Abraham and Isaac

Genesis 22:1 to 19

If someone came to you with a knife and told you to kill your son and burn him, what would we think? What if it was a friend, a close family member? Would we see the Pastor, the Police? We would find it distressing. What if it was a loving God? Here is the God of Abraham telling him to take his only son whom he loves, to Moriah and sacrifice him.
We love our children. The world often does not love family. There is readily available abortion, family breakdown. Christians love family, perhaps too much - no family planning, home educate, children stay subject to their parents till they are married, perhaps to 40 or never marry. This shows a lack of faith in what God can do.
How much do we love the Lord in comparison to our family? Abraham was elderly - a veteran. This was the worst trial of his life. He had left his family and journeyed to a foreign land. He had been threatened due to Sarah, twice. He had known famine, been childless for many decades. He had been overjoyed at Isaac's birth then been told to sacrifice him. Abraham would have been astounded. He loved his son dearly. He would have given all he had to save Isaac. We give greatly for our children, they are precious to us. To the Jews sons were especially precious, the line went through them. He was the only son he and Sarah had. There would be no more. He was an only child. David wept over the son of his adultery and a wicked son - Absolom. But to lose his only son......... Isaac meant 'laughter'. Sarah and Abraham were overjoyed to have Isaac and how that he should die!
God knew Abraham was a loving, spiritual father, he loved his son. He was to take the son, build an altar to put wood on, take that son and bind him and kill him with a knife. It was horrific! This was the son of promise - Genesis 17:19 - he was the one through whom the covenant was established. God was breaking his promise, wasn't he? This causes the foundation of our faith to crumble away. In Isaac all the nations would be blessed - the Messiah would come from him so this affected the world - didn't it?
God was going against his law - Genesis 9:5 to 6. God expected an accounting of blood for the life of a man. Isn't this tyranny? Infanticide? Would Sarah think she had a monster for a husband? He probably didn't tell her. God was going contrary to his law, covenant and character. What would we think?
Secondly we see the character of Abraham - he obeys immediately, in every detail and without question. Given human nature, we would expect him to say 'why Lord?' or accuse him but he does not. God plunges the sword of his word into Abraham. Early the next morning he cuts enough wood, loads up his donkey and sets off with Isaac and two servants. He sets off without question. He doesn't question in any way what God has told him. He did question the birth of Isaac but not the death of Isaac.
On the third day he saw the place. What went through his mind? Did he get assailed by Satan? He certainly thought. He told his servants to stay with the donkeys, probably because he thought they might stop him. Then Isaac spoke up - verses 7 and 8. He knew about sacrifices. Abraham answered, God would provide. Abraham then gets to the place, he builds the altar then binds Isaac. Isaac is laudable in his behaviour. He was in total submission. He was in his prime but does not struggle. It was his finest hour.
How did Abraham feel? 3 days of though, he binds his own son, had the knife. How did he feel? Abraham obeyed God, we do not know what he thought. We see the control of God: Abraham, Abraham, God called to him. and told him to stop because he had not withheld his son. God was testing Abraham but did not tell him or it would not have been a test. James 1:13, God does not tempt us but tests. Satan tempts us to do evil. This is what God was doing - testing. He tests us in many ways . God saved his greatest test for his last days. He tested his greatest servant in his greatest way. Hebrews 11:17 - 19 tells us that Abraham reasoned that God would raise his son from the dead and figuratively speaking he got him back from the dead, it was faith to take our breath away. Abraham had assurance at the start of the story - verse 5, we will come back.
There is a picture here - God had a son, an only son, Jesus whom he loved infinitely and he gave him up for the salvation of unbelieving people. God took that son and sacrificed him on the cross. God headed for mount Calvary and did everything needed. God's knife fell on the Lord Jesus and God's fire burned on his only son.
Do we weep at this? We ought to. Why should he go to such lengths? Jesus went into the fires of eternal punishment willingly and gave himself - verse 8, God will provide the lamb and do in the Lord Jesus. He was himself the lamb. Jesus was our substitute on the cross, he took the fire, the punishment that we might live. Our sins are dealt with by the sacrifice of Jesus.
Abraham received Isaac back. God received his son back - death could not hold him. Our infinitely eternal death could not hold him. It all took place on Mount Moriah = Mount Calvary, it is the same place. It is a precise shadow of what was to come. Moriah means 'what God makes me see', do we see this?

How Important is Jesus to you?

Hebrews 1:1 - 14, Colossians 1:15 - 20
We get a wide range of answers. Some are indifferent. Some see him as a great historical person but he is not important to them. Some react violently when you suggest he is relevant to them. Here, most of see him as very important. You get a great spectrum of answers.
There are reasons for this - there are 2 key factors:
1. Who do we think he is?
2. What do we think he has done and is doing?
The Colossians were Christians that were in danger of being led astray by saying he hadn't done everything necessary for their salvation, they said they had secret information that led to higher understanding. Paul was very concerned and wrote this letter. He summarised who Jesus is and what he has and is doing - in these verses. It is only a summary, he later draws out things in more detail. What can we learn? This is an incredible passage in depth and scope. It is very important for us to have a clear understanding. Paul knew people needed a clear understanding.
1. Who Jesus is. There are many different views, some doubt he ever existed, he was made up, created in their minds. People are duped. The Bible us at best a good story. People accept historical characters such as Julius Caesar and Henry VIII. There is more historical data regarding Jesus than these two. It is not realistic to doubt Jesus existed. So who is he? In the gospels we get to see what he said about himself. He said he was God. He left no doubt. John 10:25 to 30. He said plainly that God is his father and he was his son - I and the father are one. He claimed to be God. Some people do not accept Jesus is God and try to water down what he said - they try to explain it away. How do we know he meant what he said? Next the Jews tried to stone him because they said he was blaspheming by claiming to be God and he was only a 'mere man'. The Jews understood what he was saying. Jesus was entitled to say this. If Jesus had been misunderstood he would have corrected them and told them they had got it wrong. Jesus let them express their anger because he meant it.
His disciples, after his ascension, continued to preach he was God,. If they had wanted to avoid all of the antagonism, they would not have said Jesus was God, this offended people and some died for saying it. In this letter Paul strongly reasserts that Jesus is God - verse 15, he is the true image of the invisible God, verse 19 - he had all the fullness of the deity in bodily form. This is really important for him to grasp this. Today this really offends people, some people try to twist his words. The Bible is consistent - Hebrews 13 - the radiance of God's glory. Phillipians 2:5 Jesus is in very nature God. It has far reaching implications if Jesus is God. We need to clear about it here. We may think it is not important if we are not Christians. If we are Christians this knowledge keeps us from errors.
a) He is the image of the invisible God. Man was made in the image of God in Genesis, but he is only like God in some ways, we are not gods. We are a likeness of God. In verse 15 he is likened to the invisible God. Jesus is the image we can see and look to. Jesus is the part of God we can see. God is 3 persons and we can see only Jesus. He appeared in the Old Testament such as the Burning Bush. He is fully equal with the other two persons. Verse 19 - he has all the fullness of God in him. It not some or most but 100% of the entire fullness of God. If someone says he is any less than that they need to be corrected. It really does matter.
b) Paul focuses on two things Jesus does and why they are important:
(i) Creation - Jesus was and is pivotal to the whole creation. By him all things were created. He was not created himself, he was the creator of all things visible and invisible, on Earth and in Heaven. He says it twice in verse 16. They were created for him to enjoy. If Jesus was not fully God this would be an outrageous and foolish claim. Paul summarises the scope of the creation, absolutely everything. It is an amazing world. If we look at the complexity and wonder of it we can see a creator's hand. If we come at the world with an open mind we can see a creator. All came from a powerful God. The whole of the spiritual realm - the angels and the heavens were made by him as well. False teachers often dwell on the spiritual realm. Paul puts these into perspective - they were made by him and for him. He is more powerful and pre-eminent over them - verse 17.
In him all things hold together. Some see God as a watch maker, he made it and wound it up and then left. The Bible constantly challenges this - Hebrews 1:3 he sustains it by his powerful will. It does not just drift off into chaos. God works. It is hard to see God at work when we have troubles but there are many things we cannot see - radio waves, mobile phone signals, TV etc. If we have the right equipment we can tune into it. It is equally foolish to deny God's power because we cannot see it.
2. He is the church because it could not exist without him - what he did in salvation. He became a man and died on the cross. If he hadn't done it we would not be saved, we would have been consigned to die in hell. If Jesus has not died for us we will go to hell. Jesus can deal with our sin because he is God. He is perfect because he is eternal, because he is God he can take our sin and give us his righteousness. He created people so he could have a relationship with them. When we have sinned we were separated from God. When he died for our sins we were restored. The resurrection showed God had accepted his sacrifice. Jesus was the instigator in creation and salvation.
What are the implications if we are not Christians? As our creator he is entitled to our love and respect. Because he is God he sees what we do and what we think. Because he is perfect and just, when we face him at the end of our lives we will go to Hell if we have not accepted him - if we reject his offer of salvation. We have the opportunity now to turn to him and receive his offer of salvation.
For Christians the implications are that we have a perfect and complete salvation provided by Jesus. We still owe him love, respect and obedience. We should follow him in all that we do. We still struggle in many things that we face, we face many problems in our lives. We have a great saviour . He had the power to create and sustain us, he has the power to care for us too. Jesus can save us to the utter most. He saved us and can rescue our unsaved loved ones and we should trust in his power to save.

Deep Love

I Corinthians 13 I Peter 1:22 to 25
Peter wrote to of different cultural backgrounds experiencing difficulties. Peter writes to remind them that the new birth demands a new love in the family of God. It is the hallmark of the Christian faith - our love for each other, genuine, practical love. What we do out of love for the least of our fellow believers we do for Jesus. Also when we show love for our family, friends, believers and community.
1. WHY DO WE LOVE?
Love is at the very centre of Christian lifestyle - 1 John 4: 16, John 13:35 It is in the very nature of God to love.
a) We are are to love because change has taken place in our life.
(i) We have "purified our souls". This harks back to Levitical purification, of souls by the blood of a bull. If we have been cleansed we love God in return. Before Christ, all of life was self-centred, we loved ourselves, we thought in terms of ourselves, now we have a new nature. We become self-less when we become believers. 'Oh love that will not let me go' was written by George Matheson after his fiance rejected him when he became blind. However, he knew God's love and found rest and peace.
(ii) We have obeyed the truth by the Spirit. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. 2 John 1:6 John comes back to this again and again. There is no such thing as a saving faith without obedience. Children often delay obedience, they play for time because they do not want to obey. Christians want to obey but often we lack in courage and determination. Belief and obedience come together - 1 Peter 4:17 and Romans 1:5, they want to see the obedience of faith. Christ's gospel says this too. God will deal out judgement to those who do not obey - John 3:36. Peter writes to this who purify their souls by obeying the truth.
b) We are to love because we have been born into a family - verse 23
Everyone who belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ is my brother or my sister because we are all "born from the same womb" - James 1:18. We must give evidence that we love the truth by the life we live. Being born again is linked to brotherly love (philidelphia - one born from the same womb). We love each other because we have the same father, we are of the same spiritual family. Children often squabble at home but they stick up for each other in other places. When we are abroad we stick up for people of the same nationality. As believers we stand up for each other. Peter quotes Isaiah 40 - who wrote to God's people when they were in captivity and told them they would return to their own land one day. He told them Babylon would soon be broken and fade away and a new ruler would allow them to return. God's word would stand forever. They are mortal, they would soon fade like flowers. We belong to a heavenly family, we will soon be with our father. God's word has effected wonderful changes in people's lives by the sheer force of the power of the Holy Spirit. We can often listen to the word of God for many years but does it change and affect us? It changes people from being selfish to loving and caring.
2. HOW WE LOVE
a) We are to love sincerely. The word love is bandied about, we love flowers, football, animals etc. Is it romantic or sentimental? It is a deep sincere love from the heart that Peter talks about.
In I Thessalonians 4: 9 Paul urged people ton to love more and more, it can always do more.
(i) To love sincerely is to love authentically, like God himself, without pretense. Jesus was the personification of love. It is without pretense. Jesus hated hypocrisy, acts of charity for show.
(ii) To To love sincerely often involves sacrifice. Biblical love is a self-sacrificing, caring commitment which shows itself in seeking the highest good of the one loved. Not simply sentiment. It also helps others sacrificially and takes time out to help out in whatever ways it can.
(iii) To love sincerely takes time. True brotherly love goes the distance even with difficult to love people.
(iv) To love sincerely is to risk saying what may be misinterpreted. Love for the lost is not always viewed as true love. Real, genuine love is often not appreciated but we must persevere in loving. We expect a doctor to give an accurate diagnosis so we must give an accurate description to people. The word 'deeply' comes from a word connected to horses who are stretching to go faster. They are durable and go faster.
We are to love with with love that lasts - Mark 12:30. Durable love receives reproofs without animosity and defensiveness. Lasting love doesn't keep a list of grievances and is glad when others prosper when we do not. Since we will be in Heaven together forever, our love for each other ought to be deep and lasting here on earth. We must work at having a sincere love, a clean love and a deep love, especially towards other Christians. There is so much thoughtlessness and carelessness. We must love all, loving the fatherless and the widow. God puts us to the test so that we learn to love as he loves - he puts different people around us at work and in our families so that we learn to care for all regardless of what they are like. We must love those we find difficult to love or get on with.

The Curse

I Corinthians 15:20 to 26 and 35 to 49 Genesis 3:16 to 19.

This passage is painful to read but we need to value and understand it, it is formative and fundamental to the rest of the Bible. We have a great grasp of the World, space, ocean depths and computers etc. We have extracted knowledge from creation. Yet we cannot solve the issues of the human hear, of life. There is crime, broken relationships and general frustration. Leaders have not diagnosed what the problem is. Genesis 3 is that diagnosis.
1. SIN RUINED THE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
2. SIN RUINED THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH SELF. People frequently feel stressed, depressed or anxious. In Romans 7:21 Paul recognises wretched relationships and what he is inside. We end up doing wrong.
3. SIN RUINED THEIR RELATIONSHIP TOGETHER - verse 11.
Adam says "don't blame "Don't blame me, I had to please her and keep her happy didn't I? We accuse one another in order to excuse ourselves. When we do wrong we try to blame each other or if we can't we blame God as Adam did. We make excuses. In the closest human relationships on Earth, strife has entered. It is the cause of the housing shortage today - divorce. Eve blamed the serpent. We, as they did, do not accept responsibility for what we do wrong. We blame family, school, government etc until we stand before God then we have to accept blame for what we have done.
4. SIN RUINED THE MAN'S WORKING LIFE. verses 17 to 19
God lists the man's faults. He listened to his wife. He disobeyed God. Normally listening and learning from his wife is good for a man. Adam followed his wife into sin. Then he disobeyed God.
a) The first part of the curse on man is going to be on work. From now on men will use a lot of heat and energy in hard work. The world is only productive because men work on the land, he competes with weed and thorns. Men have to work with their hands in developing countries to feed their families. It is often mixed with hopelessness and a sense of failure. Today we seem to have so much to eat and such a choice. We still work hard using our minds which become so stressed because of problems at work - difficult people etc. Work became hard at the time of the curse. God gave us dignity in work but it is still work.
Is there a better perspective, yes there is. - Colossians 3:23. We have a new attitude to work when we come into the Kingdom. We are working for the Lord not for men. We do our best and we do it well, for God. We should be loyal and honest. It becomes meaningful for the benefit of God. We work to glorify him. The curses are mitigated in Christ. When you work as a christian you have the joy of doing something so eternally purposeful.
b) The second part of the curse on man is death becomes a reality.
We are made of the same elements as the earth. What a bleak analysis. You're dirt to start with, you're just going to be digging in the dirt then you're going back to dirt. The Universe is like a wind up clock that us slowly dying.
Is there a better hope? Yes, God has a solution. His son has reversed the curse by his life, death and resurrection. By a relationship with him we have eternal life and the curse mitigated.
5. SIN RUINED THE WOMAN'S HOME LIFE - verse 16
It is hard being a woman down through history. This was not God's original design. She's giving birth to little sinners and married to a big one. Children bring joy but problems
a) She will experience trouble in child birth. Women often were completely worn out at a relatively young age. 1 1/2% of women used to die in child birth. Women often spent their whole lives caring for children. In the past this wore out many women at a young age. Queen Anne was pregnant 18 times. Only 5 were born alive and none survived childhood.
Is there a solution in the gospel? 1 Timothy 2:15. There is a Christian heritage that cares for people in this country. Women have a hard road but it can be softened. If a woman will live a life of faith and love and holiness and self-control, she is fulfilling her calling, her children will be grateful to her, her example will help them, many will continue in the same thing - Proverbs 31:28. Christian mothers set an example to their children, they instill the love of God in their lives. Their children call them blessed as does her husband. Problems in society are often caused by bad parenting. The curse is mitigated by Christian parenting.
b) She will know conflict with the man. She will have desires that cannot be fulfilled. Instead of tender love, the husband would now domineer over his rebellious wife. Domination is physical and emotional use of strength. There is strife instead of love. Historically men have not understood their wives and have abused and hurt them. They commit adultery and abandon them.
Is there a solution in the gospel? Ephesians 5. God's direction for marriage. We don't rebel against God if we are a Christian. God protects us, so wives should submit to their husbands and husbands should not dominate their wives but love them tenderly. Yes, marriage can be the best that life has to offer. Sin hit marriage really hard but the gospel of Christ can put it back on the right lines. When we are Christians there are new perspectives on work and relationships, with God and with each other. In Eternity there will be tenderness and love as there was in the Garden before the curse. If we do not know Christ we can turn to him so that your life can be a life of hope, of love in Christ.

Genesis - the Fall

Reading – Psalm 139:1-16; 32.

C. S. Lewis, “I have been reading poems, romances, vision-literature, legends, and myths all my life. I know what they are like. I know that not one of them is like this.” This is not a parable. Here is an account of what happened when God made man, and sin and death came into our world, into my world and your world.
It is appointed unto men once to die, and Genesis three is telling us the means by which death entered the world created by the Holy One
In Genesis we have what is apparently a simple unfolding of the events of the early days of the history of the race and of the consequences that came from them.
The biblical teaching is that the man and woman were made upright by God, who himself is upright. They fell into sin and did so as representatives of the human race, Adam in particular being so designated. As a result of that fall, the judgment of God in the form of death passed on everyone.
[1] WHAT EVE DID – ate the forbidden fruit. 6 ¶ 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, she took some and ate it.
Someone has said that if you are going to smoke a peace pipe with the devil then the pipe needs to have a very long stem, but better not to smoke at all. So she gazed at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as she had never looked at it before. The tree seemed utterly enchanting, and she became obsessed by it.
Satan didn’t bother to remind Eve of the terrible consequences for her, her family, and the human race. He never does.
Satan lets the attractiveness of the product lure Eve to her doom. In the Lord's Prayer the prayer doesn't say, "Lead me out of temptation." By the time we have got into it we are already half lost. The Lord tells us to pray beforehand, don't let me get to the place where I feel this tremendous awakening of desire within.
Eve “saw that the tree was good for food.” It was nutritional, not harmful. This is what John calls “the lust of the flesh”1 John 2:16. The temptation looks as if it will meet a legitimate need.
Eve saw that the fruit “was pleasing to the eye.” He got her on the emotional level. It was lovely, not ugly. This is what John calls “the lust of the eyes.”
Eve saw that the fruit “was desirable for gaining wisdom.” This appealed to her on the intellectual and spiritual level. Wisdom is generally a good thing but wisdom isn’t gained by disobeying God, but by fearing and obeying Him. When its in opposition to God’s Word it feeds what John calls “the boastful pride of life.”
The thought was how can it be wrong when it seems so right? Kidner says: “Eve listened to a creature instead of the Creator, followed her impressions against her instructions, and made self-fulfilment her goal”.
The downward spiral is complete. When you start fondling Forbidden Fruit, you’re already done for. You’ve committed the sin in your heart long before you take that first bite. If you don’t want to get trapped, don’t spend time thinking about how nice it would be, how good it would feel, or how much you deserve it.
When you start saying, “I know God says……but…….,” you are on the verge of making a terrible mistake.
[2] WHAT ADAM DID - he ate the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Eve has now joined the serpent’s side, she is doing the serpent’s dirty work for him, and she is dragging her husband down with her. That’s what happens when we yield to temptation, others are always hurt and in the end, we suffer together.
Where had Adam been during this entire conversation? He was certainly around, but why was he silent, why didn’t He intervene. Adam watched her as she took the fruit put it to her lips and bit into it and swallowed it down. Then he simply took the offered fruit without asking her any questions.
If Adam had been a true spiritual leader, he would have reacted and corrected her. He was a mouse not a man. 1Ti 2:14 tells us: And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.
Eve was tricked by the devil. But Adam was not deceived. He had heard the original command from God and he knew it was wrong to eat the fruit. He wasn’t tricked at all. And as the head of his family and the “federal head” of the whole human race, he is held morally responsible for the first sin.
Eve sinned first but Adam is to blame. He should have known better, he should have exercised leadership to protect his wife.
Adam chose to identify himself with her in her rebellion against God. He wanted to be independent of the Lord too - and in that attitude mankind fell, with all its tragic consequences.
The NT explains this and goes on to describe exactly what they had done. 1 Cor. 15: 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
Eve was deceived; but Adam sinned in utter rebellion. This is why the Bible never places the blame for the fall of the race on the woman.
[3] WHAT THEY DID –sinned against God
From the NT we learn a word that defines what our first parents did. It is called sin. The bible says in Romans says that sin entered through Adam. Ro 5:12 therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. Ro 5:17 by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, 19 through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners.
What is Sin? We need to know. Sin is a falling away from something good. It is the reversal of God’s good intentions for the race.
We see this in nearly all the synonyms for sin found in the Scriptures: the words used in the original languages are transgression, to miss the mark, to go astray, shortcoming and offense. Each of these involves a departure from a higher standard or from a state enjoyed originally.
The prophets when they rebuked Israel for its sin, would say: ‘You have fallen away, you have strayed, you have been unfaithful. You have forsaken God; you have broken the covenant, you have left him for other gods. You have turned your backs upon him!’
Sin is leaving God. In His parables the Lord Jesus speaks of sin as leaving God. The prodigal son leaves home, goes away from the Father and turns his back upon him. The lost sheep strays from the flock and from the Shepherd; it is lost.
Sin is pride. Eve thought she knew what was better for herself and her husband than God did. The man also made himself autonomous. This is pride, it lies at the heart of our sinful race. It makes us all want to be more than we are or can be.
Sin is rebellion. Jesus tells of wicked tenant farmers who grab the master’s rights and wrongly seize the land which they only held on a rental. They are lawless rebels. 1Jo 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. That’s the definition of sin. It's ignoring God's law; it's breaking God's law. It's living as if there was no law of God. It's further defined in Romans 14:23: To know to do right and not do it is sin. I John 5:17 "All unrighteousness is sin."
So when you know what’s right and don't do it, that's sin. When you know something pleases God and you don't do it that is sin. ‘
Sin is going beyond the bounds that God has established. Sin is defined as any breach of God's law. God's law is revealed in the bible of course.
Sin is humanities most basic problem.
The media is full of stories about evil, the prisons overflow, and the laws of the land get added to year after year.
People like to think humanities basically good and something happens to make him bad. They accept there is such a thing as evil, but how do we define that evil? Why are we bad?
What is our standard for what is evil? Today we don't have a standard. Once our view of morality, crime and justice, all came from the Bible.
People now say the Bible is not our standard and so they redefine morality in terms of popular culture. In other words something is sin if the majority think it is so, but the majority are led by the media, and the media can’t be trusted. Something is sin if the government passes a law, but the government is often influenced by vocal minorities and passes knee jerk laws.
That kind of redefining of sin leaves society without morality, righteousness and unrighteousness, because you have no definition of sin.
Cheating is cheating whether it’s diving in the Premiership or copying in the classroom. Murder is still murder whether it’s in a blood feud in the Middle East or an abortion in Harley Street.
We need the basic pattern of moral law as laid down by our Lord, love God and love our neighbour, how does that amplify, in the 10 commands.
It’s hard to tell the world about a Saviour who will save them when their definition of sin is basically non-existent? You tell them sin is a breach of the law of God.
They say I don't believe that. Just keep teaching and preaching the truth and let the spirit of God take it and use it to convict the hearts. It's the word of God the Holy Spirit uses. It’s truth that has power to convince and humble.
[4] WHAT SIN DID – it brought guilt and fear 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
They quietly sinned and fell, and immediately something in them died. They were in a state of rebellion against God - in Adam all die. That is the Fall of man.
Eating forbidden fruit was a good experience at first. However the actual experience of sin is like the one taste of alcohol to a reclaimed drunkard or the first taste of blood to a predator, nothing is the same again.
At a stroke it wipes out all the peace, joy, self-respect, and innocence. It leaves us guilty and hopeless. Sin is madness.
They truly thought that she would gain enlightenment. When they ate their eyes were opened and they truly did know something new, only they now knew evil on a personal basis. Immediately Adam and Eve knew things had changed - the joy and peace they had known until then disappeared.
New feelings filled their hearts, horror, wretchedness, insecurity, shame.
They looked at one another and knew that things would never be the same again. The enlightenment they dreamed of turned out to be deep moral darkness.
The “wisdom” and ‘liberation’ Satan promised through rebellion proved to be slavery, sin, shame and death. Innocence was gone forever.
A] IT RUINED THE GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
i] It brought Guilt and Shame -7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
God’s presence was a theophany, an appearance of Jesus Christ in human form before He was born of Mary thousands of years later. The garden in the cool of the day was normally a time of refreshment, but this day was a time of fear.
They had been in harmony with God all their life until now but now a divorce between man and God had occurred. Now Adam and Eve didn’t want to see Him.
They did something they had never done before, they made body coverings. Not because they were in one another's presence, they were one flesh as man and wife. But, the embarrassment arose from feeling exposed before God.
Their psychology was now changed; they had a sense of shame and fear.
Adam says “I was afraid because I was naked.” He had been naked every other time the Lord had walked with him in the garden. The problem wasn’t his nakedness, but his feelings of guilt, because of sin. The nakedness described here has the sense of being unmasked -nakedness of soul.
Self-reflection has begun and the first movement of conscience produces shame.
God made us to be self-less but now self-consciousness dogs us every day, and we discover that clothing helps us. The whole human race finds it psychologically necessary to clothe themselves. It helps to make us feel more secure and able to face life with a sense of well-being. Dare I is say this is why ladies find it very uplifting to buy a new dresses. Clothing is a way of changing our appearance so that we look different and can project an image.
The shame of nudity is no artificial inhibition introduced by the conventions of civilisation as nudists and anthropologists say, it’s source is an awareness of sin.
Animals wear no clothes because they have no knowledge of good and evil. Little children feel no need of clothes because as yet self-consciousness is still latent.
The consciousness of a power to choose good and evil is awakened and they feel that in themselves they are faulty, that they are not in themselves complete; that though created by God, they are not fit for His eye.
They were covering themselves from God, but God doesn't look at the outward appearance, he looks at the heart. God on high saw it all as he does today.
When they sinned their conscience was activated. God’s question focuses on this, “Who told you that you were naked?”
Conscience is like a monitor alarm on a patient in hospital. It goes off and warns that something is not right, the pulse or temperature is at a dangerous level.
Of course it’s possible, through repeated sin, to deaden your conscience so it no longer functions correctly. But this first couple’s conscience was operating as God intended--it told them that they had sinned.
When that alarm goes off, the fallen human way is to deal with it just as Adam and Eve did: stop it up as quickly as possible, like the smoke alarm in your kitchen .
Our modern psychotherapeutic culture is desperately trying to rid itself of the notion of guilt and shame. Modern celebrities brag openly about things that, just a few years ago, would have been kept quiet.
Best-selling books, like Healing the Shame That Binds You promise to rid us of “toxic shame” by “Using affirmations, visualizations, ‘inner voice’ and other useful healing techniques”.
Even many professing Christian psychologists, tell us that our problem is low self-esteem; we need to learn to accept ourselves.
It is not surprising that the enemy of our souls offers many counterfeit solutions.
But the fig leaves of human solutions to guilt will not answer in the day when we stand before the living God. The story of God’s coming to that first guilty, fig-leaf-clad, hiding couple, shows us God’s solution to guilt.
ii] It brought Fear and Hiding -8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
They heard God’s voice and hid among the trees. They weren't comfortable in his presence any more, their guilt made them afraid. Fancy thinking that hiding behind trees would solve the problem! How pathetic!
The psalmist says God is inescapable. Psalm 139:7 ¶ Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
Heb. 4: 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
We have learnt to live with CCTV everywhere. Our movements are recorded by a hundred cameras on a simple journey. That’s no problem to law abiding citizens.
God knows exactly what we are doing when there are no cameras around. He knows our thoughts, and can see that our relationship with him is broken.
When we sin, we only have two options.
# 1 is to conceal it. That means to cover it up, to make excuses, and to rationalize.
We lie about sin, we cover up, we turn away, we change the subject, we destroy the evidence, and we get defensive and say, “How could you even think I would do something like that?” Or we smile and hope that it won’t be noticed.
Have you known times when one of your children seems to be avoiding you? When you found them, they looked uneasy and instinctively you know that they’ve done something wrong! Some people don’t like bumping into believers.
People by nature build walls around their lives. The Bible is unread, they don’t pray, worship is unobserved; when God sends reminders of His being, they are uncomfortable, they don't like it.
But because we all sin, we all need to deal with the guilt. We suffer physically and mentally because we conceal our sins, we go through the torment of living with a guilty conscience. Psalm 32: 3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. When that happens, we go through the torment of living with a guilty conscience. Psalm 32: 3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
#2 is to confess it and turn from it. The Psalmist goes on to say Psalm 32: 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"—and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
To confess means to own up and admit it was wrong.” To turn from it is to repent by taking steps to break the sinful pattern. You are saying, “I’ve been in the wrong path but now with God’s help, I’m going to change direction.” Proverbs 28:13 says “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
We deal with our guilt, not by hiding but by coming to God and acknowledging our sin. Jesus said whoever comes to me I will never drive away. John 6:37.
God graciously seeks, confronts, and offers reconciliation to the guilty in Christ just as he did for Adam and Eve.

Redeemed

Reading – Acts 8:26-39; 1 John 1-2:2
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
On April 14, 1865 Abraham Lincoln was shot dead by John Wilks Booth in the Ford’s Theatre. Lincoln’s shirt and overcoat were stained with his blood.
In 1876 some people wanted to take a piece of history with them. So, they cut up a sleeve from his overcoat that was blood stained into tiny pieces. It was the stain of the blood on the overcoat that made the cloth a collectable and valuable item.
Peter tells us we should be holy because our Father redeemed us at infinite cost. The blood of Christ is far more valuable than the blood of Lincoln.
[1] REDEMPTION IMPLIES PREVIOUS BONDAGE. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
For Peter’s readers, slavery and redemption were everyday words and for some everyday experiences. The Roman Empire had by some estimates as many 6 million slaves and the buying and selling of them was a major business. If a person wanted to free a slave, he would pay the redemption price, purchasing that slave and then granting him freedom, keeping proof by a written certificate.
Some of them had been born to slaves. Others had become slaves when Rome conquered their homeland. Still others had become slaves by falling into debt.
A slave was the property of another person; they could not come and go as they pleased. They weren’t free, they had to work with no payment, they were often ill treated and abused. The slave was in bondage and felt it….until someone redeemed them by paying the price set for their freedom.
#1] Life is empty apart from Jesus Christ! The bible tells us here that every one who has not been redeemed is in bondage to sin and death. Peter describes it as “the empty way of life inherited from your forefathers.”
The same word is translated “worthless” in James 1:26. Many thoughtful people feel this keenly. Have you ever wondered why some art seems bleak, why some sculpture is horrible, why some music is discordant, why some literature is black and depressing? People have looked hard at life and thought ‘what’s the point’.
The author of Ecclesiastes put his powers of wisdom to work to examine the human experience. His perspective is limited to what happens “under the sun”.
He considers life as he has observed it within the boundaries of this visible world.
He attempts to see what human wisdom can do, and discovers that it cannot find out the larger purposes of God or the ultimate meaning of human existence.
He sees a busy human ant hill in mad pursuit of many things, trying now this and that. Trying to burst through the bounds of human limitations, control their destiny, and achieve a state of secure and lasting happiness—people pursuing unrealistic hopes and aspirations.
He takes a hard look and concludes that human life in this mode is futile.
Humans cannot by all their striving achieve anything of enduring significance.
All their striving after unreal goals leads only to disillusionment.
You live for yourself, trying to grab all the things that you think will bring you happiness. You work hard, gain a few things, lose a few things, get sick and die.
You may life a long life but there’s no guarantee, it may come soon. Life’s futile!
Paul confirms this fact that life in the world is full of frustrations and disappointments in Romans 8:20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
Ecclesiastes concludes that to live meaningfully, purposefully and joyfully we need to place God at the centre of our life. We need to be content and accept our divinely appointed lot in life, and reverently trust and obey the Creator-King.
The NT echoes this Eph 4:17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. He says Christians are no longer to be living like pagans who are superstitious and worship man made gods.
#2] The worst part of this bondage is it people don’t realise it.
People don’t realise the bondage of their futile way of life. We enjoy a pretty good life these days with a comparatively high standard of living in the world. When Christians say, “Jesus Christ came to be your Saviour? People think, “I have a pretty good life, I am OK.
They try and avoid thinking how unfilled and aimless their life is. They don’t think how time flies and how soon they will die and meet God. They don’t accept that apart from Jesus Christ, they’re in bondage to sin and futility, heading for hell!
Unless we feel the bondage of being enslaved to sin and death and hell, we won’t appreciate what Christ did in shedding His blood for us on the cross.
#3] Often the empty way people live is inherited.
What is gained from earthly forefathers is often of negative value but what we receive from our Heavenly Father is priceless.
Peter was without doubt writing to some people who like himself had been brought up in Jewish families. These people had wonderful traditions and so a large part of the truth. They were rightly proud of the way they lived, they had a far better justice system than the rest of the world, they had good hygiene, their family life was strong, human life was precious, the work ethic was rewarded and the poor and disadvantaged were provided for.
However, they were still sacrificing animals to try and find peace with God. They were still awaiting a messiah to come and save them. What they refused to believe that the Saviour had already come and provided redemption by His death.
Peter was for sure writing to people from pagan homes who had been brought up to worship idols. They lived in superstitious fear, they lived immoral, drunken and violent lives, they had no proper concept of sin.
People today are carrying on living irreligiously or with an empty religion.
One admires loyalty to traditions provided they are beneficial and good. But thank God that we British no longer sacrifice humans like our Druid ancestors. Julius Caesar writing in 44 B. C: ‘All the people of Gaul are completely devoted to religion, and for this reason those who are greatly affected by diseases and in the dangers of battle either sacrifice human victims or vow to do so using the Druids as administrators to these sacrifices, since it is judged that unless for a man's life a man's life is given back, the will of the immortal gods cannot be placated.’
Only Christ can redeem us from this futile bondage to sin and death. Only He can forgive sins and give power to live a holy life. Only He can take the sting from physical death and give the sure hope of resurrection to spend eternity with Him.
[2] REDEMPTION INVOLVES COST For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
Gold and silver have always been synonymous with worth. From Genesis through to Revelation the Bible refers to gold and silver no less than 783 times.
Precious metals can do many things for you. They can buy basic necessities, get you many comforts in life, and provide some security for the future.
However they are relatively soft compared to some materials so Peter calls them “perishable things”. Also there are some things which money cannot buy.
Money said the Beetles cannot buy me love. Money cannot save us from the wrath of God against my sins. Jesus’ blood is more precious than money because money could never redeem us from sin. No matter how much silver and gold we paid, we could never pay for even one of our sins. Money matters. But not when it comes to forgiving your sins. That’s Peter’s point.
J.P. Morgan who was a multi-millionaire wrote this in his will “I commit my soul in the hands of my Saviour, and full of confidence that having redeemed me and washed me with His most precious blood, He will present me faultless before the throne of my heavenly Father. I entreat my children to maintain and defend at all cost of personal sacrifice, the blessed doctrine of complete atonement of sins through the blood of Jesus Christ once offered and through that alone.”
Morgan realized that his wealth would not get him into heaven. The only way was through the blood of Jesus.
The imagery of redemption by blood goes back to the very first people on this earth. God warned Adam and Eve that if they sinned, it was so serious they would surely die.
He meant not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from Him. When they did sin, God mercifully did not kill them on the spot. Instead, He killed animals and made skins for them to cover their shame and guilt. God was showing them that the life is in the blood and without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.
God told Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice on Moriah. By faith Abraham proceeded to obey the most difficult command God has ever given to a human being except the cross. At the last moment, God intervened and provided the ram caught in the thicket and its life redeemed Isaacs. This sacrifice illustrates the great cost our Heavenly Father paid in giving His own Son for us.
In the OT, Israel was a slave nation enslaved in Egypt. God was the redeemer, who used His power and providence to redeem them. Exodus 6:6 says: “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them and will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.”
Not only were the nation redeemed but individuals needed to be redeemed as well. Each family who believed God’s threat that the angel of death was coming in judgement took the blood of the unblemished Passover lamb and daubed on the doorways. When the death angel saw the blood of the lamb applied to the doorposts in Egypt, he passed over that house and the firstborn was spared.
In the same way, if God’s judgment is to “pass over” your life, so that you are not eternally destroyed, the precious blood of Jesus must be applied to your heart by faith, only then will you be spared. No amount of money could ever do that. Isaiah 41 says 14 Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
In the 16th century, Spanish soldiers were going from house to house in Rotterdam and executing the Dutch. In one house a group of men, women, and children huddled together awaiting their fate. Suddenly, a young man had an idea. He took a goat killed it and swept the blood of the goat under the door of the house. When the Spanish soldiers came to the door one soldier called out “Look at the blood running under the door. Come away, men, the work here is already done.”
A little while later the band of thankful Dutch people came out safe and sound saved by the blood of a goat! In the same way, we are saved from the wrath of God by the blood of a lamb - Jesus the lamb of God.
[3] REDEMPTION INVOLVES A SET PRICE you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
A slave in Roman times could be redeemed by the payment of a certain amount of silver or gold. Many years ago people captured by slave-traders, were chained together, and driven to the seacoast. Each of the prisoners had a heavy iron collar around his neck. As the slaves passed by, a chief might notice a friend of his among the captives and offer to pay the slave-traders in gold, ivory, silver, or brass. The prisoner would be redeemed by the payment and he would be set free.
An American pastor during a trip to Columbia met a prisoner working to help his team move. The convict through an interpreter said, "Sir, would you redeem me?'' The guard explained, that the policy is that men who have served their sentences still can't get out of prison unless someone redeems them by paying ransom money.'' The man needed another 800 pesos. The pastor reached in his pocket and ''redeemed'' this man. The price of that man's redemption was $8.
As he handed him the money, he said I can set you free physically but only Jesus Christ can redeem you for eternity. The price of your redemption and my redemption was the life of Jesus Christ.
Why can’t God just forgive sins without the shedding of blood? God could not relax the penalty and still be just and holy. None of us could serve as a substitute for others, because we all have our own sin to pay for. Only the Lord Jesus, who was without the flaw or stain of sin, could offer Himself in our place--the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
[4] REDEMPTION IS GOD’S PLAN 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
A] God planned redemption from the very beginning: The cross wasn’t God’s last-minute plan put into place after man fell into sin. He ordained it well in advance of the creation of the human race. Foreknowledge means God knows and plans in advance, though it does not absolve sinful man of responsibility. In his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter said, “This Man [Jesus], delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” Acts 2:23.
Some people think that when Adam and Eve sinned, God didn’t see it coming, and the coming of Christ was an afterthought in God’s plan. But God knew they were going to sin and bring ruin to the world and in the councils of eternity, the Father said the Son, “You must go to the earth to save them from their sins.”
Redemption was on God’s heart long before sin entered the world. As Spurgeon said, while the universe lay in the mind of God like a forest of oaks in the cup of an acorn, God purposed to send his Son
B] God executed the plan of redemption at the fitting time: Christ was revealed in these last times for your sake. At the proper time in human history, in fulfilment of the prophecies, God sent His Son into this world. We had nothing to do with it. Generations lived and died. But we are privileged to experience what the ancients only wondered about.
C] God applied redemption to us: 21 Through him you believe in God. Christ redeeming death was particular, if you believe, it’s because God imparted saving faith to you through Christ. It wasn’t vague, it wasn’t a matter of take it or leave it, it secured the salvation of millions of individuals. Through Jesus Christ we have a relationship with God. We know him personally and intimately. What an astonishing thing to say, “I know God”. If we are not astonished by that, it’s because we take it too much for granted.
D]God completed redemption by raising Christ and giving Him glory. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
Peter and the other apostles and many others were witnesses to the fact that God raised Jesus bodily from the grave. The apostles saw the risen Jesus ascend into heaven where He now sits at the right hand of the Father in glory, awaiting the day of His return. Christ’s resurrection proves that God is able to raise the dead.
[5] REDEMPTION TELLS US WHO WE OWE EVERYTHING TO
The bottom line is, “You are not your own; you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body” 1 Cor. 6:19- 20.
Peter wants us who are the children of God to see the great price He paid to redeem us from our sins. Seeing the Saviour’s blood should motivate us to be holy.
As C. T. Studd put it, “If Christ be God and died for me, there is nothing too great that I can do for Him.”
Titus says, "Jesus Christ gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good works" Titus 2:13-14.
A boy made an expensive model boat. One day it sailed away on the lake and was lost. A few weeks later he saw the boat he lost in the window of shop. The boy bought it back and said to the boat: “I made you. I lost you. I paid a great price for you. Now you are twice mine.” God says to each one of us. “I made you, you were lost, I paid a great price for you. You are twice mine.”
Leslie Flynn told this story. An orphaned boy was living with his grandmother when their house caught fire. The grandmother, trying to rescue the boy, died in the fire. The boy’s cries for help were finally answered by a man who climbed an iron drainpipe and came back down with the boy hanging tightly to his neck.
Several weeks later, a public hearing was held to determine who would receive custody of the child. A farmer, a teacher, and the town’s richest citizen all gave the reasons they felt they should be chosen to give the boy a home.
Then a stranger walked to the front and took his hands from his pockets, revealing severe burn scars on them. This was the man who had saved the boys life. His hands had been burned when he climbed the hot pipe. With a leap the boy threw his arms around the man and held on for dear life. The others walked away, leaving the boy and his rescuer alone. Those scarred hands had settled the issue.
The boy wanted to belong to the one who had shown such costly love.
When we think of the extreme suffering Christ endured to purchase our freedom from sin’s penalty, our hearts should overflow with love for Him.
That is precisely Peter’s argument: Because God redeemed us at infinite cost, we dare not frolic with the sin for which Christ shed His precious blood. Peter wants us to see what a terrible sin has done.
After President Kennedy was assassinated Jackie, his wife accompanied his coffin back to Washington. She was still wearing the clothes she had on at the time of the assassination. The clothes were stained with the blood of her husband. Many encouraged her to change her clothes, but her reply was “No, let them see what they have done.”
Let us see what God has done for us in the blood of his Son, Jesus Christ.

The trees in the Garden

Genesis 3:1 to 15 Ezekiel 28:11 to 19
This is a foundational chapter - chapter 3, it is linked to Chapter 2 verse 9, God had planted the trees and in verse 16 Man was forbidden to eat from it on pain of dying. The Bible makes no sense unless we understand Genesis and where we came from. The world was created in pristine beauty but it is no longer like that - there are disasters, disease, death and suffering - crime, broken homes and so on. What has gone wrong with the Paradise God created? The only reasonable explanation is Genesis 3. Sin came into the world and ruined everything. We can understand why the world is as it is. It is not myth or poetry, it is recorded fact.
A. The trees
1. It is about 2 particular trees. Man is the pinnacle of God's creation. He is in a garden full of nourishment, indescribably beautiful, it is perfect. God gas given the man and woman everything they need - an ideal climate, plenty of food, everything was perfect. Adam was busy keeping the garden. There were no tears, envy, disease or death. There in the middle of the garden were 2 particular trees. The tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Prominent. They were there to keep them in the mind of God, their position depended on God.
a) The tree of life - the best joys of life (Jewish). It had fruit, it promised life, it symbolised life and promised life to those who obeyed God. It was nothing special but it promised life and blessing to God's people. It symbolised eternal life.
b) The tree of the knowledge of good and evil . It looked good, it also had fruit (if unknown to us). It was attractive, good. It was not unpleasant or poisonous but to eat it gave the knowledge of evil. They only knew good they had no reason to doubt God, disobedience was inexcusable. It symbolised God's commitment to to do good for Adam and Eve, it bound God to mankind in a covenant of life and death. Adam was in the Garden on probation. If Adam obeyed, he lived with God forever. If he disobeyed he died. Adam and Eve saw the tree everyday. It was a test that made them accountable to God. Moral responsibility is a principle God under girded the world with. We play with it at our peril. If we warn children of the dangers of fire this is an act of love. God warns us of the dangers of sin and its consequences - hell, as an act of love, not hatred.
2. The test was a reasonable test.
There was no multiplicity of issues, no confusion. They were not given lots of rules, only one rule. There was one thing. It is possible for us all to remember, Adam and Eve had no excuse. All the other trees were available and Adam and Eve had no excuse, all they had to do was obey. There was nothing to make them discontented, yet they still disobeyed. It tell us that the idea that a bad environment causes us to sin is wrong. Adam and Eve had a perfect environment. We have better homes, health care, education, we have so much to make us better people yet we have so much hurt and heartache and unhappiness. This is all despite a better environment. Adam and Eve had a perfect environment yet they still sinned. We do wrong because there is something wrong inside . Unless we are regenerated - that is our hearts and wills are changed, we cannot obey God as he commands us to.
3. It was a probationary test
It tested man's obedience. It was God's first command. We do not know how much time had passed. Probation officers set a task for a prisoner on parole, they have to appear at set times. The command not to eat was probation. Adam and Eve had to decide who had authority, God or themselves. Eve put her own experience before God's command and she went astray. She relied on herself and did not allow God to decide what was wrong. Self determination is how people live today. That is why we have evil today. Self gratification leads to sin. A merciful God could not allow them to live forever in sin and corruption.
4. The tree was a probationary test with a penalty for disobedience.
They would die spiritually - they had offended God and were separated from God, they would go to Hell and begin to die, they would know death and decay. It was like a house bombed from above with the floors eventually collapsing and condemned to ruin. The tree of the knowledge of good and evils something we all know today - enticement to sin, the pangs of a guilty conscience because our original parents did that, there is no more up to date chapter. The terrible evil in the world today is a consequence of this. Jeremiah 17 tells us the hearts of men are desperately evil above all things.
The tree of life symbolised how men lived an ideal life, the moment they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they began to know evil.
B The serpent.
Serpent means 'shining one'. It was noticable to Eve. Today people have a horror of snakes but they are amazing creatures. They are smooth and stealthy. The passage tells us it was crafty, it was fascinating to Eve. The snake has a reputation for cunning and stealth because it was an agent in Satan's hands, it had been taken over by the ultimate evil - Satan, as Satan entered into Judas Iscariot and Legion. Satan used a snake to carry out his subtle plan. He had no venom because the world was perfect. So Eve was not afraid. The only unusual thing was that it spoke.
c. Conclusion
We have two people, 2 trees and a tempter. Where does evil come from? The Bible tells us little of Satan's origins. In John 8 and Ezekiel 28, we are told Satan was once a bright, high ranking angel. Satan rebelled against God and was thrown out of Heaven by God. God has not told us everything. Some things we do not need to know, we need to keep sincere devotion to Christ. Animals do not speak, Eve does not seem concerned about this and entered into a conversation with him. When everything is going well in our lives beware! Be careful because Satan will tempt is when our guard is dropped. We do not know the consequences of of our sin, the consequences of disobeying God are horrendous, too awful to contemplate. Beware when we think we are standing lest we fall. It is too easy to say "I could not help it", it is far more difficult to say "get behind me Satan". Satan is limited. God gives us power to resist Satan and obey God.

His Indescribable gift

Romans 5:12 - 21 2 Corinthians 9:15

Paul speaks of the Corinthians generosity in providing for others. Is Paul speaking of cooperation between Jews and Greeks or is he speaking of something else? Yes, he is speaking of God's gift of his son - he is too fulsome for an earthly gift. Romans 8:32 amplifies this. God gave up his son as a gift. Paul indicates that this divine gifts draws all others. In Romans 5 Paul speaks of the gift that brought justice and righteousness.
Human language cannot explain it but human hearts can experience it and it leads to praise to God. Language fails because our thinking fails. The scriptures tell of Christ's graciousness. God gave his own son to die for us and saw from the moment of the fall how he was going to rescue ruined sinners. God's own justice seemed to set too high a demand only Christ could satisfy. In Genesis 3 man is ruined by Satan, now his head would be crushed. Revelations show Christ coming in glory. The last words of the Bible ask for Christ's grace to be with us. Christ is the great theme of the whole Bible and the theme of every believers thoughts at all times. What should we say of it?
1. We should draw nearer to him and know him better. We cannot know enough of our saviour. He should never be absent from our thoughts. We shall only know his peace to the extent we know him and obey him. We should seek constant communion with him. We should see something new of him every day. Our life is hidden with Christ in God. We need to feel our total dependence of him. As we do so, the greater will be our spirituality and likeness to him. Hebrews 12:2 - we look unto Jesus.
2. We look in anticipation and expectation. We only know the true peace when we gaze fully on him. There is nothing the believer requires that is not in Jesus Christ. If we do this we shall see a glory in Jesus we have never seen before. We shall appreciate Jesus more as we understand him more. What of the Father's compassion and mercy that led him to make this gift? God so loved the World - shows great depth of mercy. God's love is the cause of the gist, the gift is the expression of his love - Romans 5:8 and 1 John 3:1 tell of this gift. Only infinite love could lead to such a love. Our hearts should be full of intense gratitude. We should show this gratitude every day. We shall be amazed in glory how little we have been affected by gratitude for God's love. What of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ himself? He gave himself as freely and spontaneously as the Father gave the gift. The law and justice of God could not have been satisfied unless Jesus had given himself of his own free choice, willingly and fully. It was an obedience of utter submission. 2 Corinthians 8:9, Colossians 2:20, Phillipians 2:6 t0 8, Hebrews 10:5 - all say that his obedience is shown in his spontaneous giving of himself. He was presented to a ruined race as the way of redemption. The gift is an indescribable sacrifice. He became our surety. Surely the love and grace of the Father and Son call us to give ourselves in service to God. It is our spiritual act of sacrifice - our reasonable service. It is a debt so large that we can never discharge it. We can only make a poor return but if we give ourselves heartily he will accept it. We are rewarded according to what we can offer not what we ought to. It is always a constant struggle to do what we should. We should see it as a challenge. We have a duty in connection with the gift, we should share this gift with those around us. We should lose no opportunity to share this with others, to extol Jesus wamed his gift. When we commend Christ to our fellow men we are obeying him. When we are timid in this we disobey him and are a reproach to God. This is a test for us, we often fail it. We owe It to Christ and we fail when we do not speak of Christ. We are being ashamed of our Lord and our Master.
Christ was not ashamed of us when he died for us. He called us his disciples and his friends. He became the servant of the disciples when he washed their feet . He still sustains us while he is in Heaven, he is still our saviour and our friend when he pleads for us in Heaven. We should adopt a cheerful and confident courage in our service of him. We are never so honoured when we are ridiculed because we serve him and his cause. He provides us with power by the Holy Spirit. We all have opportunities to serve him when we meet unbelievers. We can proclaim our discipleship of Christ no matter how unfitted we think we are. May we all confess our failures of him and follow more closely in his footsteps. We can speak much of the Saviour and show our belief is not in vain. We should labour increasingly yo show forth Christ and show his power and glory. We must not remain silent. We must rise to our duty to warn those who are perishing in their sin. They might listen out of politeness but their hearts are often hardened by sin. We need to pray to God that he will give strength to overcome opposition. Romans 8:36 - he loved us and he will give us strength. His love should motivate us to do more.
The Christian's certain future - the prospect of seeing Christ in glory, is bright and best and fills us with hope and joy. Nothing but the experience of these things will lead us to proper service of him. We shall be like him and know him as he is.

Paul in Ephesus -The riot

Acts 19:8 to 41
Ephesus was a large city, the capital of the Roman colony of Asia, it was a sea port and a fine city. It was famous for its Temple of Artemis, it was the most famous Greek temple - 4 times bigger than the Parthenon. It was one of the 7 wonders of the World. The Ephesians were very proud of it. It was said that the status of Artemis had come down from Heaven - possibly it was a meteorite. It was an ancient statue propped up by wood. A row now erupted over the statue.
The results of Paul's work over 3 years had been that the word of God had spread throughout Asia. Many believers and unbelievers had been healed. Spiritual realities had been revealed. The 7 sons of Sceva had been punished, believers had destroyed millions of pounds of scrolls. The second result was enmity and bitterness. Verse 23 says that it was caused by Demetrius, the owner of a factory. He accused Paul of trouble making. Paul had said he made man made gods and that they were no gods, not only their silver miniatures but the goddess's statue itself. He also said that Artemis worship would end. A great crowd rushed into the open air theatre (it is still there though the temple has gone). Most of the people did not know why they were there.
The Jews thrust Alexander forward (perhaps to say that Paul was not one of them). When the Crowd saw that he was a Jew they shouted for over 2 hours. They were quietened by the city clerk who said:
a) Everyone knew Ephesus was the guardian of Artemis' statue.
b) The accused had done nothing wrong. If they had a grievance then go to court.
c) They were in danger of being guilty of rioting and losing their privileges.
This ended their riot. We can learn 4 things about Demetrius:
1. The love of money lay behind his complaint and the riot (as it often does). Verses 23 to 28. Their profits would go down, he dresses this up and says that his business would get a bad name and the worship of Artemis would suffer. This is often the root of persecutions. The High Priests feared loss of influence and money so they attacked Jesus. The Sadducees were high priests and they were hated by the people because they swindled people of their money and they forcibly extorted money from other priests. They had a cosy arrangement with the Romans who supported them. They feared Jesus would upset this. In Phillipi Paul had cured a girl of demon possession, she made money for her owners and they persecuted Paul as a result of their losses. Wesley and Whitefield were persecuted often by pub owners who feared the loss of income from selling beer.
2. Demetrius accused Paul and the church of being trouble makers. The city clerk said they had done nothing wrong. Demetrius had. Over and again Christians are accused of this by persecutors. Demetrius made a long point of it, Artemis would lose her divine majesty. This is common place and has gone on for centuries. The Jews of Thesselonica said this of Paul. They said that he had caused trouble all over the world, Paul had not, he had preached the gospel. The Jews had caused riots. It had happened before New Testament times. In the Old Testament Ahab accused Elijah of being the troubler of Israel. Ahab had murdered the prophets and led the whole nation astray and brought famine on the nation. Ahab was turning the truth upside down.. Satan played this card in the Old and New Testament times and is playing it now. Islamic Terrorists are plotting attacks now, politically correct people say it is fundamentalists and generally accuse Christians of being fundamentalists. They say all religions cause wars. The problem is that the Roman Catholic church in the middle ages committed terrible crimes, the crusades in the middle east and Europe and the Inquisition caused huge number of deaths. Protestant leaders were often guilty of this. In modern times it is ridiculous to suggest that Christians and do what Islamic terrorists do. This is a way of attacking Christianity and the church. It is a way to do down the truth of God.
3. He was being quite perceptive about what Paul was doing. If people followed Paul then worship of gods would die. The truth of God persuaded men and women that man made gods and the worship of them was destroyed. It happened to Roman, Greek, Celtic, Saxon, Viking and other false gods. Demetrius was right, it went on down to the 19th century. Business, Government and social life changed. The care of the elderly, prisoners and children changed, especially in the 19th century. Some people want to whitewash out of history all of the work of Christians. Christian ministers are often not counted worthy of mention in histories of the Victorian period. Teacher try to forgo teaching the Reformation from the Tudors.
4. He doesn't take what Paul says seriously. It is absurd to say that a man made god made out of wood can help you, hear you or do anything good or bad. Greeks knew then that there was a greater god. People had seen the miracles Paul had done. Demetrius had heard what Paul had done. He had seen the scrolls burnt,he had heard the gospel. He did not care, he only cared about money. His eternal soul was in danger, if what Paul had said was true. He put his hope in materials things - in his profit. Sin was a mortal danger to him. He had no interest in eternal things. Demetrius was a terribly modern man. People who have heard the gospel and reject it are doing what Demetrius did. Such important things should raise concern in people's hearts but it did not in Demetrius' heart. He only saw short term profits.
'The way ' is the third time Paul uses this term. It is true, it is THE way, not just any way. It was THE way to God, to salvation, to eternal life. The one and only way. It did not share this with the Greek, Roman or Egyptian way, it is still the only way today. It causes great offence today. It is considered arrogant, proud and boastful by many, but it is the only way to salvation and eternal life. It is the only way to walk with God. It is a way, a pilgrimage with God, a straight and narrow way to Heaven.

Shadows, types and prohecies

1 Peter 1

Peter reminds people that the Old Testament saints yearned to see one who was promised by types, shadows and prophecies. They wanted to know what we know . They have much to tell us of God.
The greatest picture of Jesus is the Passover lamb referred to many times in the New Testament, by John the Baptist and Peter in 1 Peter 1 - sprinkling by the blood. In 1 Corinthians 5:7 Paul calls him the passover lamb, John calls Jesus the lamb over 30 times in Revelations, Jesus chose to die at Passover, he would be the perfect sacrifice. There are 5 questions about this:
1. Who was sacrificed? A lamb was taken by the people and. It is vulnerable, perhaps it looks almost helpless with no means of defence or attack. Jesus chose to be weak and vulnerable when he came - he had no soldiers to protect him. His family had to run away when Herod threatened. He was reliant on others. Though he was rich, for our sakes he became poor. It had to be a mature lamb, a year old, no longer dependent on his mother. Jesus had grown to maturity, a mature man of 30. At 30 levites were given responsibility in the temple. He was the perfect saviour for everyone. The lamb had to be without blemish, it was observed for 4 days to be sure it was perfect. Jesus was the spotless, sinless son of God. He was tried and tested all of his life. Satan came to him at his weakest but he did not give in to temptation. Jesus triumphed over sin despite Satan's continually trying Jesus. Jesus was tested by his enemies - scribes, priests and pharisees in order to find fault with him on numerous occasions but he silenced his enemies by the power of his wisdom. He was tested by his friends when they failed to trust and understand him. In the end they all forsook him and fled from him in the garden. At his trial he was tested by false witnesses and was found to be faultless.
2. How was he sacrificed? The passover lamb was killed and his blood sprinkled on the door posts and lintel. The sacrifice was total so Jesus actually died and his blood was poured out. He was nailed to the cross and his side was pierced and he actually died completely. It was not just suffering in his body but also in his soul, he was made a sacrifice for sin. This suffering was greater than in his body, he felt the wrath of God and he was separated from God. His death was a complete and total sacrifice for sin. 2 Peter 2:4-5. The suffering of hell came upon him.
3. Why was he sacrificed? Yes as an offering for sin but also that he might take the place of the guilty. The passover lamb died in place of the first born child. The blood on the door post and lintel said one had already died for the guilty.
The Ark kept people safe, the lamb was a scape goat for the guilty. Jesus said he gave his life as a ransom for many. He stood in the place of the ungodly, he took the curse due to the guilty. As Christians, we have one who died for us.
4. When was the sacrifice made? It took place while the Israelites were still slaves in Egypt. It was not made for those who were set free but so they could be made free. While we were still sinners , Christ died for us, the ungodly. We were dead in trespasses and sin. We were still rebels and enemies of his. He did not die for those who were good, but for those who needed him - sinners. Someone might dare to die for a good man but Christ died for those who were his enemies, before we even thought of him, we were still at enmity with him.
5. When was the sacrifice effective? For the Israelites the blood had to be sprinkled on the lintel and door posts. Christ did not die for everyone, people are not saved unless we come in true repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus. Jesus appealed directly to people and invited them to believe as did the apostles. God gives the power and desire to repent. God gives the gift of new life and the power to come. The blood must be sprinkled.
Closing
Where was the blood not sprinkled? It was not sprinkled on the door step so it could not be trampled under foot and people would disrespect it. We must not trample underfoot the son of God or treat the covenant as an unholy thing.
Can believers be guilty of trampling underfoot the blood? Yes when we fail to appreciate its value or put something else in its place. We must appreciate greatly what he has done. We must do what he commands. We must give him our heart felt allegiance.

Colossians Chapter 1 - Paul's prayer, verse 9

How do we pray for other Christians? What should we pray for, focus on? what should we pray for?
People often pray for other Christians in the Bible. Paul's prayer is summarised here as he does in other letters. All of these prayers are different, they are not all the same. There are some similarities. How does this help us if they are different? There is no one size fits all formula. When we pray for other Christians and churches we pray differently because they match the situation they are in. The prayers reflect the lives of the christian and Churches. . We must pray relevantly for people. We must find out their needs. We need to find out and listen to reports so we know the needs and circumstances. That doesn't mean that if we don't have news we don't pray, God knows their situation and we can commit them into God's hands. We should take time to find out so we can be specific.
Paul shows that he is familiar with people. They are addressed to God and show Paul was familiar with God, so Paul is bold and asks for big things, wonderful things. Paul is not timid as we can be, we often do not ask boldly as we should. If we are able to ask for a gift we would look to what their resources are, when we come to God and bring our prayers. We need to remember how great he is.
He is omnipotent, he has endless, limitless power, we need to remember this and be confident when we ask him. We need to look to how God answers our prayers. We need to understand God's nature and will. Paul asks for spiritual things in a spiritual, not worldly way.
Paul begins 'for this reason' , the reason was that he had heard from Epaphras so much good about this young church. He had spoken about false teachers and Paul was moved to pray. He prayed in a particular way. What he knew about them and God determined how he prayed.
The false teachers offered some sort of fullness teaching beyond what Epaphras offered - a secret knowledge to heighten their experience of God. Paul answered this issues and faced up to it. He asked for knowledge and power that was different from false teachers.
The false teachers offered a quick and easy way to knowledge. In the 2nd century gnosticism gained ground, it offered secret, special knowledge,. It was secret in that only a few knew it and no one could challenge it because they had access to it. It was immune.
When Paul wrote it was when early roots of this were emerging - evident in other letters. The Gnostic movement is still prevalent today. It is seen on the Internet. Some claimed (and still claim) to have words of knowledge today and it is hard to challenge.
Paul asked that they would make proper use of what they had heard , the knowledge of God's will which they needed to know. Paul wanted them to know this. It was not direct revelation but it was through application not revelation. In verse 6 Paul said they knew the gospel but it needed applying. How do we know the will of another person? We must listen to what they say and know them and read the signals so we know what they mean. We need to understand the person.
We need wisdom and understanding. To know God's will we need spiritual wisdom and understanding. He has revealed his will in scriptures, we need to apply spiritual wisdom and understanding to what the Bible says - 1 Corinthian 2:1 to 10. We need to apply this in every area of our lives. In Ephesians 1:17 Paul asks for people to have the spirit of wisdom and power.
We need to know God better, this is what Paul wanted for these young Christians. Paul did not want them to miss out on anything, he wanted them to have this fullness by growing in what they had - the truth of God revealed in the scriptures. They could not have a complete understanding of God's will. God has not revealed all of what he is going to do in the future. We have an adequate knowledge to be able to live our lives. We couldn't deal with it all if he did. Jesus was foretold but he was rejected by men.
We should be saturated in this knowledge, it should affect our home, school work and personal lives. Verse 10 gives us the purpose, the knowledge must be used as fertiliser helps plants grow to their best advantage.
The knowledge must be applied. Paul outlines the results:
1. Our lives must be pleasing to God. If we love God and what pleases him, we will do what he wants.
2. Put negatively, we will know how much sin displeases him. We will hate sin as he hates it. The knowledge will help us turn away from sin. If we are a child of God we have the privilege of learning Christ's name. We are meant to live as Christ's ambassadors. We need to please God in every way. We expect an ambassador to behave well, but he has time off. Christians are on duty all of the time. God sees when our standards slip.
3. We should bear fruit in every good work. Good works don't save us. They are the fruit, not the root, of our salvation. Good works are important, they are not an add on to our lives. We are commanded to reflect God's love in what we do for others - how we care for them. The harvest of wisdom is work. The harvest of the secret knowledge is pride in what we know, true wisdom produces compassion towards people as Christ did.
4 The final result is growth in the knowledge of God - knowledge is not static, but it is built upon. We do not forget what we learn, we build upon it piece by piece. Our knowledge of God is no different, we can never understand everything about God but we can grow . It should lead to a holy life style and we can become closer to God, it is a never ending circle. If this is not our experience, where has the circle broken?
5. Finally Paul pleads for power in verse 11, he asks for all power according to his glorious might, it is the power that created everything and raised Jesus from the dead, it is the power we need to live and grow day by day. The power gave them great endurance and patience, they would be overwhelmed if they had anything less. Without it we would not have been converted. The Colossians were being offered a very weak alternative. It was nothing compared to what God had given them. Jesus had used this power to heal people and forgive sins and give eternal life.
Jesus' power changes us within and preserves and empowers us. This is what Paul prays for it will give them the endurance they needed. The end result is that it glorifies God. This gives us hope for our lives and it gives us direction for how we should pray for other believers.

Wonderful Salvation

Acts 13:24 to 41 1 Peter 1: 9 to 12
OUR SALVATION IS SO GREAT IT HAS PROPHETS PEERING AND ANGELS AGONISING

Peter's readers were wondering, is it worth it? Peter's answer is, it's more than worth it because our salvation is so special!
1. IT MAKES TRIALS SIGNIFICANT - verse 9
a) Salvation is the goal. When Jesus finally appears, we will find out what our trails have accomplished.
b) Salvation is sure. We look to the Saviour who has saved us, is saving us, and will save us completely when he returns.
2. IT IS GOD'S PLAN OF GRACE - verse 10
We were saved from sin's penalty when we put our faith in Christ; we are being saved from sin's power as we walk by faith; and, we shall be saved from sin's presence as we triumph by faith.
3. IT IS PREDICTED BY PROPHETS
The prophets dug into the Word of God like a gold prospector.
a) They predicted things they did not understand themselves.
b) They predicted the coming of Christ.
c) They predicted the sufferings of Christ - see Luke 24:25-27, I Corinthians 15:3
d) They predicted the glories of Christ - Matthew 13:17
4. IT IS REVEALED BY GOD - verse 12 and 2 Peter 1
The Bible is a self-authenticating book. Our salvation is revealed by God to man. It is not a clever human idea.
5. IT IS TOLD BY APOSTLES verse 12
They believed the Word and they preached the gospel in the power of God. That's a combination that will still work today.
6. IT INTERESTS ANGELS. Ephesians 3:10
We are the most blessed people. We know things the prophets never knew. We experience salvation the never experience. We know salvation is the story of the greatest rescue mission in the history of the Universe. God sent his son to redeem a rebel race. It will come to its appointed culmination when Jesus returns.

Cleaving

1 Peter 3: 1 to 17 Genesis 2: 24 to 25
Marriage is under attack as never before - it is seen as optional, disposable and re definable. It is God's design. It is a commitment made before the community. A good marriage is one where there is closeness and openness between two people.
1. MARRIAGE IS INTENDED TO BE PERMANENT
a) It is a commitment. In our culture we symbolize that commitment with a wedding ring. The wedding ring gives great value for money. It is a reminder that we have someone who loves us. We cannot expect perfection, we have to adjust to each other. A good marriage is for the man and woman's good - it is for every one's benefit. We need to take time, patience and effort.
b) It is a covenant of Companionship. Divorce breaks that covenant. It is a broken relationship. God hates divorce because he hates unfaithfulness. In a breach of a marriage it is unfaithfulness. Divorce is only a concession to man's sin and it is not God's plan. Roman Catholics forbid divorce. Some see it as lasting forever. Some see divorce as possible but re-marriage is forbidden. Some see it as possible in very limited circumstances.
The only grounds are unrepented sexual sin or desertion by an unbelieving spouse, then you can remarry. Remarriage is the not adultery. Jesus emphatically said divorce is not permissible for any or every reason. It is only permissible for the reasons above. The faithful partner is no longer bound to the covenant.
(i) All Biblical means should be used to keep any marriage together..
(ii) If is possible to be reconciled to the partner then they should. Easy divorce is too easy. People abandon marriage too easily. We need to strengthen and support it so it does not break down.
2. MARRIAGE IS MONOGAMOUS.
A man unites to a woman. Satan attacked marriage with a vengeance, we find polygamy, adultery, homosexuality, rape and so on. The Bible never justifies polygamy, it does highlight its terrible effects - jealousy, hatred and even murder. Today we have serial monogamy, the taking of a succession of husbands and wives. This leads to complex troubled lives and a tidal wave of hurt.
3. MARRIAGE IS HETEROSEXUAL
God gave Adam someone to complement him, not be identical to him. True marriage is heterosexual.
4. MARRIAGE IS NORMALLY BEST WITH FAITH.
It takes 3 to make a good marriage, man, woman and God with God at the top. As soon as Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they experienced alienation. Adam began blaming Eve for his problems.
a) Christians have a common basis of faith and biblical values. We all live by the Bible.
b) Christians have broken the love of self. A Christian is someone who is self giving, not selfish so they give to each other. The essence of marriage is sharing.
c) Christians have a proper sense of service. We live to serve and not to be served. The husband serves his wife by serving her. She serves him by submitting to him.
5. MARRIAGE US TO BE ENTERED WITH GREAT CARE.
a) It must be with a believer - 2 Corinthians 6:14. They must give credible evidence of being a believer. So you can pull together. A believer and unbeliever do not share the same values and principles.
b) It is wise to have some degree of doctrinal agreement. Matters of Christian teaching should lead you to the same church otherwise you will be divided. There is a level of commitment needed.
c) It should not be to anyone divorced without biblical grounds.
d) It is helped by the advice and approval of parents. Parents are able to better observe areas of compatibility. Marriage should be discussed with the family. The man should have a Biblical work ethic and provide for his family. We need happy, fulfilled marriages.
6. MARRIAGE IS FOR CHILDREN.
God planned the human heart for love, marriage, companionship, home and children. The richest thing in our lives are relationships and for starting and building new ones. Marriage requires our support, many are struggling. Pray for more strong marriages to strengthen and enrich the church. Educate the youth and children in the importance of marriage.
If we are single pray about whether you are to remain single or for a marriage partner.