A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: You are the air traffic controller of your mind. You decide what thoughts are going to be there and what thoughts are going to be rejected. Most sins that people engage in, they think about it first. They contemplate it first. They fantasize about it first. And so this is why we have to guard our thoughts.

Guest (Male): Coming up today, Pastor Greg Laurie urges us to guard our thoughts from taking us on a flight path that leaves us far away from God. Mankind has had some great ideas: air travel, space flight, the wheel, the smartphone. But every day, each of us has some very bad ideas. God calls them sin.

But good or bad, it starts with an idea. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us keep our ideas in check. We’re launching a new series in the book of beginnings, the book of Genesis. We’ll see dangerous ideas can be traced all the way back to the Garden of Eden.

Greg Laurie: Have you ever noticed on certain products there’s a warning label, warning you to not do a certain thing? I came across what could best be described as wacky warning labels. They’re real, but maybe they’ve gone a little bit too far. As an example, this is a real warning label on a baby stroller: "Warning: Remove child before folding." That means somewhere, someone folded the stroller with a baby inside still.

A warning on a brass fishing lure with a three-pronged hook on the end: "Harmful if swallowed." I think that’s true of the fish. I hope a human didn’t swallow it. A flushable toilet brush warns, "Not to be used for personal hygiene." A can of self-defense pepper spray warns users, "May irritate eyes." That was kind of the plan. If I’m going to spray someone, I hope it irritates their eyes.

A popular manufacturer of a fireplace log warns, "Caution: Risk of fire." I was hoping for that. On a chainsaw, this is a real warning: "Warning: Do not hold the wrong end of a chainsaw." That’s good advice. Warning on a hair dryer: "Do not use while sleeping." How do you use a hair dryer while you’re sleeping? Well, someone apparently has done it.

Here’s another one. "Warning: This Superman costume does not enable you to fly." So someone thought they could just jump off the roof because they were wearing that costume. And one more, actually two more. "Warning: Never try to catch a falling knife." Yeah, that’s a good idea. You drop a knife, let it hit the ground. No, I’ll catch it. No, don’t.

And then one final one, and I should have heeded this one because I didn’t listen to this warning. Warning on a household iron: "Never iron clothes while they’re being worn." I have ironed clothes while wearing them. Has anybody else done this? Raise your hand if you have. You get everything ironed and you look in the mirror and there’s one little wrinkle, I’ll just iron it.

What I did was even worse because I have a heavy-duty steam iron. This is a next-level steam iron. It has a base, a reservoir, water. It’s nuclear-powered. So when you fire a burst of steam, it’s like a massive blast. Two people just woke up, I noticed, when I did that. I’m wearing this shirt and I thought, "There’s a wrinkle. I’ll just blast it with steam."

But I pulled it away from my skin. I’d be okay. And I gave it a blast of steam, and I screamed like a little girl. Later that night, I had my shirt off and my wife looked at me with this red welt. She said, "What happened to you?" I said, "Don’t ask." So that’s good advice.

Well, you know, there’s warning labels, if you will, in the Bible as well. Things that God tells us not to do and instead, things that we should do in their place. Let me give an example. Psalm 1 says, "Happy is the man or woman who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful." Those are things you should not do.

But his or her delight is in the word of the Lord, and in it do they meditate day and night. So don’t do these things, instead, do these things. Well, we’re going to look here now at the very familiar story of our first parents sinning against God because they didn’t listen to the warning label. That brings me to point number one, the theme of this message is what happens when we don’t follow the warnings.

The Lord placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It was literally paradise. They could eat of any tree. Imagine, God said, "This is all yours to enjoy. You can eat of all of the fruit of the trees of the garden and behold the beauty I placed in it. One restriction: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, don’t eat from that tree."

Scene two, Adam and Eve standing at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The one place God told them to stay away from, that’s where they were. Already they’re setting themselves up for trouble. They were in the wrong place, and then they heard the wrong voice, and then they did the wrong thing. So here they are, standing by that tree and of course, the devil comes and he tempts them.

And we see what happens when you don’t listen to the warning. Genesis 3:6 says, "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she gave to her husband with her and he ate." That brings me to point number two: every temptation in life fits into three categories.

Three categories. How many of you have ever been tempted to sin? Raise your hand. Not every hand’s going up, so some of you are apparently untemptable. How many of you have given in to the temptation to sin? Raise your hand. More hands went up, which perplexes me, but whatever. Every sin that you’ve ever committed falls into one of three categories and it’s identified for us in 1 John 2:15 to 16.

It says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. For all that is in the world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, is not of the Father but of the world." The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. Every temptation is in one of those categories. First there’s the lust of the flesh. Things that feel good.

We read in Genesis 3:16, when the woman saw the tree was good for food. It feels good. The lust of the flesh would include temptations that are physical in nature. Whatever appeals to you, you’re drawn to that thing. It’s the pleasures of life. Now, you can have legitimate pleasures in life as a Christian. The Bible even says, in His presence there are pleasures forevermore.

But there are good pleasures, godly pleasures satisfied. But then there are ungodly pleasures, sinful things that we might pursue. The Bible even warns, "She that lives for pleasure is dead while she is living." So that’s the lust of the flesh. Then there’s the lust of the eyes. Things that look good. We read in Genesis 3, Eve saw that it was pleasant to the eyes.

Most temptation comes through your mind first. You are the air traffic controller of your mind. You decide what thoughts are going to be there and what thoughts are going to be rejected. But you’ll find that most sins that people engage in, they think about it first. They contemplate it first. They fantasize about it first. And so this is why we have to guard our thoughts and be careful about what we expose ourselves to.

David fell into sexual sin when he was on his balcony looking around and he saw the beautiful Bathsheba bathing herself. Now, he couldn’t have seen the first thing, but it’s that second look that gets you into trouble, or maybe the super long first look, depending. And that is why Job says, "I’ve made a covenant with my eyes that I will not look on a woman lustfully."

So the lust of the eyes. And finally, there’s a pride of life. Things that make you feel and look good. The devil says to them, "Go ahead and eat of this fruit. It’s desirable to make one wise, and you’ll be as a God," he says to Adam and Eve, "knowing good and evil." Now, it’s not wrong to want to look good. It’s fine to want to give some attention to the way you appear.

In fact, some of you should give more attention to that. And I’m looking at you right now. No, I’m not actually, I’m not. But I’m thinking about it. No, I’m not. But then there are people that are obsessed with that. That’s all they think about. You know just by visiting their Instagram page. So here’s the thing, we have to find the balance in all of these things.

The pride of life is an obsession with self, wanting to appear more important than we are. This is what got Lucifer, once a high-ranking angel, ejected from his former position in heaven. And then he became Satan or the devil. He wanted to be worshiped. So these are the things we should stay away from. The world with its allure is the external foe. The flesh with its evil desires is the internal foe. And Satan with his enticements is the infernal foe.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

You know, I’ve heard people describe a trip to Israel as seeing the Bible actually come to life.

Greg Laurie: Hey everybody, Greg Laurie. And I’ve been to Israel many times and I’ve led a lot of tours and I have to say that’s absolutely true. Listen, when you’re walking on the same stones that Jesus himself walked on, well, that’s something that’s enriching to your faith. It’s not just a travel experience. It actually energizes and enhances your study of the Bible. Think of it this way, it’s a vacation with a purpose. And we’re going to be taking a tour of Israel April 6th to 15th, 2027. You can find out more at israel.harvest.org.

Guest (Male): Step right into biblical history. Join Pastor Greg for a tour of the Holy Land, April 6th through 15th, 2027. Get details at israel.harvest.org. Well today, Pastor Greg is helping us avoid the temptation of our adversary as we consider the wisdom found in the book of Genesis.

Greg Laurie: So now let’s go back and look at this scene and look at what happened. So Adam and Eve eat of the forbidden fruit. Now sin has entered the world. So here comes the Lord walking through the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day in Genesis chapter 3, verse 10. And God calls out, "Where are you?" And Adam answered, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid."

God said, "Who told you you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you gave me, she gave me some fruit of the tree and I ate it." Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you’ve done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me and I ate." All right, we’ll stop there. Point number three, Adam blamed God for what he had done.

He blamed God for what he had done. I mean, what happened to the Adam that said of Eve after she was created, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man." Now it’s like, "She did it." Like he is literally throwing Eve under the bus, then he’s driving the bus over her a couple of times.

We do the same thing. It’s not my fault. I’m not responsible. That person trapped me. This person enticed me. I have no responsibility at all. But in a way, Adam was blaming God. "It’s the woman you gave me." Adam’s effectively saying, "Hey, I’m taking a nap, I wake up, a rib’s missing, and she’s here. It’s all her fault." But then Eve, she says, "A serpent beguiled me."

Let me update that. "The devil made me do it." The devil can’t make you do anything. The devil can tempt you, but you have to want what he’s offering or it’s not going to happen. So she was responsible as well, though she was deceived by the devil. We play a role in our own temptation and sin. James 1:13 says, "Let no man say when he is tempted, 'God is tempting me,' for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He himself tempt anyone."

We do a pretty good job of getting ourselves into trouble because we have a sinful nature. My next point, because of Adam’s sin we all suffer. Because of Adam’s sin we all suffer. But let me make this point. If you were in the garden, you would have done the same thing. And so would I. So it’s easy to blame them, but this is just human nature.

But we’re all affected by this decision he made. Romans 5:12 says, "When Adam sinned, sin entered the world, and Adam’s sin brought death, and death spread to everyone, for everyone has sinned." Death, illness, disability, age, all a result of the fall. If Adam and Eve had not sinned, we would never get sick. If Adam and Eve never sinned, we would never die. If Adam and Eve never sinned, I would have hair. You see? It’s all connected. We all share in this.

Now let’s see what happens after sin has entered the world. Go to Genesis chapter 4, starting at verse 1. I’m reading from the New Living Translation. "Now Adam knew his wife Eve and she became pregnant. And when she gave birth to Cain she said, 'With the Lord’s help, I produced a man.' Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel.

When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd while Cain cultivated the ground. When it was time for harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift, the best portions of the firstborn lambs from the flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry and he looked dejected.

'Why are you so angry?' the Lord asked Cain. 'Why do you look so dejected?' Then the Lord gives this ominous warning: 'You will be accepted if you do what is right, but if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out because sin is crouching at your door, eager to control you, but you must subdue it and be its master.'"

Okay, we’ll stop there. The book of Genesis can be divided into three sections. Chapters 1 and 2, Generation. Chapters 3 to 11, Degeneration. Chapters 12 to 50, Regeneration. In chapter 3, we saw the beginning of man. In chapter 4, we read of his progress and result as he sins against God. Bottom line, mankind wrecks everything he touches because we’re sinful by nature.

If history tells us anything, it tells us this: man is not basically good, man is basically bad. Bad to the bone. Sinful to the core. History is a space in which Cain’s acts ultimately became thermonuclear weapons. We just take new technology and find ways to use it to make things even worse. And it’s not the way it began.

I mean, here’s Adam and Eve, they’re having their first child. They’d never seen a pregnancy before, much less a birth. I was talking to a pastor friend of mine a while ago and he told me about his daughter’s wedding and he wanted to say something very profound because he was performing the ceremony. So there she is standing with her groom and he looks at her and he said, "I was there when you were conceived."

And he meant to say, "I was there when you were born." I mean, he was there when she was conceived, but still, just not what you want to hear on your wedding day from your dad. But that’s the way that went. Well, Adam and Eve were present for both, conception and birth. Now you wonder if Adam’s thinking, "What’s happening to my beautiful wife Eve? Putting a little bit of weight on all of a sudden.

Have you found a high-carb tree out there or something? Why are you knitting those little socks? What’s going on here?" Well, she was going to have a baby and she had her first child, Cain, and then followed by Abel. And they both brought their offering one day. And God accepted the offering of Abel and He rejected the offering of Cain. Bringing me to point number five, being exposed to truth does not guarantee you will follow it.

Cain and Abel were both raised in the same home. They both saw the same things, but one walked with God and one did not walk with God. One was a true worshiper and the other was not a true worshiper. One was accepted, the other rejected. And this reminds us there’s a right and wrong way to approach God. And it comes down to this: the why or the motive.

Because as far as God is concerned, motive is everything. One day, we as Christians will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. This is not a judgment about whether or not you get to heaven, in fact, it’s a judgment in heaven where rewards are given out for faithful service. And the Bible says God will test every man’s work to see what sort it is. In other words, the why of what you did.

So you think, "Well, if I have a beautiful voice and in worship I sing louder than everyone, that will be pleasing to God." Maybe and maybe not. Because if your heart’s in the wrong place, it’s not pleasing to God at all. And that person that’s always off-pitch may be more pleasing to the Lord than the person with the beautiful voice.

Or when we receive an offering and one person gives a lot of money and another person doesn’t give as much, God will be impressed by the motive of why the person did what they did. God looks on the heart. Bringing me to my next point, the heart of the matter is a matter of the heart. It’s all about the heart. The why of why we do things.

And so in the book of Isaiah, it says God speaking, "These people draw near to me with their lips but their hearts are far from me." See, Abel was a true worshiper. His heart was in the right place. Cain was not. And we’re given an insight as to what really happened in Hebrews 11 when it says, "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain."

Well, Cain was ticked off. Angry that God did not accept his sacrifice. In fact, the word that is used for anger here in verse 5 means he burned with anger, causing the Lord even to say, "Hey, buddy, calm down a little bit. Why are you so angry? Why do you look so dejected?" The fact is, Cain’s true colors are beginning to show.

The Lord is saying, "You need to not go this way because this is not going to end well for you." Bring me to point number seven, God wanted confession because that’s the only way to forgiveness. Why are you doing what you’re doing? You don’t want to do this. And Cain should have said, "You’re right. I’m overreacting. I’m sorry, Lord. I repent."

But he’s just angry. And he’s justifying his own anger. It’s a weird thing about anger, isn’t it? How you can feel so right about it until the adrenaline wears off. Like when you’re driving and someone does some crazy thing, right? They offer a hand gesture in your direction and you just are so filled with rage. Or they cut you off, or they roll their window down and yell something, and then you do something you regret later.

And you need to just calm down. That was Cain. He was just losing it. And God gives him this interesting warning in verse 7. "Listen, you’ll be accepted if you do what is right, but if you refuse to do what’s right, watch out. Sin is crouching at your door, eager to control you, but you must subdue it and be its master." The Lord is saying, "Cain, you’re flirting with disaster. Sin is like a crouching beast, poised and ready to strike and ruin your life if you don’t get control of it."

Guest (Male): An important warning from our studies in Genesis today with Pastor Greg Laurie here on A New Beginning. And there’s more to come as this study continues. The good news regarding the sin that crouches at our door is that the Lord makes His power available to those who are truly His. We can resist sin in the power of the Lord. And when we fail, God grants second chances.

It’s part of the blessing of being a believer. Where do you stand with the Lord? Have you truly come to Jesus and asked Him to forgive your sin and be your Savior? Pastor Greg, what would you say to the person who wants to make that kind of change today?

Greg Laurie: I would say that God is just a prayer away. You know, it doesn’t take years to become a Christian. It doesn’t take months. Frankly, it doesn’t even take hours. It can happen so quickly. It just starts with you saying to God, "I know I’m a sinner. I know that You love me. I know that You sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sin and pay for those sins and then to rise again from the dead, and I want Him to come into my life."

So here’s my question to you: have you done that yet? Because Jesus, who did die on that cross and rose again from the dead three days later, is alive and standing at the door of your life right now and He’s knocking. And He’s saying, "If you’ll hear my voice and open the door, I will come in." Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to know that when you die you will go to heaven? Do you want Christ to come into your life right now? If so, why don’t you just stop whatever it is you’re doing and pray this prayer with me? You could pray it out loud, you can pray it in the quietness of your own heart. But pray this prayer to God.

Say, "Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. But I know that You are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I’m sorry for my sin and I turn from it now. And I choose to follow You from this moment forward. I ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen."

Guest (Male): Listen, if you just prayed that prayer, the Bible promises that God has heard your prayer and has answered that prayer. The Bible says that if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So God bless you. You’ve made the right decision, the decision to follow Jesus Christ.

And listen, Pastor Greg would like to help you start off right living for the Lord. He’d like to send you his New Believer’s Bible. It features hundreds of helps for new believers and it’s written in an easy-to-understand translation. So contact us for your free copy of the New Believer’s Bible. Call us at 1-800-821-3300. That’s 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click "Know God".

And Pastor Greg, we’re so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. Yeah, we’re touching lives for eternity. And we’re really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further. Isn’t that right?

Greg Laurie: Absolutely. When you invest in Harvest Ministries, you’re investing in the souls of men and women, boys and girls. And what is the value of a soul? Well, let me personalize it. What’s the value of your soul? What’s the value of the soul of your husband, your wife, your son or your daughter, or your mom or your dad, or your best friend? Well, I would say you probably couldn’t put a price tag on it. It’s so valuable.

Well, listen, God says all souls are mine. God loves us and sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sin so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with Him. I can’t think of a better investment of my resources, of my money, than in the work of the Kingdom of God. So we would ask you to prayerfully consider investing in Harvest Ministries as we continue on to fulfill the Great Commission.

Guest (Male): Yeah, that’s right. And you can make your donation right now at harvest.org. Or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. That’s a 24/7 phone number: 1-800-821-3300. Well, next time, more insights from man’s encounter with sin and temptation in the Garden of Eden. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie.