Back to the Beginning No.5 Who is to blame

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Celebration praise, come on and celebrate, celebrate, celebrate and sing, celebrate and sing to the King. Come on and celebrate, celebrate, celebrate and sing, celebrate and sing to the King.

And celebrate, this gift of love we will celebrate, the Son of God who loved us and gave us life. Shout your praise again, you gave us joy nothing else can bring, we give to our offering. Celebration praise, come on and celebrate, celebrate, celebrate and sing, celebrate and sing to the King.

Come on and celebrate, celebrate, celebrate and sing, celebrate and sing to the King. Come on and celebrate. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you want to be our friend this morning.

Lord, we thank you that as we go through this week, you're always there. That we can talk to you anytime we like and you are listening, you say that you will hear us. You might not always do what we want you to do, because our prayers might not be going the right direction, but you do hear us.

And when we are in line with your will, then you will answer those prayers. Lord, help us to do your will this week, to do what you want us to be, Lord Jesus. To be more like you, Lord Jesus, not to be so selfish.

Lord, when we see those images on the television of those African children, we realize how fortunate we are, and how our own little world seems so caught up in so many petty little things. Lord, we thank you that you are a big God and that you care for all these situations. Please be with those boys and girls as they fly back to find their homes in Africa.

We do pray, Lord, that you would be merciful to them, help them to be healthy and happy. Bless them, Lord. Amen.

I bring you greetings from Calcutta, India, and particularly from our fellowship, where we had the joy of having your pastor minister to us and communicate your burden and your love. Let's turn to God's wonderful word. Genesis, chapter 3. The book of Genesis, chapter 3. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.

And he said unto the woman, And the woman said unto the serpent, And the serpent said unto the woman, For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her. And he did eat.

And the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice 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 amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, And he said, And I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, And the man said, And the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

And the Lord God said unto the woman, And the woman said, And I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Unto the woman he said, In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, For out of it was thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

Unto Adam also, and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the Lord God said, And take also of the tree of life, and eat it, and live for ever. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. It wasn't me. It was that woman.

She doesn't know what's good for her. She did it. And then it was that snake.

Horrible, slimy snake. I wouldn't have believed a word. I wouldn't have been taken in.

Imagine a talking snake. Well, I ask you. And then it was you.

You made Eve. You made the serpent. It's your rotten apple.

You knew all about it. I was miles away, doing the garden, like I was told. You're the one.

You did it. It wasn't me. It wasn't me.

And anyway, I only took a little bite. Genesis and chapter three. Well, who is to blame? A lot of people asking that today.

I'm not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet. But I guess if you went to the Tory party headquarters, they've got their emergency squad in full session, trying to work through just what went wrong. Who is to blame? Was it John Major? Did he not pick up the strongest points of Tory philosophy? Was he the one who really was responsible? Should we have perhaps sought the advice, at least the writings of Herbert Macmillan, one of the last Tory prime ministers, to acknowledge the fatherhood of God publicly, and not sold off what he called the family's silver, and got rid of the utilities? Should we have taken more counsel in terms of some of the legislation that's on our statute books? Where did we get it wrong? Somebody must be asking these questions up there in London.

It was none other than ITV and its news media, not known for its biblical quotations, who talked about an apocalyptic ruin. That this particular party has got itself into. How do you interpret the events of these last few days? If a government is prepared to take the word of God, and run lightly with some of the commandments, especially concerning the Sabbath day, if it's prepared to launch a further tax on the poor, under the disguise of a lottery, then surely at some point or another, assuming there is a providential power, an authority greater than political clout that pervades, a community might be brought to book.

Now, my questions are disturbing, but you see they are not unrelated to what we're dealing with in Genesis and Chapter 3. I am not suggesting for one moment that other political parties, or the ones that have been returned to power, are any more righteous. But I am saying this, that when you have held the reins of power for a long time, you do have an incredible responsibility. And God does work out his purposes, by hook or by crook.

And the country has to recognize that, or should do so. For God is not removed like a watchmaker from the watch, in terms of his creation. We have found from Scripture time and time again, that God is involved.

As an old-fashioned hymn puts it, and they're often amongst the best in terms of their theological understanding, God is working his purposes out, as year succeeds to year. And whether it's the Socialist Party of Tony Benn, or the Tory Party, led for some years by John Major, whatever institution it is, it is answerable, it is accountable, to the Lord. As is the whole population of this world, now and down the course of history.

Because this world is the Lord's world. And one day, in all his fullness, his power, shall pervade, and he shall return this universe, to what it was, even better, than when it fell, from his hand, fresh, at the point, of, creation. So, who is to blame, not now thinking politically? Concerning the story of man, which is not a story of, successive triumph, but rather a story of man lurching, from one crisis, into, another crisis.

Who is to, for what has gone wrong, in the human, story? Well, I have to, tell you, that God is, very much, the God who is, behind creation. He is the, God who, to men, and women, through his word, and through the, works, that, he has, cause to, bring into, being. And if you have this, overhead slide, and unfortunately, I don't seem to have brought, my slide, with me, so I'll have to try to, trade on my, right now, as this looks the, more familiar with last week's, notes than the present one.

If, if you turn to, if you have a look at this slide, you will discover, that as I analyze the third chapter, of the book of Genesis, I make this particular suggestion, that there is here, referred to, four different people, or characters, who might be said, to have some degree of responsibility, for what has gone wrong, in our world, and at the very beginning. After all, God made the world, and God is the author, of creation. And in this third chapter, of Genesis, what you find is, that things have gone, dramatically wrong.

This is one of the most, serious passages, in the whole of the Bible. Sin has come, into the world. And, the charge is, being raised, by the Lord, as far as, Adam and Eve, is concerned, that they are to give, an account, of what they have done.

But I want to, speak a little bit, more broadly, and suggest to you, that there are those, who would say, well if God, made the world, then He actually, is responsible, for the sin, that besets the world. After all, we discovered, in the opening chapter, of the book of Genesis, that behind the whole, of phenomenon, there is God. In the beginning, God, and I tried to argue, last week, or was it the week before, that God, if He is completely, sovereign, also has, within that sovereignty, the power to allow, or to curtail, evil.

And I went on, to tell you, that according to, the apostle Paul, in the book of Colossians, not only did God, create the heavens, and the earth, but the principalities, and the powers, those unseen forces, which are invisible to us, He too is behind, the angels, the archangels, the cherubim, the seraphim, even Lucifer himself. And you recall, by way of resume, by way of, my just making, some past reference, to remind you, that it was Lucifer, the bright and shining one, who was expelled, from heaven, because he, wanted to be, as God. And when you move, into the third chapter, of the book of Genesis, it seems as though, what happened in heaven, also happens on earth.

I mean by that, that Eve, and Adam, are tempted, tempted, to absorb a fruit, which will give them, the knowledge of good, and evil, so that they might become, like God themselves. And I'm, suggesting to you, or asking you the question, is it not possible therefore, that as far as this, whole problem of evil, is concerned, that we could, direct the blame, on God who allows, the capacity for evil, for evil to be expressed. Well, the Bible actually, denies that, though we have to, think it through logically, because all of the, proposition that before everything, is God.

And in James, and the first chapter, of the book that he writes, he declares most emphatically, that God does not tempt. James 1 verses 12 and 13. Blessed is the man, who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will see the crown of life, that God has promised, to those who love him.

When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me, for God cannot be tempted, by evil, nor does he attempt, nor does he tempt anyone. Yet evil is latent, in his creation. He gives the possibility, for man, and woman, to decide, in terms of, a couple of options, what they will do, or what they will not, do.

And here, in this chapter, references made, to the tree, which was good for food, and pleasing to the eye. Verse six, also desirable, and it is the tree of knowledge, and of good and evil, which according to verse three, they are not to eat of, neither are they to touch it. But evil, and the possibility of doing wrong, is there, allowed by God, at the beginning.

Because man, if he's going to be free, if he's not going to be reduced, to the level of a robot, man will have, the right of choice. What's more, we don't only learn, in the Bible, that God allows evil, to be latent, in his creation, we also discover that, evil is what I've called, patent, in God's providence. What do I mean by that? Well, let's take a figure like, Joseph.

Joseph, you read of him, and his domestic situation, at the end of the book of Genesis, he's in trouble, his brothers don't like him, and as a result, he's sold as a slave, and he goes to Egypt, and as a slave, he suffers. But at the end of the story, you remember, when his brothers are brought before him, Joseph says to them, you meant it to me for evil, but God meant it to me for good. And here is a principle, that God can take even the unpleasant things, which really are evil in their origin, and because he is the sovereign God, he can use those things, to bring about his better purpose.

It's astonishing. Here's another test. Here's another example.

Let's take that of our beloved Lord Jesus. He dies on the cross. Who can say that that bloody death, is anything but evil? And yet, when the apostle Peter, is preaching in the acts of the apostles, and in the fourth chapter, he will say that the evil, that was directed towards Jesus Christ, by the Jewish and Roman authorities, was taken in the sovereignty of God, and worked out for the good of humankind.

So you see what I mean? God gives the opportunity, for Pharaoh to harden his heart. God gives the opportunity, for our first parents, to go along with divine revelation. God gives the opportunity, for Pilate and for Herod, to marshal their lives, in the way that they know, that they ought to develop their lives.

But if they do wrong, if they commit evil, the sovereignty of God, is such that he can triumph, over the forces of evil, and bring about his own sovereign will. But as far as human tragedy is concerned, you cannot say in Genesis, in chapter three, that the blame belongs to God. The blame belongs to those individuals, who knowing what was the right thing to do, chose to do the latter.

Who is to blame? Not God. He brought a world that was ideal, into being. Animals, flowers, plants, and to Adam, who has everything good, he puts the icing on the cake, by giving him Eve.

And despite all that, things went tragically wrong, as Adam decides, with Eve, to go his, to go her, own way. Who is to blame? Not God. What about Satan? You see, this individual, Lucifer, who the Bible tells us, in some mysterious, but nonetheless, eye-opening verses, has been expelled from heaven.

He becomes, according to the apostle Paul, as he writes to the Ephesians, the prince of the power of this earth. The prince of the power of the air. He has an influence.

He can exert a force. I was brought up, in a day when, windows were things that you cleaned. Now they have more to do with computers.

And, I've never taken a course, at least a consistent course, in computers, with the net result, that I'm really quite at sea, which is obvious to anyone who knows anything about them, if they talk to me. But I do try, just to sort of, jog along, with the whole of this computerized age. Now, my computer, has on it, a debugging program.

Because, you see, there is the possibility, that a virus can get into a computer program, and stop the whole thing, and you'd lose all your research. And there are those, whose art, so to speak, inverted commas today, is to try to make as many computers as possible, go wrong. And they drip their viruses, into the programs, in order to create havoc, sometimes in finance markets.

And here you find, in Genesis and chapter three, the concept of Satan, who discharges a deadly virus. What was it that went wrong, in a world of which we know nothing, in the heavenlies, when Lucifer was expelled? Well, he endeavored to make himself as God. In other words, his sin was the sin of pride.

And what do you find in Genesis chapter three? That sliding into the garden, coming alongside Adam and Eve, is an animal, which has been demonized by the devil. And what does he try to do? To place the virus of pride, into the human gene. To cause men, to cause man and woman, the original parents of our family, to act in a way, in which he has also acted, so that they can join the ruin that he has made, of himself.

Why was man created? He was created to glorify God. What is the distinction between man and the animals? Man is in the image of God. What is the distinction between man and angels? Man is in the image of God.

He is a supreme of God's creative handiwork. And what happens here is, you find that man is targeted by Lucifer, who injects a virus, with the aim of bringing man and woman, down to the same ruin, as he himself finds himself to be in. That's his strategy.

And how does he go about it? Well, here is this woman, Eve, created from Adam, to be his help-meet, to be his partner, to be his correspondent. And the devil goes to Eve, and he reverses the creation order, because this is what he wants to do. God makes man, and from man he brings woman.

Now, the devil, in his subtle strategy, for I'll combine both those points on my overhead slide, in his subtle strategy, he reverts the principles of creation, and he endeavors to get at Adam, through his weakest links, and also by perverting grace gifts. Say, what is a grace gift? Well, that serpent. He was but an animal.

He was but part of God's largesse, part of God's blessing, to Adam. But the serpent is demonized. He speaks.

As the devil will cause a man to speak in the ministry of Jesus, to the extent that Jesus recognizes the venom, and says, Peter, get behind me, Satan. So, the devil comes, and he has the ability to take this animal, and speak through the animal, and to affect Eve, not directly Adam. Because Eve represents not only God's blessings to Adam, but also Adam's vulnerability.

So, let's move on. You see, the possibility is that you can shift the blame, from God, the author of creation, to Satan, who discharges a deadly virus. Or maybe you could move along, and suggest that really, the blame for the fall of man, for the human tragedy, it spins around Eve, with her alluring charm.

God allows Eve to be tested. Go to 2 Corinthians, and chapter 11, and verse 3, and you will find there, some scriptural justification, for my comment. 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, and verse 3. But I am afraid, says Paul writing to these Christians, that just as Eve was deceived, by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray, from your sincere, and pure devotion to Christ.

Let's move on. Let's go to 1 Timothy. Here is Paul, teaching his younger colleague.

And he is talking about, the way in which, God has allowed, a leadership to come into the church. But there are certain warnings, certain prohibitions, certain pieces of advice, which Timothy is to learn from Paul, as he applies the teaching. Says Paul in the 11th verse, of 1 Timothy, chapter 2, A woman should learn in quietness, and full submission.

I do not permit a woman to teach, or to have authority over a man. She must be silent, for Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived, it was the woman, who was deceived, and became a sinner.

Now that seems very harsh, doesn't it? But let's try and unpack that, in terms of what actually happens, in Genesis 3. And remember my point is this, that in the subtle strategy of the devil, he reverts creation order. God makes Adam, and then from Adam, he makes Eve. And when the devil comes along, in the form of the snake, to frustrate the work of God, he takes Eve, as his victim.

She seems to be on her own, as he starts to speak to her, and he directs her attention, to a fruit which is forbidden. Now don't get a hang up about the fruit, there's nothing particularly important, about the fruit, I think. It's probably just an ordinary fruit.

What makes it important is, that it stands for, the revealed word of the Lord. And here is a test. Will Adam, will Eve, will these who are born, who are made in the image of God, submit to the authority, of the word of the Lord? Or will they do, what Lucifer did, in an eon beyond the universe, beyond the earth.

Will they seek to be, as God himself, and turn their back on, divine revelation. Now the devil is always, a master, in his strategy. And so what does he do? He gets at Adam, through Eve.

Eve sees the fruit. Eve touches the fruit. Eve listens to, what the devil has to say.

And she's hooked. Someone has said, the devil prepares, a communion for Eve. And it's there, in Genesis 3. She takes, she imbibes, and then she goes to Adam.

And at this point, she becomes, his weakest link. His most vulnerable point. Let's just try and do a bit of, a little bit of resume.

I've been trying to identify, those who might be blamed, for the tragedy of man. God, the author of creation, no. He makes the opportunity, the capacity for sin.

But you can't say, it is God's fault. Satan, well yes, he endeavors to bring this deadly virus, into the human gene, into the human frame. But Eve, she has the right, the will, the freedom, to agree, or not to agree.

So do you say that, Eve is responsible? I mean shall we brothers, just take a vote now, and say you know, all the fault really, we've thought it for a long time, but it spins round the women. You might even think, that the apostle Paul, has brought in that final conclusion. But actually, as you move on, in the argument in the New Testament, and in this third chapter of Genesis, you discover that Adam, has no excuse.

Because when the Bible speaks, about Adam, who has been vulnerable because of Eve, she isn't a luring woman. I mean let me not blush to say, that those very things, that I was bringing out in this teaching, two Sundays ago, they were obviously to the fore. I mean here is Eve on her own, and what she's taken, has been very lovely, or it seems to be, she hasn't suddenly died, and she comes with her seduction, she comes with her allurement, and she offers the option to Adam.

And Adam is persuaded, by his wife. But when the Bible makes reference, in the New Testament, to the act of disobedience, it says, by one man's transgression. One man's transgression.

It might deal with the details, it might give us information, it might make some secondary conclusions, as far as women is concerned, and distinguish between the psychology, of a woman and a man. But brothers, it does not get us off the hook. By one man's transgression, sin has come into the world.

And the answer of the Bible, to the question, who is to blame, is simply this, you and I are to blame, for what has gone wrong, with our society. For what Adam has done, we ourselves also, in turn, have done. We have picked up, that bias towards evil.

But time and time again, in situations in your life, in situations in my life, come confess it, is it not the case, that you have gone along, with what you knew, to be wrong. You can't blame, anyone else. You have, to acknowledge, the responsibility, yourself.

The apostle Peter, and with this I close, on one occasion, was bawled out by Paul. Paul comes to Galatia, and he sees Peter, and Peter has been doing things, which Paul thinks are wrong, in terms of compromising his faith. And so Paul says, I withstood Peter, for Peter was to blame.

And that's what the gospel does, as far as men and women are concerned. It causes all to book. We're all to blame.

Because there are things, that you and I have done, that are wrong. As there were things, that Adam and Eve did, or one thing particular, that they did, in this opening chapter, of the book of Genesis. They had no excuse.

And you and I have, no excuse. God calls Adam, and he says to Adam, where are you? And Adam, who should have relished communion with the Lord, is embarrassed in his presence, tries to hide himself, and feels shame. God calls to you and to me.

But it's possible for the sense of shame, to go, and for you to feel, at home in his presence. Because the virus of sin, has been dealt with, by the blood of Jesus. That's why we sang that little song, some while ago.

What can deal? What can cleanse with? What can cleanse my sin away? And the answer is of course, the blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Well, we'll pick up on that, and I'll try a bit of a resume, and make it more clear, next week. I'm sorry for the heat, and I'm sorry for the disturbance, but I'm also grateful for your patience.

Father, we do thank you, that though, embedded in this third chapter of Genesis, is one of the most tragic events, in the whole of the history of man. And although we see, Adam expelled from the garden, we bless you, that having got to the end, not of Genesis, but of the Bible, we recognize that the greater Adam, did what the first one could not do. He undid the damage, and made it possible, for the sins of the world, to be confounded, neutralized, by the effects of his life-giving, cleansing blood.

We thank you, for Jesus, our Lord, and Savior. Amen.