clean? Not exactly. He is hiding behind a symptom, nakedness. He neglects to mention the root cause, disobedience. The nakedness was not a problem until Adam sinned against God. Notice also that the fig leaves, Adam and Eve's attempt to deal with their sin problem, don't work. They've got the fig leaves on but apparently they still feel naked. Our hiding never really works, does it? Adam and Eve were the first people to be afraid. They certainly weren't the last. We are afraid and so we hide. We are afraid that if people really knew us they would reject us, and rejection is so painful. So we hide. We wear masks. We pretend. We get busy. Most of the time, we hide and don't even know we are hiding. We can hide behind our job, behind a television set, behind golf, behind shopping and spending, behind alcohol, behind sarcasm, behind shyness, behind incessant talking, behind humor. We are endlessly inventive when it comes to hiding. John Ortberg reveals the subtlety of hiding: Who hides? The man who knows he needs to change his priorities, whose kids don't know him, who can't remember the last time he prayed in a meaningful way, whose every act is calculated to advance his success but who is so addicted to it that he refuses to see the truth or to allow others to see it - he's hiding. Who hides? The woman who is filled with anger at her mother or her husband or her children, or at God because she does not have a husband or does not have the husband she wants. But hers is a frozen anger. She does not acknowledge it even to herself. It just leaks out of her and corrodes her relationships and her heart - she's hiding. The couple who have attended church for years, whose life is friendly and respectable but whose marriage is dead, they have not known emotional intimacy for years, have not made love or laughed together for longer than they can remember - they're hiding. (Love Beyond Reason, 189) How do you hide? How do I hide? It's ironic, it's sad: To let God know me and people know me is my greatest longing and yet it's my greatest fear. I long for a safe place, a safe place of community, where I can share my burdens and be accepted no matter what. I long for it and yet I'm afraid of it. The more I rest in God's love for me the more I can risk letting others know me. And stop hiding.

The Great Seeker

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" Genesis 3:8-9

When we hide from God, turn from God, run from God, how does he respond? Does he turn back from us? Fold his arms in disgust? Scowl at us? No! Our God seeks us. He pursues us. He chases us. Because we matter to him. God's question to Adam, "Where are you?" is not a request for information. God doesn't need to ask, but Adam needs to be asked. The Lord is drawing Adam out of hiding, ever so gently. He doesn't force Adam out of hiding. He doesn't force us to love him. But he woos us, pursues us, draws us. This is the heart of God for us. No matter what we have done, no matter how confused we might be, no matter how we have rejected God, God pursues us. He wants us. He offers us grace. That's the whole reason Jesus came. "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10)

Hide and Seek

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8

We hide. God seeks. We hide from God. God seeks us. He seeks us because we matter to him. The first thing Adam and Eve do after they sin is hide. They primarily hide from God but they subtly hide from each other. The fig leaves indicate that the trust and transparency between them has vanished. Why do Adam and Eve feel the need to hide from God? Because they sinned. They feel guilt and shame. We do the same thing. We sin. We feel an uneasy guilt and shame. We are no longer comfortable with ourselves and so we are not comfortable with God or with others. So we hide. How do I hide? I hide by trying to control things. I try to control my emotions. I try to control my environment. Sometimes I try to control others. At times I hide behind busyness. Or by "impression management" - how others see me. Or by being nice rather than being honest. Sometimes I hide by asking people questions. If I ask all the questions then people won't ask me questions. Sometimes I hide behind my reading. Or my running. I have all kinds of ways to hide, some of which I am unaware of. I hide so subtly that I hide from myself that I'm hiding! What about you? How do you hide? What are your preferred ways? Humor? Shopping? Sarcasm? TV? Golf? Exercise? Self-deprecation? Careerism? What is the opposite of hiding? Authenticity. Being ourselves. Being real. Being honest. Honest with ourselves. Honest with God. Honest with others. Because we are imagebearers of God, we long to be authentic. We long to be ourselves and still be accepted. The good news of the gospel is that I am accepted in Jesus. He has wiped out my sin and guilt and shame. He accepts me completely, just as I am. He sees me as completely righteous and forgiven. Because God accepts me, I can accept myself. I can be myself. I no longer have to hide. I can let God catch me.

Adam's Silence

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6

In the early verses of Genesis 3 we read of a conversation in the Garden of Eden, a most unusual conversation between a crafty serpent and the first woman. One question that occurs is this: Where is Adam during all of this? Genesis 3:6b gives us the astounding answer: "She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate." He was with her? You're kidding! Adam was right there the whole time and didn't say a word? He should have been right in the thick of things: "Whoa! Just wait a minute snake! That's not what God said. That's not what he said at all. He didn't say that we couldn't eat from any tree in the garden but that we could eat from any tree except one. And God is good to us. He's not depriving us of anything. Just get out of here! We're not going to listen to this stuff! In fact, where's my shovel! We'll put a stop to this nonsense right now!" Adam should have been engaged, active, fighting the battle, defending his wife, loyal to his God. But he wasn't. Instead, Adam was apparently silent, passive and withdrawn. Tragically, so many men since Adam have been silent, passive, withdrawn. So many men have been preoccupied with work and career, with houses and hobbies, while the great spiritual battle rages on without them. Our role as men, our calling as men and husbands and fathers, is to fight the battle! Our calling is to be active and engaged, to defend our wives, our children, our friends, our people, our churches, our communities. We fight the battle with spiritual weapons, with prayer and the Word of God, trusting in the Spirit of God. Our wives need us to be in the battle. Our children need us. Our church needs us. Men, fight this battle! Pray daily for protection for your family, for your church, for your loved ones. Stand against the enemy in Christ's strength. Wherever the battle erupts, be active and involved and engaged. Be Christ's loyal soldier in the great cosmic battle. Satan would have you succumb to the silent, passive, withdrawn way of Adam. Reject this wimpy approach. That is not your destiny. That is not who God made you to be!

The Fall

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6

In "A View From the Zoo," Gary Richmond, a former zoo keeper, writes of raccoons: Raccoons go through a glandular change at about 24 months. After that they often attack their owners. Since a 30-pound raccoon can be equal to a 100-pound dog in a scrap, I felt compelled to mention the change coming to a pet raccoon owned by a young friend of mine, Julie. She listened politely as I explained the coming danger. I'll never forget her answer, "It will be different for me ..." And she smiled as she added, "Bandit wouldn't hurt me. He just wouldn't." Three months later Julie underwent plastic surgery for facial lacerations sustained when her adult raccoon attacked her for no apparent reason. Bandit was released into the wild. So often, we think we're the exception to God's commands. "It will be different for me." It's a lie. It will not be different. Sin hurts us, just as surely as Bandit ripped up Julie's face. Adam and Eve felt they could sin and get away with it. They thought they were smarter than God. They thought they would miss out on something they really needed. They bought Satan's lie. All of us have been paying for it ever since. The consequences of this disobedience have been catastrophic. Sin came. Death came. Guilt came. Walls and barriers went up, shame and distrust. The whole earth recoiled and has been reeling ever since. All creation groans and it will groan until God brings the new heaven and new earth. You are not an exception to God's commands. God's commands are for your good. You cannot play with sin and not get snakebitten. Don't kid yourself. Perhaps right now you are involved with sin - an affair, a lie, an addiction, dishonesty, greed, something else. You are not an exception to the spiritual laws of the universe. You will suffer just as surely as Adam and Eve suffered. Stop now! Call on God's grace and power! Turn from your sin. Receive God's cleansing grace. Be free of sin and guilt.

The Choice

For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:5

Satan suggests to Eve that God is depriving her of something good, something she needs to be happy.

Think about it. Adam and Eve have a paradise environment. It's like they are on an island in the South Pacific with every need met. They have no wants, no needs. They have intimacy with God, intimacy with each other. No wars, no disease, no conflicts, no traffic problems, no work, no bills, no pressures. Not even mosquitoes! Paradise!

They have bounty. They have freedom. They have abundance. They have one and only one restriction: Do not eat of this one tree, the tree in the middle of the garden.

They have a choice. They can focus on all the good things they have and be grateful or they can focus on the one tree they cannot have and be resentful. Their choice.

We have a similar choice. We may not live in paradise but we do live in a country of bounty and freedom. We probably have the richest lifestyle in the history of the planet. Yes, we have problems. We are living after the Fall. But we have so many good things in our lives, not to mention all the riches of Christ available to us.

We can focus on all the good things in our life, all the gifts of God's goodness, and be grateful. Or, we can focus on the things we don't have, perhaps things that our neighbor has, and be resentful. Our choice: grateful or resentful.

Which one do you consistently choose?

The happiest people on earth are the people who choose to be grateful to God. The happiest people are not those with the most toys and the fewest problems, but the people who have a grateful heart.

Satanic Slander

For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:5

Do you hear the suggestion in Satan's statement? "God is holding back on you. God is depriving you of something good. God is depriving you of something you need. God is not really good to you. If you obey God's commands, then you are going to miss out on pleasure. God cannot be trusted." This is the satanic slander. It began with Eve. It continues with you. Look at those statements again in the first paragraph. When you hear that voice in your head, do you recognize the source? Paul said we are not ignorant of Satan's schemes. This is his main scheme to ruin you. Perhaps the issue for you involves lying to your spouse. Or a dishonest business deal. Or internet pornography. Or forgiving someone who has hurt you. Or an affair. Or marrying a non-Christian. Or divorcing your spouse. In all of these situations, and a thousand more, you will hear the same thing Eve heard: "God is holding back on you. God is depriving you of something good. God is depriving you of something you really need to be happy. If you obey this command you are going to miss out. God cannot really be trusted." Satan promises us pleasure. He lies. There may be short-term pleasure. But there is long-term pain. He wants to ruin your life and devour your soul. Think of the consequences for Adam and Eve - and all human history. Did he lie to her? Has he changed? No! He is a liar and the father of lies. Do not listen

The First Denial

But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die." Genesis 3:4

Satan is no longer questioning God's word, as he had done in verse 1. Now Satan is denying God's word: "You will not surely die"! The word not is emphatic in the original language. "You will not die! No way!" You will hear the same voice, whispering in your ear, denying God's word. It comes in many forms. "The Bible is not even true. It's full of errors." "That command doesn't apply to you. Your case is different." "God will forgive you. Just go ahead and sin and then confess it later." "Sin is no big deal. It's just a little sin anyway." "You can sin and get away with it. God is not going to judge you." "You deserve this. You need this to be happy." "There's no judgment. There's no price to pay for sin." In all sorts of ways, Satan denies the reality of judgment and hell. If we lost sight of the ugliness of sin and the reality of God's judgment, then we will never appreciate the amazing grace of God that rescues us from sin and guilt and hell. If there's no real sin, you don't need a Savior. You don't need grace. You don't need God. The first truth that Satan denied was the truth of God's judgment. He's still denying it today. We live in a world of denial. Resist this attack. Repudiate this voice. Refuse to listen. Run to God for his saving grace.