Category Archives: Series

The Word Was God

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The Gospel of John is a unique book. It stands apart from the other gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) in that it covers details of Jesus’ life which the others do not. The events in John mostly take place in Judea, whereas the other gospels focus on Galilee. John is also different in how it begins. John immediately starts with the divinity of Jesus Christ.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3)

The “Word” is John’s designation for Jesus. This is consistent throughout his New Testament writings (1-3 John and Revelation). It emphasizes Jesus as the incarnate Word of God. And when Jesus speaks, it is literally God speaking.

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Sermon Shorts from Spurgeon – Sermon 1: The Immutability of God

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Remember God is the same, whatever is removed. Your friends may be disaffected, your ministers may be taken away, every thing may change, but God does not. Your brethren may change and cast out your name as vile: but God will love you still. Let your station in life change, and your property be gone; let your whole life be shaken, and you become weak and sickly; let everything flee away—there is one place where change cannot put his finger; there is one name on which mutability can never be written; there is one heart which never can alter; that heart is God’s—that name Love.

“Trust him, he will ne’er deceive you. Though you hardly of him deem; He will never, never leave you, Nor will let you quite leave him.”

From the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 1, Sermon 1 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

https://ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons01/sermons01.i.html

Atonement for Sin

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Sin must be atoned. This something mankind cannot do. Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin and shame when they covered themselves with leaves. (Genesis 3:7) However, that’s not how sin must be covered. Atonement requires a reconciliation by blood. (Exodus 29:36; Hebrews 9:22; Ephesians 2:13-14; 1 John 1:7) And that’s what God provided.

And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3:20-3:24)

Verse 20 simply appears to be an informative statement conveying that the woman’s name was Eve. The name “Eve” is a Hebrew name which means “life”. As the text states, this is appropriate because all human beings came from her. She was the first mother.

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Consequences of the Fall

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Adam and Eve had fallen from their position of innocence by disobeying God’s command. This is sin. Whenever someone sins, there are consequences. Sometimes those consequences are immediate and sometimes they come later, but they always happen. Here is what God did.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:14-19)

First, the serpent is held accountable. There is some debate over whether God judged the physical animal Satan used or Satan himself. It appears to this writer that God judged them both. The physical serpent was cursed to crawl on his belly. (vs. 14) The apparent reason for this is that it was complicit somehow in Satan’s work. Satan in turn was condemned by the seed of the woman which would “bruise” his head. (vs. 15)

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The Fall – Part 2

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Satan has just tempted Adam and Eve and they both ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is interesting that Satan never told them to eat the fruit. What he did was suggest that God was trying to cheat them. They decided to eat the fruit on their own. This is how Satan works. He gets us to doubt God’s character and then our lack of trust/faith fosters sinful thoughts and actions.

Now to our passage for today.

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. (Genesis 3:7-13)

Let’s work through the immediate result of their sin. The passage states that their eyes were opened. This is what Satan had told them. (Genesis 3:5) However, it wasn’t what they expected. They knew for the first time what sin was like. They had done evil against the Creator. And it wasn’t pleasant. It did not give them joy. Satan had accused God of cheating them, but the real cheater is Satan himself. He cheated them out of their perfect relationship with God.

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