Romans 6, part 1

Romans 6:1-4

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Introduction:

We are now at a very important part of Romans, and it is a chapter that we really must understand carefully.

Do you remember how the book of Romans started out? What was it teaching us?
It started by introducing the reason for the book, which Paul began by telling us that he was “a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord...” (Paul's intro to Romans goes on even more in verses 1-17 of chapter 1, as he wrote to the saints in Rome). So we see that this book is really written about Christ. It is concerning the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul's mission and purpose was to serve Christ by preaching this gospel to everyone, including the people in Rome through his letter.

Do you remember what else we learned from chapters 1-5? What were some important things and words we read about?
We learned that God's wrath is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress His truth by their unrighteousness (Rom 1:18). We also learned that it is hypocrisy to think one is safe from God's wrath because he is religious or prays, or trusts the Bible when in fact he is disobeying it in his heart. Rather, God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance, and we cannot harden our hearts to our sin and God's justice thinking we will be forgiven because of our good works. No, as we learned in chapter 3, “there is none good not even one.” We also learned that the law was given to show us our sin so we would seek to be justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone. And we learned that God showed His justice in giving His Son to be the propitiation for believers. Then we learned in chapter four how we are justified by faith alone, just like Abraham was, and we are counted righteous by faith because of what Jesus Christ did when He died and rose again. This has nothing to do with our works or deeds or obedience. Rather, it is all about one thing – faith.

Do you remember what faith is about?
Faith is trust in God that He will save you by the finished work of Christ. It is entrusting all to Him and turning away from every other trust. Faith is to trust in Jesus Christ alone and not in any works of our own.

Now, you tell me, what was chapter 5 about?

Study notes:

Verse 1
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

This is a question that people often bring up after hearing about all the grace spoken of in chapter 5. People still ask this question today when they are told about grace. There are two types of people who ask this: 1. the religious people, who think that grace makes it too easy to be saved. They respond in distrust, denying salvation by grace alone through faith, because they think people will sin even more. 2. The other group are what we call antinomians. That means they live without any law. They think grace is wonderful because it gives them an excuse to keep on sinning even more. The argument is that the more you sin, the more grace abounds, so why not?

So what do you think? What is the answer to this question?

Verse 2
By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

So what's the answer?
The answer to the question in verse 1 is a strong, resounding NO! No way! May it never be!!

Why does he give this answer? What does Paul ask in response to this question (what is the question in verse 2 that Paul gives)? Paul answers the question with another question: How can we be dead and still be alive at the same time? In other words, we died to sin, so how can we be alive to it anymore?

Is it possible for someone to be dead and be alive at the same time? What does it mean to be dead? Those who are dead are no longer living, and those who have died to sin can no longer live in it anymore. It is an impossibility, a contradiction for a Christian to continue to live a sinful life, because he has died to sin.

A Death Poem:
What happens when someone dies?
First, they lose their ability to do anything. No more breathing, heart-beating, feeling, tasting, hearing, smelling, seeing. No more thinking, speaking, reading, writing, praying, being. No more learning, loving, laughing, smiling, teaching, giving, getting, keeping, growing. No more moving. Death takes everything away. No more wearing, buying, selling, enjoying. No more money, friends, family, health, house, city, town, pets, spouse, children, country. All gain is lost. All hopes quenched. All plans ended. The past is gone, the future lost, the present restricted. Death ends it all.

Verse 3
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Again, Paul asked another question. And this time it begins with, “Do you not know...?” Don't you know this?

What were the Christians supposed to know? What were they baptized into? In other words, these Christians had learned these things before, and they had also learned about baptism. What is baptism? Baptism is the Greek word for “immersion” - to be immersed into, to be submerged, to go under water. That is the meaning of the word “baptize.”

However, Paul didn't speak about water at all in this verse. What kind of baptism was he talking about? This question about baptism is to show why a Christian can no longer continue in sin. Paul says that all of us who were baptized (i.e. immersed, submerged) into Christ Jesus, were immersed into his death. The Christian has been put into Christ and has been immersed into the death of Christ when He died on the cross.

Paul explains this in more detail with the following verses.

Verse 4
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

What does it say happened to the believers when they were baptized into Christ? What happened to Christ after He died? How was He raised? How does this affect us who believe? The reason is explained that, we were therefore buried with Christ through immersion into death (that is the death of Christ on the cross, Rom. 6:3). We were buried with Christ by being immersed into His death. This was so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so in this way, we walk in a completely new life. The old life is dead and buried with our Lord Jesus Christ (who is our representative Head, Rom. 5:14), now, through His resurrection we walk in a brand new life. Just as Christ died and lives completely new in His resurrected life, so also we live completely new in our new Christian life. All this was accomplished for us by Christ when He died, was buried and was raised on the third day. This displays the glory of the Father who gives life to the dead, making a completely new life through Christ's resurrection.

Conclusion:

All this has nothing to do with our works. We do nothing to be saved from God's wrath. Rather, it was Christ Jesus who the Father gave to die in our place. Jesus died, and so everyone who believes the gospel is counted to be dead through faith in Him. Faith unites us to Christ, and when we are united to Christ, we are united to His death (as we will see more next week in Romans 6:5). And just as Christ was raised from the dead, Christians are also given a completely new life through His resurrection. 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...” God causes believers to be born into a new life through the resurrection of Christ. This is why a Christian cannot live any longer in his old ways. If you are saved, you are a new person completely. If you think you are saved, but you still live as you did before, without any change in your heart's desires, and without any change in how you live your life, and what you do with your time, then you are deceived, because you are not a Christian. And many people today live this way, thinking they are saved when they have never been given a new life in Christ. I was the worst of them all, and it was after reading this chapter that my eyes were opened to see how I could not go back to my sin anymore, but Christ gave me a new life.

Romans 5, part 3

Romans 5:11-21

Verse 11

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

We didn't get to finish talking about reconciliation last time, so I want to go over this once more. First, what does the word 'Reconciliation' mean? To reconcile means to bring back together again after being separated. To make peace between two people who were formally enemies. Remember verse 10? It said that while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.

Lets look at a few more NT verses that help us understand this:

2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2 (We are implored to be reconciled to God and not take His grace in vain, because now is the time He will accept us through faith in Christ.)

Colossians 1:21-23 (Christ reconciled us through His death on the cross, so that we would be accepted as holy and blameless before God in Him, if we continue steadfastly in the faith.)

1 Peter 3:18 (Jesus suffered once, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God.)

This verse really describes it well:

Colossians 1:19-23 says about Jesus Christ,

“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

From those verses, we learn that Jesus made peace by the blood of His cross in order to reconcile all things back to God. And it tells us what we are like before we are reconciled and what we are like after. It says that we were once alienated (foreign to God, separated) and hostile in mind (enemies, unyielding, rebellious), that we were doing evil deeds (doing things we know are sinful and wrong, and continuing to practice them anyway). That is what every Christian is like before they are reconciled back to God. Now (for us who are born of the Spirit) it says, Christ has now reconciled us in his human body by dying in our place, in order to present us as holy and without any blame (with no fault) and above reproach before Him. This is all really, really good news, and there is one condition though. That is, that this is true for us only if we continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting not turning from the hope of the good news (the gospel, which I've been teaching you every Sunday) which you heard.

Verse 11
More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

What does this mean? More than what? More than being reconciled to God while we were His enemies?! Yes... more than that, we also rejoice! Rejoice in what? We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Do you rejoice in God through Jesus Christ our Lord? Have you received the reconciliation through His death and life? Are you justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:24)?

In this verse, we are told that those who are justified, have peace with God and are reconciled to Him by the death of Christ, rejoice more in God than anything else. Rejoice means to boast, or glory in. We boast, we speak joyfully about God now, because He has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ. That is something to be happy about! Do you rejoice in God more than you do in anything else?

Psalm 63:3 says, “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.” Can you say in your heart, that God's continuous love is better to you than life? That is what we mean when we rejoice in God through Christ, we enjoy Him more than we enjoy anything else in this life.

Verses 12-14

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 – for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

This is where reading Genesis 1-3 really helps us understand the gospel. What came into the world? Who did it come through? What came through sin? What did death do after it came into the world? Now, we know from 1 John 3:4 that sin is breaking the law, because it says, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.”

But here, Paul says, even before the law was given by God, sin was already in the world. So there was no law given show people what sin is. There were no commandments to say, “This is sin and that is sin.” But nevertheless, sin was there anyway, only the law was not. So Paul says, sin is not counted where there is no law. That leaves us with the question, then why were people dying if there was no law for sin? And that is the exact issue Paul mentioned next when he said, “Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam...”

Death was still reigning during the time when the law was not yet given. Do you know what that time period was from these verses? The sin that people committed during the time between Adam and Moses was not like Adam's transgression, yet they all died. So why then did they die? First, we can look back at verse 12, and see that death spread to everyone because everyone sinned, but their sin was counted to them when Adam sinned, because Adam was the only one who had a commandment (a law) given by God that he transgressed. The rest of the people were counted in Adam when he sinned, and so death came upon all people, and all people come into this world as sinners. To understand that better, we find that Paul gives us more answers to that question in the following verses.

Lastly in v14, we learn that Adam was a type of the one who was to come. Do you know who that is talking about? Who was Adam a type of? The Christ, the Anointed One. Do you know what a “type” is? It is like an example, or a figure of something else to come in the future that is the fulfillment of that “type.” We will learn more about how Jesus is like Adam, but first we are told how Jesus and Adam are different.

Verse 15

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

Okay, do you remember what we learned about Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden? What was the trespass that Adam committed? Why was it so wrong? What happened to them after they sinned?

Here in v15, we learn that what is not like the trespass? The “free gift.” The free gift of God is not like the sin of Adam. This is the first way we learn that Jesus and Adam are different.

Why is the free gift different from the trespass? Because just as Adam's sin brought death to many people, God's free gift through Christ brings not sin and death, but grace to many, many people. So everyone who receives a nature like Adam's dies. That is how we are all born into this world, with Adam's human nature passed on to all of us who are actually his great great great great... grandchildren. Which is why we all have death passed unto us, and we are convicted by God's law as totally guilty of sin as soon as we come into existence. It is the sin of one man that has ruined us all forever.

But, on the other hand, it is the grace of one man that is much more freely given to many!

Let's continue to explore this deep truth:

Verse 16

And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

Again, we learn that the free gift is not like the sin of one man. How is it this time that the free gift is not like the result of Adam's sin? What was the result of Adam's sin? Just one sin resulted in God's judgment and brought condemnation. But what does the free gift follow? Many, many, many, many trespasses. The free gift of God comes after people have been sinning and sinning, and breaking His laws everyday all the time. Then God's free gift comes following all that sin, and what does it bring? Does it bring judgment and condemnation? No, it brings justification!

Verse 17

If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

What reigned through that one man's trespass? Death. What does it mean for death to reign? The word has to do with the reign that a king would have. Death rules over all people. Everybody is under death's reign, and so nobody ever escapes it. Hebrews 9:27 says that it is appointed for us all to die once, and then after that comes the judgment. So death kills everybody, then everybody is judged for their sins. And hell is the eternal place of judgment for everyone who transgresses the Holy Law of God.

But the free gift is different! How is it different than the reign of death? Those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness will much more reign, not in death, but in life through just one man – Jesus Christ our Lord. So death rules through Adam, but life has much more rule through Jesus Christ. In fact, everyone who receives grace and the free gift of righteousness through Christ cannot ever die. They can never be condemned. Death can never have any power over them, not ever. Not ever. Why not? The answer is because Jesus took our sin, died and rose again to take away our death forever. Through Him we are counted righteous, so we have no sin to be condemned for if we have received grace and righteousness through faith in Christ alone.

Verse 18

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

This is one way that Adam and Jesus are very much alike. What did one sin lead to for everybody? What did one act of righteousness lead to for everybody who receives the gift? In Adam, everyone gets condemned because of just one trespass (one step over the line – sin). In Christ, everyone who receives His grace gets justified (counted perfectly righteous, and without sin) and receives life instead of death – and that is the result of just one act of obedience. Do you know what that one obedient act was? This is why we are saved by grace and not by our works. It is because God's grace is given freely to believers because Jesus obeyed God for us. Jesus fulfilled the law for everyone who believes. He has become our righteousness by obeying God, and then we are counted righteous by standing in His abundant grace.

Some people read this verse, and because it says, “one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men” they believe that means everyone in the world is going to be saved because of what Jesus did on the cross, and that no one will be condemned. But that is not what it means, it is talking about people who are in Adam, and people who are in Christ. Nobody who receives the grace of God in Christ will ever be condemned. But everyone who does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:16).

Verse 19

For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

What happened by the disobedience of just one man, Adam? “The many were made sinners.” What happened by the obedience of just one perfect man, Christ? “The many will be made righteous.” Again, this is why we are saved not by works we perform of any kind, not by our obedience, not by anything we do. It is not our obedience that makes us righteous, but who's obedience is it? Christ Jesus is God. He is the Creator of the world. He has always existed from all eternity. But He (God the Son) became a man, with flesh and blood, in order to obey God the Father through the Holy Spirit who Anointed Him. He did it for, and in place of all God's elect, His chosen people. He kept every commandment, loved the Father with all His heart and soul and mind and strength. He never disobeyed even once. He was tempted with sin in every way that we are tempted, but He never once gave in to the temptation. He never sinned. And He did it all, not for Himself, but for the Father, so that through Him, we can be counted righteous by the obedience of the one man, Jesus Christ our Lord. This is only for believers, we are justified by faith in Christ alone (Romans 5:1).

We will have to finish this chapter later, it has a great ending, and it leads to more great news. This is not bad news at all, but good news, and it is my hearts desire that you all begin to see it as good news. Please consider these things often on your own, because nothing brings more joy to my heart, than knowing what Jesus did for me.

Let's ask these questions of ourselves:

1. Have we been reconciled to God so that we are no longer living opposed to His will?

2. Have we received the free gift of grace and righteousness that comes through faith alone in Christ?

3. Have we found our righteousness in Christ's obedience? That would mean that we are no longer looking to our works, or to our own righteousness for life, since we have none of our own. Christ has to be it for us. Is this true for us? Do we consider Christ to be all our goodness?

4. Are we rejoicing in what Christ Jesus has come to do for us? If so, then this will cause us to want to know Him and His Word in the Bible much better. Is this true of you?

Grace be with you all who are resting in the obedience of Jesus Christ alone as your righteousness!

Romans Chapter 5, part 2

We have been spending a lot of time talking about this chapter, because it is such a powerful lesson on grace. I memorized the entire chapter of Romans 5 in the ESV in 2006 for several reasons, one is because it contains such powerful truths which I cannot let go of. Please take the time to look over Romans 5 on your own, and if our Bible study helps you out, so be it. God bless and grace and peace be multiplied to the saints of God.

Reconciled to God

Romans 5:6-11 ESV:

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, 9 since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Verse 6
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

(Literally: "For while we were without strength, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.") 1 Timothy 1:15 says, "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am foremost." Romans 3:10 says, "as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one;" and Romans 3:23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,".
Do you know what it means to be without strength? It means to be weak, unable to do anything.
Who was weak according to verse 6? "While we were still weak..." While we were still unable to do anything to be righteous, because we were without strength. We are by nature sinners, so there is no way we are strong enough to obey God's holy law in our flesh. We were powerless to do what is right.
At what time did Christ die? "At the right time..." That means at the appointed time, the time God had set, the time for the prophecies in the Scriptures to be fulfilled.
Who did Christ die for? For the ungodly.
What does it mean to be ungodly? It means to be irreverent toward God, to be disrespectful to God. As we see in verse 8, it means to be a sinner; verse 9 shows us it means to be under the wrath of God; and verse 10 says it means to be an enemy of God. So the ungodly are disrespectful, unholy, unrighteous, irreverent, sinful, under God's wrath and condemnation and are His enemies. That is what characterizes the kind of people the Christ (the Messiah or Anointed One) died for. For evil, no good, people that God's justice must punish in order to uphold His righteousness and satisfy His righteous indignation. But as we learned in Romans 3:25-26, that God gave His Son to be a propitiation in order to demonstrate His justice or righteousness when He forgives a sinner who in repentance trusts in His blood to be cleansed.

Verse 7
For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die -

People may die for other people, right? But as we will see, who would die for a worthless criminal? Why would a righteous man, who had no guilt, voluntarily stand in place of a cold-blooded murderer? But that is exactly what Jesus did for everyone who believes!

Verse 8
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

How do you know God loves you? Look at what Jesus Christ, His Son did - Christ (the Anointed One, the promised Ruler of Israel and Redeemer of God's people) died for us.
When did Christ die for us? While we were still sinners.
What does that mean? A sinner is someone who breaks God's laws and disregards His commands. In effect, a sinner is saying, "God, I know you are righteous and Holy and that your commands are good, but I don't care about you." That is a sinner. And Christ died for us while WE were like that!
Let us each examine ourselves with this question: Am I a sinner? Do I deserve hell? If so, then look again at the verse, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." That is how God shows His great love (See John 3:16).

Verse 9
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

What does it mean to be justified? It means to be considered just or righteous. It means God looks at us as being perfect people, never having done wrong. Have you ever done wrong? I have all my life. But the person who is justified before God does not have any of that counted against him, he/she is considered perfect if justified.
Why? How is that made possible? It says, "by His blood."
Do you know what it means to be justified by Christ's blood? It means God killed His Son and Christ shed His innocent pure blood on the cross, so that you could be counted worthy of eternal life. That is what it means to be justified by His blood. Christ became a substitute, He died instead of those who have faith in Him.
Notice two very important words in verse 9... they both start with an "m"? Do you know what they are? "Much more!" What does that mean? Much more than what? Much more than having been justified or counted righteous by Christ's blood, we shall be what? "Saved!"
Saved from what? Saved from the wrath of God. And notice, it says, much more shall we be saved BY HIM from the wrath of God. God did not send Jesus to condemn the world, but to save it from His wrath and condemnation by taking away our sins at the cross (See John 3:17-18).

Verse 10
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

We already learned from this passage that God sent Jesus to die for the ungodly, that His love is shown in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners, that He gave His life in order that now much more we shall be saved by Him from the wrath of God. Now we just learned something else, that while we were God's faithful followers and friends we were reconciled? No! What does it say? "While we were enemies..."

Let's take a look at some other verses speaking about God's enemies:

Psalm 37:20
But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish - like smoke they vanish away.

Psalm 66:3
Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.

>>Psalm 68:1-2
God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate him shall flee before him! As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God!

>>Psalm 68:21-23
But God will strike the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways. The Lord said, "I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, that you may strike your feet in their blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe."

>>Psalm 83:2 says,
"For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads."
Then verses 9-10 says,
"Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, who were destroyed at En-dor, who became dung for the ground.
verse 16-18
"Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O LORD. Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth."

>>Psalm 139:19-21 says,
"Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain! Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

Now, just one more from Isaiah 66:14-16,
"You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and the hand of the LORD shall be known to his servants, and he shall show his indignation against his enemies. "For behold, the LORD will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the LORD shall be many."

Now, with verses like that in mind... we read that while WE were enemies, God did what? It says, we were reconciled while we were His enemies.

But not all are reconciled, because that last verse in Isaiah is talking about the future day of judgment. So those who are enemies are still going to be destroyed forever in hell by fire.

But it is those of us who are reconciled to God by faith in Christ (Rom. 5:1), who have been brought near to God, had our sins washed clean by His blood, have been born of the Holy Spirit, have been given a new life in Christ. We now have peace with God, have been saved from His wrath through Christ... and now look at the end of Romans 5:10 with me:
“Much more, now that we are reconciled [we who were His enemies], shall we be saved by his life”! That is pure grace! Those who are reconciled have been brought back from being God's enemies to being His friends. They are justified by the death of Jesus Christ our Lord, and are saved forever by His life! That is good news - to know that you are saved forever and ever, because Jesus Christ lives! He rose from the dead to give eternal life to all who are found safely hidden in Him. God's wrath will never touch us if we are saved, because it was all poured out on Christ at the cross.
Those who are justified, saved from God's wrath, and reconciled back to God the Father through the death of His Son, are saved forever and ever, and can never be lost or condemned. Not ever! That is something to rejoice about if it is for you! And that is what Paul says in the next verse:

Verse 11
More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

What does this mean? More than what? More than being reconciled to God while we were His enemies?! Yes... more than that, we also rejoice! Rejoice in what? We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Do you rejoice in God through Jesus Christ our Lord? Have you received the reconciliation through His death and life? Are you justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:24)?

Let's just think one more time about this word: Reconciliation. What does it mean?

Here is one verse that really describes this well:

Colossians 1:19-23 says about Jesus Christ,

“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

From those verses, we learn that Jesus made peace by the blood of His cross in order to reconcile all things back to God. And it tells us what we are like before we are reconciled and what we are like after. It says that we were once alienated (foreign to God, separated) and hostile in mind (enemies, unyielding, rebellious), that we were doing evil deeds (doing things we know are sinful and wrong, and continuing to practice them anyway). That is what every Christian is like before they are reconciled back to God. Now (for us who are born of the Spirit) it says, Christ has now reconciled us in his human body by dying in our place, in order to present us as holy and without any blame (with no fault) and above reproach before Him. This is all really, really good news, and there is one condition though. That is, that this is true for us only if we continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting not turning from the hope of the good news (the gospel, which I've been teaching you every Sunday) which you heard.

Let's ask ourselves these questions:

1. Do we recognize that we are totally helpless to be good people – that there is nothing in us that can make us good or right before God?

2. Do we recognize that Christ died for the ungodly, sinners?

3. Do we realize that is who we are, and that is who God has chosen to display His great love to?

4. Do we rejoice in being reconciled back to God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ more than anything? In other words, do we rejoice in God because of who He is more than we rejoice in getting the things we want, more than in being saved from hell, or more than in being forgiven, or more than anything we enjoy in this world? Do we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation?

Romans 5... we made it past verse 5!!!

We have been spending a lot of time on Romans 5 the past couple of weeks, so I haven't added anything to the Bible studies since. But I plan on doing some exposition of verses 6-11 next. By God's grace that will be possible. It is like walking into a cave filled with gold and silver treasures beyond number. I've got to go in there and pull out what I can to give you glimpses of the riches of God's grace, which I've only seen dimly in Christ Jesus through His precious Word the Bible. :)

The Gospel in Romans, part 12

Just by faith - peace - hope - joy. Sufferings - endurance - character - hope - never disappointed! We have finally begun reading Romans again, and we are now in chapter five, which I like to call the "grace chapter" of Romans. We had taken a break from Romans for some weeks, and looked at Genesis 1-3, especially so that as we read Romans chapter 5, we will see the connection between Jesus and Adam in Genesis 3 as they are discussed from verses 12-21 of this chapter. I did not teach this whole lesson last night, but I hope to continue it next week. There is so much joy and hope to be found in understanding this chapter, so go ahead and dig in...

Romans Chapter 5, part 1

Romans 5:1-6 (ESV):
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

Verse 1
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember what we must do whenever we start reading the Bible at a certain verse or passage and see a "therefore"? We are supposed to go back and find out what that "therefore" is there for. The last chapter ended by teaching us that the Scripture was not written for Abraham's sake alone that his faith was "counted to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:22; Genesis 15:6), but it was also written for us who will be "counted righteous" by faith, if we trust in God who delivered Jesus up to be crucified for our trespasses and raised for our justification (Romans 4:23-25).
Now we have come to chapter 5 verse 1; and what does it say we are therefore justified by? "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith..." So the word "therefore" is intended to show us that because, or since we are justified by faith, as it was stated back in 4:25, we now have these blessings that follow.

What is the first result of being justified by faith? "We have peace with God." And through whom does this peace come? "Through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Remember when we studied Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter three, and how Adam and Eve needed to be reconciled to God. They had been separated from God's presence by their sin and by God's judgment with the angel and the flaming sword keeping them out of Paradise. Their own efforts to cover their shame could not have restored them to peace with God. They needed God to make a provision, and He did that through the sacrifice of the "lamb" in order to clothe them, representing Christ's sacrifice of atonement. Thus God was showing Adam and Eve how He would make a way for them to be brought back to Himself and have peace with Him through Christ. Now Paul is declaring that we have that peace through Jesus Christ if we are justified by faith, just as Abraham and all the saints were justified!

Notice also the title Jesus Christ has - "our Lord Jesus Christ." Do you remember what the words, "Lord" and "Christ" mean? First, Jesus is our Lord, which means He rules; He is our Judge, our Master, our God and the one we bow to in humble submission and obedience. Whatever He says, that is what we must believe and do. Next, Jesus is the Christ, which means "Anointed." That means He is the the one God the Father has anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our Prophet (speaking the truth of God), our Priest (making the sacrifice for our sins and interceding before God on our behalf), and our King (providing a kingdom and a land of peace and safety by ruling and reigning supreme over all). This is who Jesus is to those of us who are justified by faith. He is our Lord, and the one by whom we now have peace with God, because of the sacrifice of Himself.

Verse 2
Through him we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

How do we get access into "this grace" mentioned here? Notice the words, "through him." It is only through Jesus Christ that there is salvation, and that is received by faith. Jesus is the source of God's grace. John chapter one says that Jesus is "full of grace and truth," and that "from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace," and that "the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:14,16,17). So all God's grace is only given and accessed through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What is grace? Salvation is by grace, so do you know what the word "grace" means? (I asked a young Hispanic man this, and since the Spanish word for grace is "gracia", he thought I was talking about giving thanks). I heard of one old black minister, who died not long ago (Elder D.J. Ward), who was quoted as saying, "I'm a grace case... I'm a grace case!" Grace is really profound and beautiful. I have a blog on the internet devoted to grace, called "All of Grace." A lot of ministries and churches like to attach the word "grace" to their names; "grace church," "Greater Grace World Outreach," etc. Countless books are written about grace all the time. In fact, this very chapter of Romans 5 is written to teach us about grace. So what is it? Well, grace in the Bible usually means Divine favor. It is God's favor and goodness toward those who deserve His judgment and wrath. It is revealed to us through Jesus Christ who took the judgment and wrath on behalf of those who are under God's divine favor. I like this definition: Grace is the free gift of undeserved favor toward hell-deserving sinners.

Grace is something we stand in. We have these blessings which result from being justified by trust (faith) in Jesus: 1) we are justified (counted righteous before God); 2) we have peace with God (we are His friends and no longer enemies); 3) we have access into this grace in which we stand (i.e. we stand in God's favor as His chosen and beloved); 3) this causes us to rejoice (lit. "to speak loud") in hope of the glory of God. All these spiritual blessings come to us only through Jesus Christ our Lord by faith.

Verses 3-4
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Verse 3 begins with the words, "More than that." What do we do "more than that" if we are justified by faith? We rejoice in our sufferings. Sufferings are a part of the blessings that come with being justified by faith. Philippians 1:29 says, "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake." Just as faith is granted (given) to us in order to believe in Jesus for His sake, even so, suffering is given to us for His sake also. The Greek word used for "sufferings" means to be under pressure, afflictions, tribulations, persecution, anguish, burdened. Such are the things Christians rejoice (lit. "speak loud") in. The reason we rejoice in our sufferings if we are justified by faith is, because sufferings produce all kinds of valuable spiritual blessings in us.

Why do you think suffering would be the cause of great spiritual blessings to a Christian? We see from verse 3, that it produces endurance. What does it mean to endure? The Greek word used here for endurance means to patiently and cheerfully endure, to have power to remain, to endure with hopefulness. It gives the idea of patient continuance in the faith. To endure means to hold out against adversity, not to fold under pressure but to remain steadfast, continue in hopefulness. Jesus said, "By your endurance you will gain your lives." (Luke 21:19). Hebrews 10:36 says to suffering Christians, "For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised." Jesus said to the Church of Philadelphia in the book of Revelation, "Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown." [The crown was used as a symbol of victory after enduring the test of sufferings]. Revelation 14:12 calls Christians to endure after telling them about how those who follow the beast and receive the 666 mark will be tormented in fire forever without rest, it then says, "Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." And the following verse pronounces a blessing on all who die in the Lord from now on, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" (See Revelation 14:9-13). Endurance is essential to being saved, and Paul says that we rejoice in our sufferings, since as justified believers, they are producing this blessing of endurance in our lives.

What is the second thing sufferings produce? Sufferings produce endurance, which in turn produces character. The Greek word translated "character" means "test," or "proof." It is a word people used when testing gold or money to see if it was genuine. Sufferings or difficulties produce endurance in the justified believer, and that hopeful endurance produces genuine tested character (proving our faithfulness to God). When you want to know somebody, you always want to test their character to see if it is real. That is exactly what difficulties and trials do for our faith - it is tested and proven to be the real thing.

What is the third thing sufferings produce? Or, what does tested character produce? Character produces hope. Hope is a really good thing. It means to be waiting with expectation. When I was studying this word in the Bible, I thought of this example for hope: The Bible's definition of hope is similar to the feeling you get when you know it is sure your team is going to win. You are watching a football game, or playing soccer or something else, and everything is intense. Then the time starts running out, and your team does something, like scores or whatever, and you realize it's all over. The game is over - your team is going to win and now it is just a matter of time until it ends. And you begin to rejoice, even jump for joy, because you know it's finished. You know what the outcome is going to be, and so you are filled with hopeful expectation. That is the idea we get here. Suffering produces endurance in the justified believer's life, which produces tested proven character, which produces joyful hope.

Verse 5
and hope does not put us to shame because the love of God has been
poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given
to us.

What does hope not do for us? Hope does not put us to shame. The NASB says, "and hope does not disappoint." Verse 5 is the climax of all the spiritual blessings listed here. Hope, which means "waiting in expectation" does not leave the justified ashamed or disappointed. Why not? How could someone have hope, and then end up disappointed or put to shame? Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life."

I read an article about an African American man from a small town who was accused of several rapes and a murder back in the 1980's. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison. The man, who's name was Tim, always held that he did not commit the rapes and the murder. After he was in prison for a number of years, another man stepped forward and admitted he was the one who committed those crimes that Tim was in prison for. The judges would not listen to the man's confession and they would not reconsider that Tim was innocent. After more years passed, Tim died in prison of health complications. It was only after he died that the courts reconsidered his case, and found out he was innocent, while the other man was the one who had indeed committed those rapes. I watched a video where Tim's brothers and mother were crying and talking about their brother. One of the brother's held a little brown New Testament, and he read from it these words, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12). Tim's hope and his family's hope had been deferred. Tim died before justice could be dealt out rightly for him. However, someone in the article said that there is only one Judge and one system of justice that is perfect, and it isn't on this earth yet. Nevertheless, for Tim's family, their hope for his release was gone. Tim's hope was ended. However, knowing that he was innocent did fulfill their desire for their brother in some ways. That is what it means to have hope and not see it fulfilled. It is a sad story. But the story will not end there. Whether or not Tim was a believer, God will raise him from the dead and all this will be worked out on judgment day. God was Sovereign over Tim's situation, and we do not know what God's purposes were for him to be in such a situation. That is why we look forward to that day, because it is a day when God will judge the world in righteousness (Psalm 96:13).

Now, we are reading here that while Christians may suffer extremely in this life, and we are promised that it will be so, nevertheless, this hope will not be deferred, it will be fulfilled. Christians may die, yet Christ, who is our hope, will return and will raise the dead. And this is how we know our hope will be fulfilled, because it says, "the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." I have often thought, how could I ever doubt God's love? How can I doubt His love when He has given me everything? He gave His Son, as we will see in verse 6, and He gave me His Holy Spirit to be in me and with me. Through the Holy Spirit, God has poured out His love into the hearts of those of us who are justified. The Holy Spirit is given as a down payment, or as an engagement ring. He is the seal of God's promise that He will save those who are justified by faith. This love of God is poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. So if you have the Holy Spirit, then God's love has been poured into your hearts through Him and you have this hope that will never put you to shame, because it will be fulfilled!

Verse 6
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

This is where we see the love of God - that Christ would die at the right time for the ungodly. While we were still weak, helpless, ungodly, unable to do good, Christ died for us who are justified by faith in Him!

I will end with some soul-searching questions:
Are you justified by faith in Christ? Are you trusting Him alone as your hope and your righteousness? Are you enjoying peace and friendship with God through Him? Are you standing in His grace that comes only through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord? Are you suffering through difficulties as a result of your faith in Jesus? Are you enduring, proving your character and waiting in hope for Christ to return and for you to be delivered into Heaven? Have you experienced this overflowing love of God poured out into your hearts through the Holy Spirit? Has He changed your heart, and has He melted it with His love, so that you are looking to Christ for all grace? And last of all, do you view yourself as weak, and ungodly? Do you see that Jesus Christ died at the right time for the ungodly, and that includes you if you have trusted in Him?

Don't turn away from Him, but instead, trust Him who delivered Jesus up for our trangressions and was raised for our justification. Trust Him and Him alone.
Amen.

Genesis Chapter 3: The Curse of Unbelief and the Promised Seed

The time I spent studying and learning and meditating on the words of Scripture in preparation for this study was an [I looked on a thesaurus site and could not find a word to express the delight I had in learning these lessons]. Genesis three contains the entire gospel in one chapter. I literally could go and sit down, look up verses all day that relate to this chapter, and end up writing a book about it. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to do that this weekend, so I included what I could. Just in case you don't see it in the study, you can search for clues to the gospel of God through Jesus Christ preached in this chapter. You will find everything from the knowledge of all temptation and evil in the serpent, all sinful desire in Eve, and behavior in the woman and the man, the secret of all false religion, the reason people generally view God so negatively, the righteous standard of God's law, the insufficiency and failure of all human efforts in covering guilt, God's glorious plan for reconciliation, the death and resurrection, as well as the second coming, final salvation and judgment of Jesus Christ, Satan's demise, the solution to man and woman's greatest problem, God's love, mercy and grace, Paradise lost and restored, God with man together again - to name a few! Enough said, now dig in:

Genesis Chapter 3: The Curse of Unbelief and the Promised Seed

Intro:
Now, we remember that in chapter one, God had made the heavens and the earth and called them "very good." We learned that creation is about God, and it puts His glory on display. In chapter two, we took a closer look at God's wonderful design for man and woman, and the beautiful home they were given in the garden. We also briefly understood that God placed Adam in a position of authority over all the earth - over the plants for growing food, and over the animals as he imitated God by naming them. Man's authority over God's creation was a result of Adam and Eve bearing the image of God. They were given so much in the Paradise of God, and they had a wonderful union and relationship with each other in marriage. Do you remember what words chapter two ended with? "And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed." There was nothing for them to be ashamed of, since they were God's creatures, and everything God had created was very good.

In the next chapter, we are going to learn about how Adam and Eve sinned and fell in the garden. But this story is really not only about man's fall into sin and rebellion against God, it isn't even about Satan, as we will see, it is really about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This chapter of the Bible shows us the first time God promised redemption through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.

Chapter 3:

Verse 1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.

What was the serpent more than other beasts of the field? What does it mean to be crafty? Who made the serpent? God made the serpent, even giving him qualities that the other animals did not have. It tells us this "serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made." Crafty means to be skilled in a subtle way; prudent; slick, sly; able to craft schemes; wise in dealing with others. The short answer would be that this serpent was smart. He knew how to get what he was out to accomplish. We get an idea from this verse that this is no ordinary animal, but a creature of God who can rationally act to accomplish its task. Since we know from other parts of the Bible that this is Satan acting here ( Rom. 16:20; 2 Cor. 11:3), then we know that Satan had already fallen by way of sinning against God. We can see from these verses that Satan was using the serpent in order to deceive Adam and Eve, because somehow this serpent began to talk in verse 2!...

Verse 2
He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?

In what form did the serpent speak? It was a question. Who was he questioning? The woman. What was the question about? He questioned the woman about what God 'actually' said concerning eating from the trees of the garden? Look how subtly the question was asked; was it an accurate question? No, what did God actually say? Back in Genesis 2:16-17 it says, "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 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." And what was the serpent's question again? The serpent said, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" What did the serpent change about what God said? This shows how crafty and deceitful the serpent is, he was subtly changing God's words so that Eve would question the truth about what God had really said. He was casting confusion in Eve's mind about God's Word, and tempting her to doubt God's Word.

Verse 3
And the woman said to the serpent, "we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'"

(Eve had already begun to step away from God when she said this). Doesn't it seem odd that Eve saw a serpent walk up to her and start talking? Now, it is even more odd that she didn't run to her husband and tell him that the serpent was speaking to her! Instead, what did she do? She started talking back to the serpent. She already began acting independently of her husband, whom God had wedded together as one flesh; they were no longer two, but one (Gen. 2:24). The serpent was getting in between the two of them and was beginning to separate them from one another on the most important matter, which is God's truth.

Who did God originally give the command to about the trees in the garden? It was to Adam (Gen. 2:16-17), so he must have told his wife what God had told him. Since Satan was talking to her about God's Word, then it would have been the right thing for her to go to her husband and refer to him to check what God had said. But what did she say to the serpent? She corrected the serpent by saying, "we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden..." But did she get it all correct? No. She began to listen to the serpent, and so she started doing what he was leading her to, which was to change what God had said. Did God say the tree in the midst of the garden was not to be touched? No. He simply commanded them not to eat from it. And notice also how Eve quoted it by saying, "lest you die." It's almost as if she was softening the command from "you shall surely die," to "lest you die."

What do you think God's original command was intended to do – to kill or to keep alive? If they kept God's command to not eat that fruit, they would not die. So we see it was intended to keep them living if they obeyed. But Satan wanted to take life away from Adam and Eve by twisting the Words of God, casting doubt in Eve's mind about God's goodness, and causing Eve herself to begin to distort the truth. It began by listening to the wrong person. Instead of listening to God's Word by listening to what Adam was really told, Eve fell right into Satan's trap by listening to a distortion of the truth right from the mouth of the devil, who was disguised as a serpent.

Verses 4-5
But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

How did Satan tempt Eve with these words? What words did he use to help Eve reject God's Word altogether? First, he said, "You will not surely die." What had God said? God had said to Adam that if they ate of that tree, they would "surely die." Satan turns it around and flat out lied to Eve by saying the very opposite, "You will not surely die." Right here, Satan is calling God a liar. It was as if God did not tell them the whole truth, and that it would not go as God had said if they ate, so here is this serpent to tell them the real truth about what would “actually happen”.

The serpent told Eve that death was not the result of eating the forbidden fruit. He also tempted Eve by saying that they would be enlightened and would be like God if they ate it, knowing good and evil. He was telling Eve that God did not have her best interests in mind and that God was trying to hide something really good from her. That being made in the image and likeness of God was somehow not good enough, so she had to eat from this fruit to really become like God. This is idolatry in its worst form. Satan tempted Eve with the very same sin that made him fall. In Isaiah 14:12-15, God told Isaiah what they would say concerning the King of Babylon (who in this context seems to be referring also to Satan). He goes on to quote him as saying, "I will make myself like the Most High.'" (Isaiah 14:14). Here, the devil was tempting Eve by telling her she could make herself like the Most High, and in that way it is as if she could become a god.

Now Eve was faced with the choice of who to listen to and who to believe. Either believe God - whom she knew to be good, faithful and true, as her Creator and Provider - or she could believe a talking serpent who was twisting Scripture and telling her lies. Jesus spoke to the Jewish leaders about Satan in John 8:44, "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

Verse 6
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.

What did Eve see about the tree? What was appealing about it to her? What did she do after she saw those things? Where was her husband when she gave some to him? Eve saw three things that were appealing to her about the tree God commanded them not to eat from: 1) it was good for food, 2) it was beautiful and looked good to her eyes, 3) it was desired for gaining knowledge and wisdom. These three things are at the heart of all temptations to sin. 1 John 2:15-17 says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions - is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." All temptations is rooted in the desire to please the flesh, the desire for what looks good, and the desire to take pride in what one has in this life. That is what Eve was tempted with. She wanted to do what her body felt like doing, thinking it would taste or feel good. She wanted to have what looked so outwardly appealing to her eyes. She wanted what would make her wise so she could have put confidence in what she could know and have for herself. So these sins can be categorized as 1) sinful pleasures (not the good pleasures, but those that are forbidden), 2) lust after beauty, 3) pride in self.

After Eve was tempted, and her heart began to lust for what was forbidden, she took the fruit and ate it. James 1:1-16 says about this, "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived my beloved brothers." Her desire for what Satan tempted her with grew so strong that she had to have it. She grabbed for it, wanting to "get her own." She got it and devoured it, thinking it was going to be so satisfying, forgetting that in the end it leads to DEATH! Proverbs 16:25 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." That was the way Eve took.

It then says, "She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate." Adam was right there with her when all this was going on! He said nothing to protect her from the serpent's deception! He did not even try to stop her from eating what he knew God had forbidden. They had all kinds of beautiful, amazing, pleasing things in the garden to enjoy, but they went for the one thing they were not aloud to have. Adam, instead of being the head over his wife and leading her in the ways of God, he became the weak one and he followed his wife into sin. This act marked their utter rejection of God and their fall into irreversible guilt. It was Adam's sin to let Eve speak with a lying serpent and not even do anything to try to lead her in the truth. That is why (as we'll see in the following verses) God spoke first to Adam and held him accountable.

Verse 7
"Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths."

What happened immediately after they ate from the tree God commanded them not to eat from? The eyes of them both were opened. And what did that cause them to know? They knew they were naked. And what did they do to themselves after that? They made themselves loincloths out of fig leaves.

Here are the immediate results of their sin: 1) they did receive knowledge of good and evil, because their eyes were opened; 2) they knew something about themselves that they did not realize before - that they were naked - and this knowledge brought shame; 3) they tried to do something to cover up their nakedness and shame. Okay, now you know where everything from the fashion industry to every philosophy and religion originated. It all started with Adam and Eve trying to cover themselves in the garden. Remember how chapter 2 ended by saying, "And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed." In this scene, they were both naked and they WERE ashamed.

All false religion is an attempt to cover man's shameful nakedness. False religions and philosophies do not want to admit that people are as bad as we are. So they make up a way to cover our true condition by saying we are good, or that we do wrong things but are still able to make up for our faults by following certain rules or ceremonies or ordinances or philosophical ideas. Right here in the garden, false religion started with Adam and Eve, and it was a human works/efforts based religion. It was man-centered, trying to cover up their shame.

Proverbs 28:13 puts it in a clear light, "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." And 1 John 1:8-9 also says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Sin is a serious matter that we have to admit, because to hide it (as Adam and Eve attempted to do) is the same as saying we don't have it. But as we'll see, there is another way to get free from the guilt. The verses we just looked at both mentioned confession of sin as a very important part of being relieved from the guilt of it. However, confessing our sin to God is only one part of being forgiven, it does not earn us forgiveness. Going around admitting our guilt all the time will not help us find forgiveness, it only helps us realize we have a NEED to be forgiven. If Adam and Eve had not tried to cover their guilt and shame, but would have openly confessed their sin, they still would have died. God's law would continue to be just, holy and true. It said, "in the day you eat of it you will surely die." No confession could take away that penalty - neither could covering themselves with leaves. Nothing could hide it, yet nothing they did could bring them forgiveness either. So by realizing that, we are directed now to look to God for an answer.

Verses 8-11

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 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.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

God was walking in the garden – this would have been Jesus Christ appearing to them even before He was incarnated through the virgin Mary, because John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God.” So it must have been what we call a “pre-incarnate” appearance of God. This happens often throughout the book of Genesis, where God appears to people, but he looks like a man, and it is actually God the Son, Jesus appearing to them. This happened a number of times with Abraham.

What did Adam and Eve do when they heard God walking? They hid themselves. What did God say to Adam? “Where are you?” Did God not know where Adam was? Of course He knew, God knows everything, but perhaps He was helping Adam see something about himself. It's like when a little kid hides, and we say, “Where's little Jenny? I don't know where she went?” And then little Jenny pops out and says, “Here I am!” However, in this case, Adam was hiding because of real shame. So what caused Adam to be afraid? “I heard the sound of you...” he was afraid of God seeing him naked. God answered by saying, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Verses 12-13

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 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.”

How did Adam answer God? He shifted the blame away from himself unto the woman whom God had put there with him. It's like he was saying, “Uh, this woman that you put here to be with me, she made me do it.”

When God asked the woman about it, how did she answer? She shifted the blame to the serpent. “It was the serpents fault for deceiving me.” This was the first instance of “the blame game.” Neither of them confessed themselves to be guilty, but instead kept hiding their shame by emphasizing the faults of others. We still do this today, we don't want to feel bad about ourselves so we blame the government, or the doctors or the teachers, or the parents, or our brother or sister. I am guilty of doing this... we all are.

Verses 14-15

The LORD God said to the serpent, “

Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 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.”

This is where we first see a ray of hope for Adam and Eve. God spoke to the serpent, and didn't even question him, but just declared, “Because you did this, cursed are you...” What was the curse about that God pronounced on the serpent? It was cursed above all livestock and beasts of the field; it was to crawl on its belly and eat dust. What else would happen? God said He would put enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between their offspring. What would the woman's offspring do to the serpent? He would bruise the serpent's head. And what would the serpent do to him? The serpent would bruise his heel.

This curse on the serpent contained the first promise of a redeemer who would come to destroy the devil. That redeemer is Jesus. The rest of the Old Testament is focused on showing us how that redeemer was going to come, and what ways He would come, and who He would be. The New Testament is then the declaration of good news, that this man (the promised “seed”) has come and has fulfilled all the prophecies of His coming, and His name is Jesus, and He came to save everyone who repents and believes in Him, and He will come again a second time to judge the world and to restore all things back to Paradise with God.

If this chapter of the Bible wasn't here, then we would not have a Bible at all, because this is the very foundation that all of the Bible is built on.

Verse 16

To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

What did God say to curse the woman? She was cursed in her relationships. She was cursed in relation to her children, because she would have pain in bringing them forth; and she was cursed in relation to her husband, because her desire would be for him [or against him], but he would rule over her (She would desire a loving husband, but he would rule over her, and she would also desire to be against her husband as the feminist movement so proudly endorses – she would desire to rule over him instead).

Verse 17-19

And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you , 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

What did God say to curse Adam? Because he listened to Eve, his wife, and transgressed God's command by eating, God cursed his labor. The ground was cursed so that it would be painful to work to produce food; it would also have thorns and thistles to make it hard, so that by “the sweat of your face” man would eat bread until he died.

What a curse!... A serious consequence for not listening to God. And that is exactly what the serpent wanted to happen to Adam and Eve, which is why Jesus called him a “murderer” in John 8:44.

But it doesn't end there either...

Verses 20-21

The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

This story isn't ending, it is just beginning. What did Adam name his wife and why? Adam had faith, that is why he called his wife's name Eve, because she was to be the mother of all the living (I have been using her name Eve all along, but the Bible doesn't give her that name until now in verse 20). God just cursed man and woman and told them they would die, yet they must have believed they would have descendants who would be “living.” The only reason I can think of for this is that they must have believed the promise God said to the serpent, “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.” They believed that promise, and that promise was about Jesus, so they believed in Jesus Christ as God's chosen Redeemer.

What else did God do for them in verse 21? He made clothing for them from animal skins. Many people, including myself, believe that God killed the first lamb and used its skin to make coverings for Adam and Eve. This was to symbolize that Jesus would be the “Lamb who was slain,” and the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Revelation 5:12; John 1:29).

Verses 22-24

Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever--” therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

What did God do with the man in this passage? He sent him out of the garden, so that he wouldn't eat from the tree of life and live forever, and so that he would have to work in the ground from which he came. What was put in place to guard the garden of Eden? Cherubim and a flaming sword – cherubim are like the most amazing heavenly creatures the Bible speaks about, they are often seen standing around God's throne.

So we see that sin has banished man from the Paradise garden God had originally place him in. Mankind has no right anymore to eternal life, because God cursed him. Every single one of us is related to each other through these two people. We all come from Adam and Eve, who because they listened to the serpent and sinned, were cursed and banished from the presence of God. We are born into this curse, until God changes that. And that is what our study is meant to turn us to, the amazing good news of how God, in His great love, sent His own Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him (John 3:16-17).

(Genesis is known for looking like all is going to end badly, but then God does something and turns it all around so that everything bad works out for good to fulfill God's ultimate purpose and plan).