Grace for the Race

There was a time when finding a priceless pearl was as difficult as it was dangerous.  Before the now-popular cultured pearl farms, where pearls are produced by implanting particles in oysters and then harvested in the billions every year, divers descended to depths of over 100 feet on a single breath, searching for the jackpot, the priceless pearl that would make them rich for life.  These divers were exposed to the dangers of the sea and hostile creatures in it.  And if that wasn’t bad enough, it was not uncommon for divers to black out and drown as a result of shallow water blackout when resurfacing from such depths. 

In the Parable of the Pearl of Great Value, Jesus was telling His audience about the great value of the Kingdom of Heaven, using a pearl as His object lesson. 

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

(Matthew 13:45-46)

Jesus was not suggesting that salvation can be purchased.  That would be completely inconsistent with the clear teaching of Scripture, which teaches that salvation is a gift of God (Romans 6:23).  We must remember that parables were designed to both reveal and conceal.  Some listeners would hear the story and think it was about nothing more than money.  The pearl merchant in the parable was on an unwavering quest to discover that which was most important to him, as it related to what he knew best—pearls—and without hesitation he gave up everything for it. 

So . . . what “pearl” have you been searching for lately?  Have you been in pursuit of a pearl of power, position, prestige, prosperity, pleasure, or a pain-free providence?  Perhaps the pearl of the applause of man reclines imperiously on the throne of your life.  Remember, whatever rules your heart shapes your life!

To be sure, there is only one “pearl” that is priceless and worthy of our pursuit, and His name is Jesus Christ.  What have you given up for Him?  Is there anything you are clutching with white knuckles, refusing to release it for your Savior?  Here is what the apostle Paul said regarding his one pearl of great value: “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7).

Jesus made it clear in the Parable of the Pearl that the greatest treasure in the world is the Kingdom of Heaven.  When God is the object of our deepest desire, everything else in this life fades into the background.  As my friend and beloved Pastor Tullian likes to say, “Jesus plus nothing equals everything!”  You see, when you want Jesus more than anything else in this life, your perspective changes.  Your journey to the Celestial City becomes a joy, despite the rocky valleys you must navigate along the way.

Paul acknowledged that he had lost “all things” in his pursuit of Christ, but that he counted them “rubbish” compared to “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).  When your greatest desire is, as was Paul’s, to “gain Christ and be found in him,” struggles become servants of our Savior.

Christian, prayerfully consider every “pearl” you have been diving for . . . driving for . . . dying for . . . and ask if that pursuit is really God’s best for you.  May the confession of your life be that your pearl of great value is found in Christ and Christ alone, regardless of the cost or circumstance. 

This is the gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, philosopher, historian, and teacher during the Victorian era.  He often spoke before large audiences.  One day, as he was preparing to leave his home to address a group, his mother asked him, “Where might you be going, Thomas?”

Thomas replied, “I’m going to tell the people what’s wrong with the world.”

“Aye, Thomas,” his mother responded, “But are you going to tell them what to do about it?”   

Because we live in a fallen, broken, sin-filled world, we are surrounded by fallen, broken, sin-filled people.  This, of course, makes it quite easy to find faults, from the frivolous to the fantastic.  I am convinced that some have the “gift” of fault-finding, forever filling their world and the people around them with nit-picking negativity that dims the light, deflates the sails, and drains the joy.

But this is not for you! 

Please don’t misunderstand me: constructive criticism and Christ-centered confrontation are often helpful and even quite necessary.  But godly correction must always be delivered in an environment that is designed to bless, not burden—to build up, not to tear down.  Remember, God-centered rebuke is the flip side of God-centered encouragement, and it is one of God’s great graces in the lives of His people. 

However, you and I have met “sour” saints who specialize in crafting the critical spirit.  They cannot get off the church parking lot after worship service without pointing out what was wrong with it . . .

·         The sermon was too long

·         The sanctuary was too cold

·         The lights were too bright

·         The music was too contemporary

·         The music was too traditional

·         The lady on my left must have used a whole bottle of perfume

·         The man to my right should have used a whole bottle of cologne

·         The person in front of me is always the one lifting his hands when we’re singing

·         The person behind me is always startling me with one of those unexpected “amen’s”

You have never met a person who was not flawed—including you!  So instead of looking for all that is wrong, broken, and not working, why not resolve to be counted among the faithful few who are good-finders rather than fault-finders?  Let us not be like the Pharisee who thanked God he was not like other men, making himself feel better by putting another down.  Rather, let us be like the tax collector who saw himself for what he truly is: the chief sinner. 

Here is a novel concept: find someone close to you doing something good, right, or beneficial and tell them so.  After they get over the initial shock, they will log it in their mental bank and at some future time when they need a little boost, they will draw on it. 

I want to take you to a portion of Scripture that was teaching a much deeper message from our Master, but it makes the point of good-finding.

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

The Pharisee pointed to her past; Jesus pointed to her present.  The Pharisee focused on her problems; Jesus focused on her possibilities.  The Pharisee put her down; Jesus pulled her up.  This is the confession of the life of the Pharisee . . . and this is the confession of the life of Jesus. 

What is the confession of your life?  By God’s grace, may it be one that clearly identifies you as a good-finder. 

This is the gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Burn-out can be defined as an overwhelming feeling of physical, emotional, mental, and even spiritual exhaustion.  The causes are as limitless as the signs are ominous:

• Sickness
• Chronic fatigue
• Susceptibility to flu-like symptoms
• Angry outbursts
• Withdrawal

Is there an area in your life where are you dealing with a bit of burn-out?  Martha is one of the best examples of burn-out in all of sacred Scripture.  Luke 10:40 records that “Martha was distracted with much serving.”  Martha was doing a good thing.  In fact, she was doing the best thing: she was serving our Lord Jesus Christ.  But when her service for Jesus became more important than Jesus Himself, she had moved into the realm of burn-out.  Her service actually separated her from Jesus, rather than drawing them closer together.  What she did had become more important than who she was—a child of the Most High God.  Martha had placed her sense of identity in her service, not in her Savior.

Enter Mary. While Martha was frantically preparing a meal for her Lord, Mary was sitting contentedly on the floor at the feet of Jesus.  The difference between Mary and Martha is found in the simple fact that Mary knew her relationship with Jesus was more important than her service for Jesus.  Do you know this truth?  What does the confession of your life say?

Frazzled and frustrated, Martha cried out to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Tell her then to help me.”  Jesus responded to Martha’s complaint, but His response was not directed at Mary; He spoke instead to Martha’s condition.  “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.  Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”  And herein lies the cure for burn-out, regardless of its cause:  sitting at the feet of Jesus!

I can tell you from personal experience as a minister that it is easy to get so wrapped up in serving that you forget your Savior.  Like the “energizer bunny,” you just keep going . . . and going . . . and going . . . and going . . . until one day you discover you’ve burned out!

Someone once said it is better to burn out than rust out.  I suppose if I had to choose between the two, I would choose to burn out.  I am not a “sideline” kind of guy.  But as Christians, we don’t have to choose between burning out and rusting out.  We simply need to remember what Mary remembered: our Savior is always more important than our service.  Wherever you might be facing a bit of burn-out right now, pause a moment and choose the “good portion,” as Mary did.  You will be far better able to face any of life’s challenges after sitting at His feet.

This is the gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

What I am about to share with you really isn’t a secret.  Now, I know it may seem like a secret in the evangelical church today, because so many preachers have reduced the message of the Master to mere moralism.  In reality, however, it is only a secret because it has been shrouded in secrecy by Satan himself.  The adversary knows if this “secret” gets out, the church will begin to have the impact God has been calling us to have in a fallen and broken world until the day He returns to make all things new.

So what is this secret I am suggesting?  CAMP OUT UNDER THE CROSS!

In the seventh chapter of Luke’s gospel, we read about Jesus sitting down to dinner in the home of a Pharisee named Simon.  The meal was interrupted by a sinful woman who entered Simon’s house—uninvited—and approached our Lord.  We do not know what her sin was, but it was scandalous, and her actions indicate that she was likely a prostitute.  What happened next was as shocking as it was supernatural. 

I say her actions were “shocking” because religious leaders would not allow any contact with sinful people, yet Jesus let this known sinner anoint His feet with her tears and then wipe them dry with her hair.  And if that wasn’t shocking enough, she proceeded to kiss His feet and anoint them with expensive oil. 

Her actions were “supernatural” because the humility, contrition, penitence, and godly sorrow she demonstrated could only come as a work of the grace of God. 

Simon the Pharisee was scandalized, and Jesus, knowing his thoughts, told him a parable about two debtors.  The story concluded with these words: “He who has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47).

Why was the love this sinful woman lavished on our Lord so “over the top”?  She understood the difference between a holy God and a sinful woman—the vast difference between Jesus and herself.  She recognized that she was indeed a great sinner, but she also knew that Jesus was a greater Savior.  And this, dear reader, is the reason why we must “camp out under the cross” each day.  When Jesus said those who have been forgiven little love little, He was also saying that those who have been forgiven much love much. 

When we don’t camp out under the cross, we shrink the size of the cross and therefore the magnitude of the cross work of Christ.  We forget just how sinful we actually are and what our sins cost our Lord. Our lives reflect our forgetfulness.  Our love for Jesus grows cold and our zeal for obedience becomes rooted in duty rather than devotion.  We become the Pharisee in the story who cannot see his own sin, rather than embodying the unashamed love of the sinful woman who could not see any good in herself apart from Jesus. 

Only those who camp out under the cross live lives that are pleasing to God.  Only those who camp out under the cross no longer feel the need to pretend they are better than they actually are.  Only those who camp out under the cross can hop off the performance treadmill, because they know they are fully accepted by God on account of what Jesus has done for them.

Do you know this today?  Does the confession of your life demonstrate your understanding of the gospel by the way you camp out under the cross each day? 

When we pitch our tent in the cool shade of the Gospel, we remind ourselves that we are still sinners after we are saved.  In far too many churches in America, the truth that we are still sinners has been watered down with moralistic messages designed to change behavior rather than transform the heart.  If it wasn’t for sin, behavior modification would be a fine approach!  A little extra effort in one area and a little positive affirmation in another and we would be on our way to living lives of happiness and success.  But because our hearts are still deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9), lawless (1 John 3:4), ungodly (Romans 4:5), and ultimately dead (Ephesians 2:1), behavior modification is like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg.  It looks like you tried to do something, but it’s painfully obvious that your actions are absurdly inadequate. 

You see, Satan knows he cannot take the cross away from those who have been rescued by it, so he works feverishly to try to shrink it.  When he convinces believers that the cross work of Christ is only for salvation, we disregard it for our sanctification, and we no longer camp out under the cross day by day.

If we see the cross only in the light of eternal life, we will miss its benefit for everyday life.  However, when we camp out under the cross we see the incredible forgiveness we have been given by the slain Savior, having been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb.  Great sinners need an even Greater Savior—and His name is Jesus Christ. 

This is the gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

“Oh my, I forgot!!” When was the last time you returned home from the grocery store, only to slap your forehead in disgust when you realized you’d forgotten the most important item on your list? Be honest! I know I’m not the only one who does it . . .

Question: Have you ever thought about forgetfulness as a grace of God?

Answer: It is when we are talking about God forgetting our sin!

For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.(Jeremiah 31:34)

Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.  And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.  (Hebrews 10:17-18)

When you and I forget, is it usually a bad thing.  We forget the appointment.  We forget to return a phone call.  We forget to pick up the dry cleaning.  We forget where we left our cell phone!  Yet God’s forgetfulness is a good thing, and a source of great encouragement and motivation for sinful, self-absorbed vessels like you and me. 

Thank God He is not like us!  Not only do we clearly remember every time someone wrongs us, grieves us, or hurts us; we are quick to remind the culprit, even when we claim to have forgiven him!  But God, identified as “the Judge of all the earth” in Genesis 18:25, forgives and forgets. 

What grace we receive in remembering God’s forgetfulness!  And why does God forgive and forget our sin . . . all of our sin?  Because of Jesus.

God poured out His holy wrath on His beloved Son as He hung on the cross.  He treated Jesus like you and I should have been treated.  He punished Jesus like we should have been punished.  He forsook Jesus like we should have been forsaken.  And because Jesus paid the full price for our sins, God now treats us as adopted children rather than abandoned orphans.  In Christ we are viewed by God as sinless and righteous.  We are blessed according to the perfect obedience of Jesus, rather than our own hideously imperfect obedience.  Because of Jesus, God has promised to remember our sin no more.

Is there anyone reading these words right now who does not need to be reminded about God’s forgetfulness as it relates to our sinfulness?  We all remember when a sense of guilt and shame watered down our witness—or worse, wrecked it afresh.  And that is exactly what the devil is counting on.  He cannot take us out of our Redeemer’s work, so he wants to take us out of our Redeemer’s will.  The more guilty we feel, the less good we do.  The more shame we feel, the less service we provide.  We forget God’s forgetfulness!

That is why we need to keep our thoughts fixed on the grace of the gospel and what Jesus secured for us through our redemption. 

This is the gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Have you ever given thought to your reason for loving God?

How often is our love for God rooted in a gracious and painless providence?  How often do we take for granted all the good that God has given us—gifts such as family . . . good health . . . satisfying career  . . . financial security . . . friends . . . a great church . . . our salvation—as if we are somehow entitled to them?

 Sometimes I wonder: Is my love for God derived from all the good gifts He gives me? Or am I truly delighting in the Giver of every good and perfect gift?  In all of sacred Scripture, there may be no better person than Job to provide insight into loving God for who He is and not for His good gifts to us.

Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” (Job 1:9-11)

 Despite the fact that this insolent challenge came from the father of lies, it is still a question we should continually ask ourselves as we search our sinful hearts for the real reason for our love for God.  It is all too easy to proclaim our love for God when the sky is blue and the clouds are fleecy.  What joy it is to sing out our worship for God when the sun is shining brightly in our skies!  Painless providences can certainly produce love.  But what about those days when all seems lost?  What about those weeks when it seems that darkness will cover our land forever?  What about those seasons when we feel that God is as distant from us as the east is from the west? 

 Think about the last time you suffered loss.  Perhaps a close friend betrayed you and caused you great pain.  Maybe it was a family member who let you down by not living up to your expectations.  Maybe you were called into an office and told that a career you had loved and poured yourself into was ending with a pink slip? How was your love for the Most High God then?  How fervent was your worship?  Your answers to these questions reveal a great deal regarding your true motivation for loving and worshipping God. 

 Job loved God simply because He is God and wholly worthy of his love.  Job knew that his God was God, and he could trust God even when he could not trace Him.  In reading the story of Job you see that he struggled mightily with the painful providence God had delivered.  He wrestled with God and cried out from the depths of his heart.  But through it all, Job trusted in the goodness of God, in spite of his circumstances. 

 So let me ask you: what is your reason for loving God?  How will you think about God the next time you suffer loss . . . disappointment . . . a painful providence?  To be sure, our hearts should overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all God’s good gifts.  But we are to love and worship God, the Giver of all our good gifts AND our painful providences, as the ultimate treasure of our heart in all things and at all times. 

 Let these words from the book of Job be an encouragement to you as you continue your pilgrimage on the way to the Celestial City.

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”  In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.  (Job 1:20-22)

Even in the middle of unimaginable pain, Job loved God simply because He is God.  This will be the confession of our lives only to the extent that we understand the Gospel and what Jesus did for us on the cross.  The larger the cross looms in our lives, the larger our love for God will loom in our hearts.

 This is the gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

“The Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:9)

Today is our final installment on God’s incredible question to two rebellious, fear-stricken, on-the-run sinners.  We’ve examined the HONOR of the question and the HOPE in God’s question.  Today we will see the HEART behind the question.

The HEART behind the Question

It is important for us to understand what was going on before the question.  “[Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8).  If this had been the first time the Lord God walked in the garden in the cool of the day, the sound they heard would have been unfamiliar, but it was not.  This was a part of daily living for Adam and Eve—personal, intimate, heart-to-heart, face-to-face communion with their God.  The heart behind the question was a heart that beat for Adam and Eve.  But that’s not all.

It is also instructive to note how God came to the very first sinners.  He came to Adam and Eve in exactly the same manner He had come to them prior to their sin: “walking in the garden in the cool of the day.”  Notice that God was walking and not running, so as not to startle them as they crouched trembling in the brush, seared in their sin.  He came in “the cool of the day,” as was His custom.  Had the sovereign Lord suddenly appeared out of the darkness, surely the two sinners would have been even more terrified.  The “cool of the day” suggests the end of the day; more than enough time had elapsed than was needed for Adam and Eve to fashion their flimsy garments of fig leaves.  This delay suggests God’s long-suffering heart for sinners. 

God came to Adam and Eve after their awful betrayal in the same way He came to them before it.  This is a source of great comfort to us all!  Scripture assures us that God does not change (Malachi 3:6).  He comes to sinners the same way after the Fall as before it.  He comes to us with a heart overflowing with love, patience, mercy, and grace.  God knows that our rebellion has caused our once-perfected image of God to be marred and dreadfully stained by sin.  We are all poor . . . blind . . . and naked.  Yet in our sin-stained condition, God still comes to us!

“Come to me,” The Lord God calls tenderly to man, “all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  He pursues rebels who are on the run from Him . . . who are hiding from Him . . . who are hostile to Him . . . and He gives them rest from the fearful torment of their sinful condition. That is His heart.

This is the gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

“The Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:9)

We are in the middle of a three-part message on God’s incredible question to two rebellious, fear-stricken, on-the-run sinners.  On Monday we examined the HONOR of the question.  Today we will rejoice in the HOPE in the question, and on Friday we will gaze upon the Heart behind the question.

The HOPE in the Question

Adam and Eve’s actions immediately after their cosmic rebellion against their God make it clear that they believed all hope was lost.  Their consciences were burning, and they tried to cover their naked sin with fig leaves.  They heard the familiar (and formerly delightful) sound of the Lord God walking in the garden; instead of running to Him, they ran away from Him and hid.  They slunk miserably away from the One who had given them everything, including an intimate, loving relationship with the God of all creation.  But then, when all hope seemed irretrievably lost, God called to them: “Where are you?”

The question confirms that Adam was, indeed, lost because of his decision to deny God—and in the process, to deny himself.  Yet, even in his state of alienation from God, this question of hope confirms that our loving Lord intended to deliver mercy in the middle of their misery.

 Think for a moment of all of the different responses God could have delivered to Adam and Eve after their rebellion.  Do any of the following questions sound like something you might say when someone does you wrong?

“How could you do such a thing!”

“What in the world have you done!”

“I can’t believe you did this to me!”

Instead of responding to the first sinners with harsh questions like these, the voice of Grace called to them . . . “Where are you?”  You see, regardless of what circumstances of life you are currently in, even if a situation seems utterly hopeless, you still have hope.  God came after Adam and Eve, and He comes after us every time we turn from Him and choose to do what is right in our own eyes. 

One final point regarding the hope in this question: despite all the doctrines the proud Pharisaical heart devises for free will and man “choosing” God, man never has and will never seek after his God.  Scripture is quite clear on this matter: “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8 NIV).  Man does not go looking for a relationship with God; it is God who does the pursuing—God and God alone.  There is great hope and comfort in knowing that!  If I thought for a moment I had anything to do with my salvation, despair would define my life, not devotion to my Savior.  Think about it for a moment; if you salvation depended on you to even the slightest degree, what is the likelihood of you spending eternity in the presence of a perfectly holy and just God?

God seeks the sinner; the sinner never seeks God.  This is the greatest hope that the world has ever known!  God loves us enough to call us out of our sin and rebellion: “Where are you?”

As Paul explained, “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:3-5 NIV).

This is the gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

 

“The Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:9)

 Have you given thought to God’s gracious response to the very first sinners?  Adam and Eve had denied their divine design and chosen to serve their own little kingdom, rather than the “Big Kingdom” of God.  And what did God do?  He pursued them and rescued them from themselves!  This week we will look at three different aspects of God’s incredible question: the HONOR of the question, the HOPE in the question, and the Heart behind the question.

The HONOR of the Question

Did God need to ask any questions of the first sinners?  Absolutely not!  He simply could have delivered a thunderbolt from the heavens, turning Adam and Eve into ashes . . . but He did not.  God honored these rebellious sinners with a question of great grace. 

While Adam and Eve futilely tried to cover their nakedness and shame with fig leaves, God spoke to them tenderly, with great love.  Think about it this way: have you ever had someone wrong you—slander you, gossip against you, betray you in some way—and you responded with, “I won’t have anything to do with that person ever again!”?  We’re all prone to that . . . but that’s not how God operates! 

God gave Adam and Eve everything they needed for a life of bliss.  Their days would be taken up with finding meaning and significance in the purpose, presence, and person of God.  All of life would be an act of worship of the Most High God.  Their love for God would control their hearts, direct their behavior, and shape their lives.

But Adam and Eve thought they were missing out on something, and they turned their worship and love inward onto themselves, seeking a life of autonomy and self-sufficiency.  In a word, they sought a subhuman existence, and didn’t realize what they had done until it was tragically too late.  And yet, in spite of their awful act of cosmic treason, God honored them with a most gracious response: “Where are you?”

God asks that same question of us today.  Remember, God was not seeking to determine Adam’s whereabouts!  Omniscience knows everything and omnipresence is everywhere.  David’s psalm expresses this beautifully:

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

 If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me (Psalm 139:7-10).

No, God wasn’t trying to find out where Adam was; it was Adam and Eve who didn’t know where they were!  They had completely lost their way, cowering in fear in a place where they once known only the loving presence of their God, walking and communing with Him in the cool of the day.

God is asking you today, “Where are you?”  He knows precisely where you are; do you?  Are you communing with Him, seeking to enjoy His presence?  Or has something else captured your desire?

 This is the gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

On Wednesday we looked at the first part of Satan’s temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden: “The Laugh.”  Today we will look at part two, “The Lie.”  Remember, as soon as Satan showed up in the Garden of Eden, he launched his fiery dart at our first parents.

THE LIE

The lie is found in Genesis 3:4—“The serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’”  We know this is a bold-faced lie, because it is a direct contradiction of the Word of God in Genesis 2:16-17.

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.”

Here we have the Word of God versus the distortion of the father of lies.  It is instructive to note that Satan does not attempt to deny the existence of God, nor does he try to deny the law of God.  He does not attempt to deny the will of God.  The devil delivers a declaration of defiance—not against the existence, the law, or even the will of God, but rather he denies the goodness of God.  When the laugh and the lie of Satan are rightly understood, we see it for what it truly was: an attack on the goodness of God.

Satan was essentially saying that God wanted to deny Adam and Eve the fullness of life by delivering His one prohibition.  Satan got Adam and Eve to focus on the one thing that was forbidden, rather than everything else that was graciously given and permitted.  Satan intimated to our first parents that there was a happier life than what they had with God.  He sold Eve on a more satisfying existence, one she had not yet experienced, an experience apart from God.

What a sales pitch the devil delivered!  He convinced Adam and Eve that God’s borders were narrow and restricting, and that God’s ultimate goal was to deny them the best that the Garden had to offer by demanding obedience to the proscription of that one forbidden tree.  Satan’s “you can be like God” offer was too much for them to resist.  They believed the lie, exchanged kingdoms, shrunk the size of their lives down to the size of their lives, and sent all of creation on a downward spiral.  What they got was exactly what God promised: death.  Satan was the one who was robbing Adam and Eve of the best life, and every man, woman, and child to follow was plunged into bondage to sin because of their deliberate disobedience.

The lie that promised more actually delivered less . . . so much less!  You see, God never designed us to live apart from Him.  We were made to be dependent upon our Creator, and we were never to find our identity, purpose, significance, or meaning apart from Him.  Yet God refused to leave us in our rebellion.  He pursued us in the middle of our sin, purchased us with the blood of the Savior, and set us apart by the power of the Holy Spirit.  This is no lie!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!