October 2, 2007

Bible Study:

Genesis Chapter 3

A Portrait of the Righteous Judge

To receive the greatest possible blessing from this Bible study, please take a moment to read the passage.

 

            Prayer:

  Heavenly Father, knowing You are the Righteous Judge, I stand before You trembling at the thought of my sin. Yet, I have hope because of the Lamb that was slain to cover my nakedness. With deep gratitude, I fall prostrate before You and shout Your praises. In Jesus name, amen.

 

          Introduction:

          Certain foods—namely sweets—have created havoc in my life for as long as I can remember. In my book, the forbidden fruit was most likely some sort of chocolate truffle with a creamy peanut-butter center. Not only has my appetite for sweets given me a weight-management problem, which I struggle with constantly, it gives me terrible migraines. Now, you might think that’d be enough to stop me from diving into the sugar bin, but noooo. I use sweets as a comfort food. And that’s where the sin enters into the equation. God says He is our Comforter and anything that takes His place becomes sin. Ouch! I’ve allowed a candy bar to replace my God. Yeah, I have no trouble relating to Eve.

            Temptations enter our lives with the sweet aroma of satisfaction, but the consequences—and there are always consequences—turn our pleasure sour. The interesting part about temptations is we don’t seem to learn our lesson the first time.

         

           The Lesson:

            Verses 1-5: It doesn’t take a master theologian to figure out that the first picture we see on this page is one of Satan and his dealings with humanity. The Old Serpent twists the God’s word just enough to make his lies believable. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, we don’t stand a chance against his cunningness.

            More than the desire to win a blue ribbon at the state fair motivated Eve to comply with the temptation. Eve foreshadows the church and demonstrates our eagerness to be our own gods. Let’s proceed with caution and realize the downfall of changing even the most remote letter of Scripture to suit ourselves.

            Verses 6 & 7: Here is a marvelous picture of Christ. Using earthly vessels to teach us heavenly principles, God aids our understanding of His love through Adam’s love for Eve. Fully knowledgeable of the fruit and completely aware of the consequences of eating it, Adam complied with Eve’s temptation. He loved her so much that he faced death with her rather than life without her. Before eating the fruit, he was good and holy as God is holy. But Adam willingly took Eve’s sin upon himself and sin became part of him. In doing so, he sinned because he disobeyed God’s word and in Adam’s heart, he replaced God with Eve.

            In like manner, Jesus, who was sinless, faced death on the cross rather than eternal life without His bride (the body of true believers). He took our sin upon Himself and for the hours He hung on that cruel cross, sin became part of Him and He died an excruciating death. YET, HE NEVER SINNED because He totally submitted to the will of the Father and bore our sin so that we could be reconciled with God. God made him (Jesus Christ) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV).

            Verses 8-19: The next picture is one that many people attempt to eliminate from the “Album,” but is one, which we must study and comprehend if we truly desire to know God. In this passage, we view God for the first time as the Righteous Judge.

                        The Righteous Judge motions for the defendant to approach the bench,  “Adam, what have you done?”

                        “I hid myself because I was naked.” Adam replies nervously.

                        “How did you find out you were naked? Did you break the law I gave you?” The Judge looks down at the accused with penetrating concern. “How do you plea? Guilty or innocent?”

                        “Well, sir, guilty, but it wasn’t my fault.”

            In this brief passage, we find the Law, the admission of guilt, the verdict, and the sentencing of the criminal by the Righteous Judge. This does not depict an angry God, but as any good judge, He had to satisfy the demands of the law.

            Verses 21-24: Immediately, the chapter again reveals the merciful Father as God slays the lamb to make a covering for His fallen children. In verse 7, Adam and Eve sew fig leaves together in an attempt to hide their sin. This practice now has a name—self-righteousness. However, self-righteousness hides nothing from our Creator. Only He can provide the covering we need and He has provided the Lamb for us. By the shedding of His blood, Jesus provided His Righteousness to clothe us. The lamb in Genesis is the foreshadow of the Lamb in Revelation

            The fullness of God’s mercy shows through to the end of chapter three. God casts Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and places angelic guards with flaming swords at the gate. In doing so, the Lord God prevented humans from eating from the tree of life. God had excluded Adam and Eve from His presence thus they suffered spiritual death. Had they eaten from the tree of life, they would have spent eternity in sin with no hope of salvation. However, God loved them so much He made a way for them and us to return to Him. That is immeasurable mercy, grace, and love.

 

        Conclusion and Challenge:

        I suffered many migraines, before the grand clincher made me stop. My head felt like it had split into a thousand pieces and I would have been happy if someone would’ve put me out of my misery. Sounds harsh, but it’s true. At that moment, I was so sick and in so much pain—over a box of chocolate. How pathetic!

      The good news is God delivered me after I confessed my sin and asked for forgiveness. Eventually, this disobedient child learned how much my system could handle. While the Lord helped me keep it under control, I knew I hadn’t completely surrendered to His perfect will. At a time when I couldn’t claim any credit for making an effort, He gave me the freedom as a demonstration of His divine love and grace. Now I have no desire to indulge and all the praise and glory belongs to the Father.  

      The Lord desires to set us free from all our sin including addictions, but we have to desire our freedom with no drawbacks, strings, or safety nets. Only trusting in His redemptive love and understanding our need for repentance will suffice.