Elevate - The Story Pt 1 - Creation and The Fall

Realize that our culture is in a war against the authority of the word if you heard it on cnn And it and it goes against what the bible says and it contradicts what the bible says. It's not true And it's not worth listening to We don't have the right to believe something else Or to change what it really says And interpret it through the lens of our new culture Welcome to elevate from authentic life church in movio, alabama with pastor john de cuatro We hope it builds your faith and helps you to live a life for god that you've always wanted to live We hope it inspires you to be a fully devoted authentic follower of jesus christ Enjoy the message and welcome to elevate. Let's get into the work You're ready. You're ready for the world. We are starting our new Series today based on this book the story So why the story why have we chosen to go through this particular? uh version of Of the bible the story. Well, you know, we've said this now we're endeavoring to build a community of fully devoted authentic followers of jesus christ and as fully devoted followers of jesus christ, we Need to uh to know and understand the whole counsel of god We are told in second peter to to continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of jesus christ So we need to know Not just a couple of scriptures that we've memorized We need to know not just the some of the some of the letters in the new testament or a couple of psalms We need to know the entire counsel of god. And so we're going to go through that together now there are All kinds of things that are not included that are in the bible that are not included in this book There's not going to be proverbs and psalms and prophecies and and the uh, The letters to the church what this is is the narrative of the bible This is the story that is told through the bible and the bible is this is a story of god's revelation to mankind Now you may not know this but that the old testament Which is the first two thirds of the bible, which is ignored by so many Uh new testament believers, but the old testament points to jesus From from the beginning it points to jesus. And so as we endeavor to be fully devoted followers Of jesus as we seek to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of jesus christ We have to know the story of the bible. We must know this story christ victory on the cross When viewed through the lens of the biblical narrative becomes so much deeper so much richer than you could have ever Imagined so we're not just trying to tell a story through this series We're trying to get you to fall more and more in love with jesus christ and to follow him in a more fully Devoted way are you up for the challenge? Amen, so we're going to start at the beginning Now chapter one if you all read chapter one for this week, it's it covers creation And the fall of mankind and it covers the flood of noah now next week We're going to cover the the flood and so you don't need to read chapter two yet I mean you could read as much of it as you want. It's your book but You don't have to read chapter two quite yet. We're going to continue in chapter one Next week and so so if you want to reread chapter one you can But the beginning of the biblical narrative begins in genesis 1-1 and it's a verse we're all very familiar with in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth And we read how in six days that he created land and water and birds and fish and animals and plants and all of humanity But see now already at genesis 1-1 We are in opposition To the narrative that the world would like to tell about the origin of the universe and the origin of humanity Right here at the very beginning of the book. We're already we can see that we're in a battle Understand that even the story of creation and the fall points squarely at jesus And how we can overcome the effects of what happened that day in the beginning of history So god creates everything and on the sixth day he puts humans on the earth adam and eve And he had a relationship with them The bible says that he walked with them and he talked to them in the cool of the in the cool of the day in the garden And he gave them instructions Right. He placed them in the garden, but he gave them some instructions and here's one of them in verse 16 of genesis chapter 2 and the lord god commanded the man you are free to eat from any tree in the garden But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for when you eat from it You will certainly die The death was not a thing then Right. It was not something that we were subject to at that point, but absolute freedom This is what adam and eve are experiencing absolute freedom. Absolute perfection Absolute peace absolute relationship with god. However, in order to maintain that there are guidelines One simple guideline donate from that tree Can I tell you something that freedom does not mean that you can do whatever you want That my friends is anarchy Freedom does not mean that you can do whatever you want god always gives us railways And they are for our own good But we have a choice about whether or not we are going to abide by those guidelines But just know this that laws that god gives us are not meant to take away freedom, but they are meant to protect The freedom that he's given us. I love this in james chapter 1 verse 25 25 it says but whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom The law that gives freedom And continues in it not forgetting what they have heard but doing it. They will be blessed in what they do The key to living free and blessed according to this scripture follow god's guidelines for living You want to be free and have a blessed abundant life follow his guidelines for living? It's simple If we can learn that god gives us guidelines for our own good and for our own protection Then we won't rebel against them and then we'll able to enjoy the freedom and the blessing that it brings in our lives Yeah Now adam and eve They get confronted they get tested they get tempted And we read this in genesis chapter 3 verse 1. They have a law. They have the guideline You can eat anything in this garden. Just don't touch that tree stay away from that one It's no good But in verse 1 of genesis 3 now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals The lord god had made he said to the woman did god really say? You must not eat from any tree in the garden Now when we read this and we say oh a talking snake the serpent It's understood that this is satan himself tempting eve In the garden the bible makes reference to satan as that serpent And so we know that satan was already fallen he was already evil And already given some leeway with regards to god's creation And it's interesting as we read this this particular verse how satan's In his conversation starter Was to say did god really? say Now the bible says he was crafty and I believe that if if if the serpent would have come to them and just said Here take a bite That maybe right then and there Eve would have kind of shut the whole thing down and said no. Thanks because She knew what what he was getting at to try to break god's law But instead the first thing he does is something very subtle and he plants this seed of doubt It's very subtle, but it's very effective. Did god really say see this is craftiness 101, right? Plant the seed plant the seed of doubt plant something that's going to get you off kilter just a little bit You ever get messed up and sin Ever just be in that place where you're just kind of messed up and sin did it come on you all of a sudden Did you just wake up one day addicted Did you just wake up one day caught in a web of lies that you couldn't get out of? Did you suddenly find yourself out of nowhere in an affair with somebody that's not your spouse No, it started with a little seed of doubt It started with justification it started with Logic and reasoning and doubt about whether or not it was wrong and and a justification to get around it That's how we find ourselves in sin And the bible says we're dragged away and enticed by our own evil desires Right, we'll we'll we'll come up with a with sound reasoning to get around anything that the bible says if we want it If we want it enough I don't want you to see this conversation that The serpent has with eve In genesis 3 we move on to verse 2 so in response to this the woman said to the serpent We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden But god did say you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden And you must not touch it or you will die And here's the serpent's response. You will not certainly die For god knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like god knowing good and evil so when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also Desirable for gaining wisdom, which was a lie She took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it So you remember last week we talked about the lust of the flesh The lust of the eyes the pride of life these these things that the enemy uses to distract us From who god's called us to be so that we don't walk in our authentic identity the real Us that god has intended for us to be And these are satan's tactics, right? It was She saw that it was good for food And that it was pleasing to the eye right lust of the flesh lust of the eyes And it was distracting And his tactics Have not changed since the first day we talked about this last week But we can see all the way in the garden satan's tactics are exactly the same So I want to encourage you or or challenge or warn you today to watch out for the tempting servant serpents Watch out for that tempting serpent. It looks good It'll make you feel good. Therefore. It must be good wrong It's not good Just because it looks good Just because it'll make you feel good does not make it good, especially if god said don't So for adam and eve it was a death sentence It looked good. It tasted good. It seemed good, but it was a death sentence Now eve believed the lie and gave into the lust of her flesh and the lust of her eyes And disobeyed god her husband just goes right along with her and the result of this death And that death sentence From way back in the beginning of genesis That death sentence has been handed down to us Now I want you to see the war That was started by this slithery serpent of a tempter He started it in the garden with the words did god really say and he has woven those words throughout the years That humanity has been on the earth it's a war on the word and the authority of god That's the war that has been waged And it's way at the beginning word war one There's a bit of there is a war on the word and the authority of god Now listen the creator of the universe the one with all the power. He has the right to rule by his divine authority And when he speaks We have an obligation to do what he says When he gave us scripture We have an obligation to believe the scripture That he gave us and then to live by it. He is the supreme being He has the right to rule by his authority, but satan Has waged an all-out war on the word and the authority of god So god gave adam and eve his word a few commands Right. He said fill the earth Let's be fruitful and multiply he said subdue the earth Like you rule. I want you to rule the earth And don't eat from the tree right three commands that god gives them in the beginning very simple commands And that's it And those words that he gave to adam and eve held every ounce of divine authority That comes with being the creator of the universe, but satan comes in with a rival word A rival message and since then The authority of scripture has been attacked in every generation Since satan spoke those three words of doubt to eve did god say And if you think opposition to the word of god is getting worse You're right It is And we knew that it would happen. Look what it says in second timothy 3 13 It says while evildoers and imposters will go from bad to worse deceiving and being deceived It's just getting worse, it's the second law of thermodynamics It just gets worse as time goes on But we see it now the continual attack Against christianity against the authority and of the word of god There's no fear Of god anymore in our culture The culture says live how you want And do what feels good Follow the lust of the flesh follow the lust of the eyes and the pride of life Who cares what god has to say about things like abortion and sexuality and adultery and homosexuality? Who cares what god has to say? We have a better way. That's what the culture says Who cares what god has to say about what pleases him and what will lead to a truly free and fruitful life The war on the word is raging and it's raging violently right now Let me just say this if you are a new believer get to know the word of god as quickly as you possibly can Because it's going to cause you to think about some things differently Than maybe you've received as you were growing up before you came into faith with jesus christ the word of god renews your mind And it'll cause you to think about some things differently. It'll cause you to believe something else It's going to it's going to to renew your mind And it's going to help you to know what is true and right and holy And once you have begun to know the word of god Stick with the word of god for all of you that have been in christ You grew up in church or you got saved years and years and years ago And you've heard the whole bible preached and you've read it stick with it realize that our culture is in a war against the authority of the word if you heard it on cnn and it And it goes against what the bible says and it contradicts what the bible says. It's not true and it's not worth listening to We don't have the right to question it Hallelujah, we don't have the right to believe something else or to change what it really says And interpret it through the lens of our new culture And so I want you to see real quick four lines about god's word that satan introduced and this is the war that he has waged Against god's authority in word. He says this genesis 3 4 you will not certainly die The serpent said to the woman for god knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be open You will be like god Knowing good and evil The first thing is you will not die Right. He says you will not die That lie still being believed There are no consequences For the things that we do or what we believe or how we choose to live What god said is not true don't believe that hell is real or that there are consequences That's the lie that is still being proliferated through our culture Don't worry. Hell is not a real place. Don't worry. There's no afterlife. Don't worry. There's no consequences to how you live But death is still the result of sin today Oh James 1 13 Through 15 says when tempted no one should say god is tempting me for god cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed now Listen, then after desire has conceived it gives birth to sin And sin when it is full grown gives birth to what? Death satan said you will not certainly die, but we know that today still that sin leads to death That's the first lie you will not die the second lie For god knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened is what he says Right that you will be enlightened If you disobey god's word, then you will now be Enlightened listen, that is the order of the day. It's called wokeness Everyone that's walking around enlightened. They have a greater revelation greater enlightenment than what the word of god has given us We know better than god. We know better than his word If you believe this if you live this way and accept, this is good. Then you are enlightened And you're smarter and better than those stupid people who believe in god That's what we're being fed. That's what our children are being fed in school Listen to me we are not progressing as a culture beyond the truth of god's word. It's a lie Wokeness is deception not enlightenment Enlightenment Listen to me when when you're trying when when people are virtue signaling and trying to claim the moral high ground because they know something Better than what the word of god says listen, it's deception not enlightenment And it's the same tactic that the enemy used in the garden the third lie He says god knows that when you eat from your eyes will be opened and you will be like god God The third lie is that you can be like god Now our culture doesn't just place itself on equal footing to god but rather greater than god That's where our culture wants to place itself. We know better We'll rewrite morality. We'll discover our own way of salvation. We'll decide What is right and what is wrong we hold all the cards and there is no Accountability above us to give us guidelines and railways and laws. We can just do whatever we want. We're like god That's what's happening today that started in the garden That you will be like god. That's the third lie the fourth lie. You are the one who decides what is good or evil Right. He says for god knows when you eat from it. Your eyes will be opened And you will be like god knowing good and evil That you're the one that gets to know you're the one that gets to decide What's good and what's evil? This is called moral relativism, right? Changing the script about what is right and what is wrong because we've removed a standard For what for what is right and what is wrong? And so really it's only what you feel in your heart Whatever you feel what what's your truth Right. That's how that's how our culture talks. Well, what's your truth? Well, it might be wrong for you, but it's not wrong for them Right, that's the moral relativism. It's there's no standard. It's just whatever The standard has been removed. And so what was happening is we are descending into anarchy Now I want you to see that there's this direct correlation between what is right and what is wrong There's this direct correlation between what we see today in our culture and how satan tempted eve at the beginning of time Now it may be hard to hear Because it it forces you to think about some of the things that you've believed It's a very loud voice in our culture right now, and you may believe some things and some lies But you have to ask yourself This is why it's just why you got to know this word You have did it come from the bible the things that I believe did it come from the bible or did it come from our culture Because if it came from our culture, it's deception and it's a lie Because it contradicts the bible That's just the end of the story you listen In this room right here today. We have to just come down to one basic thing. Do we believe this book? Do we believe that this is true? This is god's word to humanity if you believe if you say yes to that the bible is true. I believe it I bet my life on it Then you have no right To believe anything other than what this book says Did it come from the bible or did it come from culture I want you to know that here at authentic life church We will only preach the truth of the bible We will not rely on the wisdom of man to give life I'm not a motivational speaker I don't think i'd be a very good one But I am a teacher of the word of god, that's what I have been called to do So I will continually challenge you in your belief system Because it's either the world Or it's the word You cannot have both Listen to me. You cannot have both. It's either the world or it's the word All right, here's the good news God had an immediate reaction to sin entering the world He put a plan in place Now listen when something terrible happens or i'm in crisis mode like I have to get a plan I need a plan even if it's a bad one I just have to have a plan. Give me a list of steps to follow Something that'll show me that there's light at the end of the tunnel I can adjust as I go, but I need a plan right away I need something to lead me from this terrible place that leads me towards a resolution to my problem Now with god he immediately put the perfect plan into action Immediately, he didn't have to adjust it as he went He set an entire plan in motion that took thousands of years and that is the story of the bible Believe me when I tell you that when we get to genesis chapter 3 and the fall of man takes place The rest of the bible is about god's plan to get us back to a relationship with him That's the story That's the story that we're reading And here's the beginning of the plan. He's it's in genesis 3 verse 1st verses 15 He's talking to satan He's talking to the serpent and first he curses him and then he says this and I will put enmity between you and the woman And between your offspring and hers He will crush your head and you will strike his heel. Now. This is not saying that women will be afraid of snakes Although many are and so are many men And so is indiana jones, so don't feel bad But in this scripture He says He will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers He will crush your head. You will strike his heel the offspring of the woman. Who's the offspring of the woman? It's jesus Who who will crush his head jesus And then it says then you will strike his heel. He's telling satan. Oh, you'll be able to nip a little bit You'll be able to get him on the bottom of the foot That's about it, but you won't win You see jesus and i'm not and i'm not just saying this like this is not the john interpretation Go to every biblical scholar every theologian every tradition passed down from the beginning of of judaism that that right there is a Is a a prophecy of the messiah that is to come and we know that the messiah is jesus christ The plan was put in place from the beginning jesus shows up at the beginning of time as the promise of salvation for all of mankind Now the world is still plagued with sin And it's getting worse But the plan that god put in motion in genesis chapter 3 verse 15 is still the answer for sin Just as it was 2 000 years ago when jesus resurrected from the dead God Sent his son jesus at the right time because jesus shows up in genesis 3 15 as a promise But then at the at the right time in history god sends his son jesus into the world He prepared and that's a lot of what we're going to talk about is him preparing the world for the coming of jesus Jesus But jesus comes and he lives a sinless life And he teaches the kingdom of god a kingdom that people didn't understand but he was giving them something that was supernatural the kingdom of god And then he died was crucified For our sins and he rose from the dead and he conquered sin and he conquered death once and for all that Is the good news? That the curse of sin that happened in the garden of eden the curse of sin, which is death It happened all those thousands of years ago. That curse is now broken If we simply place our faith in jesus christ for the forgiveness of our sins And make him the lord of our lives you see sin became the great big wedge That came in between god and his creation Jesus becomes the great big wedge remover When we place our faith In him we now come back into right relationship with god Just as adam and eve were at the beginning before sin ever took place That's what that's what Jesus has done. That's what this promise has given us An opportunity to have a right relationship with god And so it says this in romans chapter 10 verse 9 and 10. This is Simply how we accept this is that if You declare with your mouth. Jesus is lord and believe in your heart that god raised him from the dead. You will be saved For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith in our city Thank you for listening to elevate. We hope this message encouraged inspired and challenged you authentic life church is located at 3750 michael boulevard in mobile alabama visit our website authentic life.tv For more information about authentic life church to find out what we have going on or to make a donation You can also find us on facebook We'd love for you to join us on sundays at 10 a.m. For our weekend service We have excellent children's nursery and youth programs. So bring the family for pastor. John de cuatro. I'm scott chestnut Thanks again for listening and god bless you