A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: The devil's primary objective is to separate you from God.

Dave Dell'Osso: Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie warns us about the fiascos and failures our adversary can bring to our lives. That is if we listen to his voice.

Greg Laurie: He will tempt you and then condemn you for giving in to his temptation. He'll say things to you like, "Don't read the Bible now, that would be hypocritical. Don't you dare go to church." When we've sinned we think, "I can't go to church after what I did this week." He's a liar.

Dave Dell'Osso: How does the devil cause so much mayhem among believers? He has help. He and his minions set their sights on believers trying to make them fall, and they're quite good at what they do.

But today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out victory is assured for God's children when we stand in the victory of Jesus. We're in the Garden of Eden today watching Adam and Eve struggle against the temptation of our adversary. We'll see how that struggle affects us even today.

Greg Laurie: We've looked at the creation of all things. Now we're looking at the story of Adam and Eve's sin against God in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 2, Moses zooms in from the cosmos to the Garden of Eden. This new section of Genesis deals with the relationship between God and man.

Here's an interesting point. The name that God has used of himself up to this point is Elohim. But it shifts in chapter 2 to Yahweh. We might say the name of God Elohim would be the name describing him as majestic creator, and Yahweh is dealing more in a personal way with us.

Here are Adam and Eve in perfect paradise, living the dream. It can't get any better than this. They are surrounded by beauty, surrounded by the most amazing wildlife. All the animals are docile and tame. They have the greatest food to eat. It's good.

There was trouble in paradise. Enter the devil. Go to Genesis 3, verse 1. "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'"

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor touch it, lest you die.'" The serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

When the woman saw the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise, she took of the fruit and she ate. She gave it to her husband with her, and he ate. The eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked.

They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" Adam said, "I heard your voice in the garden, but I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself."

Here we see how the devil seeks to attack and undermine us. We see his four waves of attack that he uses over and over again. He questioned the word of God. "Did God really say what you thought he said?" Interesting, now coming back to something I mentioned earlier. Satan uses the name in the first chapter of Genesis for God, Elohim. "Did Elohim really say?" But remember the Lord introduced himself as Yahweh, a more personal name. "Did Elohim really say what you thought he said?"

The devil's primary objective is to separate you from God through sin. He will always be looking for ways to do that. Once he succeeds, once you take the bait that he offers, then he will come and condemn you. That's why he's called the accuser of the brethren.

He will tempt you and then condemn you for giving in to his temptation. He'll say things to you like, "Don't read the Bible now, that would be hypocritical. Don't you dare go to church." When we've sinned we think, "I can't go to church after what I did this week." He's a liar.

What do you think the church is? Think of the church like a hospital. Think of the church like a place that you go to get better. But the devil will try to keep you from church, keep you from God's people, keep you from opening the Bible, keep you from praying. Don't listen to him.

That's what the devil does. "Did God really say what you thought he said?" He introduces the assumption that God's word is subject to our judgment. Do we really want to listen to what God said in his word? People do this all the time. They'll say things like, "Well, I'm a Christian, and I love the Lord, but I don't know if I agree with this part of the Bible."

The Bible is the source of all truth. We believe this, but the devil attacks the word of God. What he is implying is God is holding you away from something good. If God really loved you, he would let you do whatever you want. Why would he restrict you? Why would he say you can't eat of this tree?

God's holding you back from this thing because in the day you eat of it, you will be like a god yourself. You'll be a goddess, knowing good and evil. He's a liar. If God tells you not to do something, it's for your own good.

Is it really that bad? God gives us commandments. You shall not lie, you shall not steal, you shall not take the Lord's name in vain. You shall honor your mother and father. Live in these standards and by these principles because these are walls of protection keeping evil out.

When you understand the commandments and the principles of scripture in their proper context, they are there to protect you. The Bible says no good thing will he withhold from those that walk uprightly. Satan also questioned the love of God. If God really loved you, he would let you do whatever you want. He loves you too much to let you do whatever you want.

Then the devil denied the word of God. It's a short step from questioning the word of God to denying the word of God. Don't get into conversations with the devil. The Bible says resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Then the devil substituted his own lie. "You become like a god, knowing good and evil." That was a complete lie. Command central of your life is your mind. Paul writes about this in 2 Corinthians 10 when he says, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, we have divine power to demolish strongholds."

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ." When that thought comes, you say, "No, I'm not letting that one in." That thought of fear, that thought of lust, that thought of vengeance.

That's not coming in here. That passage, that beautiful thought about the Lord is going to come in. Ask yourself the question, where is this thought coming from? Here is what you need to remember. Every temptation can be resisted and overcome. Every temptation.

The Bible says, "Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for when he is tried, he'll receive the crown of life." The word blessed could be translated happy. You're happy when you overcome temptation. Then 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "There is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man."

"But God who is faithful will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it." How do we fight temptation? We fight back with the word of God, memorized and quoted.

Psalm 119 says, "How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to your word." Then it goes on to say, "Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you." It's great to carry a Bible in your briefcase, your backpack, or your purse.

The best place to carry the word of God is in your heart. Jesus provided us the example on how to fight temptation. Remember after he was baptized by his cousin John on the Jordan River? We read immediately he went into the wilderness to be tested by the devil.

The devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and Satan said, "All this is mine, and I can give it to whomever I want. And Jesus, I'll give it to you if you'll worship me." Why would he say that to Jesus? Understand why Christ came.

He came to purchase back that which was lost in the Garden of Eden. He was coming to die a horrible, torturous death on a Roman cross. Satan was saying, "I'll give you a shortcut. No cross, no suffering. Worship me for a moment, I'll give everything to you right now."

Jesus said, "It is written, 'You shall worship the Lord God and him only shall you serve.'" Then Satan said to Jesus, "Why don't you turn this rock into a piece of bread?" Jesus had been fasting for 40 days. He was hungry.

Jesus said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but from every word that comes from God.'" Again, how does he fight Satan? With the word of God. He stood on ground that we too can occupy. Jesus could have exercised executive privilege.

He could have said, "Satan, get out of here. Be gone." The devil was overpowered and outranked, but he didn't do that. Jesus faced him like we should face him, using the word of God. That's how we do it. But Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. It must have looked good at first.

We always call it the apple. When Eve ate the apple. There is no apple in the Bible. The Bible never says it was an apple. I don't know where that came from. I wouldn't even be tempted by an apple, would you? Maybe a nectarine or a peach. I'm not that much into apples.

It was probably a piece of fruit like you've never seen before. It pulsated with light, like a little disco ball, and had its own theme song. I don't know what it was, but it was something that would dazzle you. Then as you bite, it looks so good. It was pleasant to the eyes and desirable to make one wise.

But then when you bit in, it was poison. You ever get those little candies in a box, and you bite into them and it's gross? What was that? All I like in candy boxes are the nuts and chews. But then you bite into those goopy, gross things. You bite into them thinking it is going to be great, and then it's poison.

It's awful. Not the candy, but sin. In the same way, that's what happened. The eyes of them both were opened. Verse 7. Their eyes were opened to Earth and closed to Heaven. Then guess who shows up in the garden? The Lord. Verse 8, Genesis 3. The Lord comes walking through the garden.

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Interesting, the word for God is Yahweh. We're back to Yahweh again. Yahweh comes walking through the garden. It would appear, perhaps, that the Lord showed up in the garden every day as the sun was setting, in the cool of the day.

Everything would be bathed in a golden light. Adam would normally tell the Lord what he discovered that day. Maybe he had some questions for God. Here comes the Lord as he would come, walking in the garden. But now Adam is not running to see the Lord, he's hiding from the Lord because of his sin.

What a sad thing that is. Now the thrill of sin is gone. Sin doesn't always have a thrill, but sometimes it does. It's short-lived at best. Then the repercussions come. Then the guilt kicks in. That dead, cold feeling that comes from sin is there.

The Lord says, "Adam, where are you?" Did the Lord say that because he literally didn't know where Adam was? The Lord knew exactly where Adam was. The Lord knew everything that was happening. He was aware of it from the very beginning.

God wasn't looking for the location of Adam; he was looking for confession from Adam. Sort of like when I used to play hide-and-seek with my grandkids when they were really little. They would say, "Papa, we're going to hide, find us. Count to 20." I'd count to 20, walk out into the front room.

They're hiding behind the curtain, but the curtain only goes down so far and I could see their little feet there. They're laughing, I hear them. But I act like I don't see them. "Where are you? Where are you?" Then I count to 20, come out, and they're in the same place.

Kids, I have to teach you how to be more deceptive. That's us hiding from God. You think God doesn't see you when you turn off the light? You think God doesn't see you when you close the door? God sees and knows everything.

"Adam," the Lord says, "where are you?" Adam of course covers things up. But I wonder if God is asking that question of some of us right now. Where are you? Not literally where are you. He knows where you are. We're in church. But where are you spiritually?

Are you in the place you should be in right now? Or are you separated from God because of sin? I don't think this is a spoiler alert when I tell you that Jesus came to die on the cross to reconcile us with God and to restore what was lost in the Garden of Eden.

We will look at that first Messianic passage next time in Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, when God speaks of one who would come to deliver us. But we'll stop short of that today and just deal with that question. Where are you? Are you where you need to be? Are you right with God?

If you died today, would you go to Heaven? Or have you done something you know has separated you from God? There might be someone I'm talking to that was walking with the Lord, but you've allowed sin to get into your life and to compromise you, and you've eaten of that forbidden fruit. The good news is God can forgive you.

The Bible says if we will confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You have to admit your sin. Stop making excuses for it, stop blaming others for it, and just say, "I'm guilty. I'm sorry. Forgive me."

And he will because Jesus died on that cross for your sin. He paid the price for every wrong you've done. You don't have to atone for your own sin. You don't have to do x amount of good works to get God to forgive you. Just come and say, "God, I'm a sinner, I failed, but you're a savior and you love me and I need your forgiveness right now."

God longs for relationship with you. Isn't it interesting that the story says the Lord came calling? It should have been Adam saying, "God, where are you? God, come to me. God, help me." Instead, it's the Lord calling. It's the Lord longing for us.

The Lord desiring friendship and fellowship with us. And he's calling out to you. You say, "But Greg, I failed." But the Lord loves you and he misses you. Remember the story of the prodigal son? When he finally came to his senses and returned home, what do we read?

Jesus told the story to show us what God is like. He says the father saw him from a great distance and ran to him. And threw his arms around him and kissed him and said, "This my son who was dead is alive again, and he who was lost is found." That's how God feels about you.

What will God do if I come back? I'm such a failure. God will say, "I've missed you. I love you. Let me forgive you." Will you come to him right now? If you've never asked Jesus to come into your life, you can do it right here, right now.

If you've fallen away from the Lord or you're separated from God because of some sin, you can be forgiven of that sin and reconnect with him right now. Remember, the devil wants to separate you from God, but God wants you to come close.

We're going to pray, and I'm going to give you an opportunity, if you need to, to get right with God right now. Father, speak to every person here, wherever they are. If they don't have a relationship with you, let this be the moment they believe.

Maybe there's somebody here that would say, "I need Jesus today. I don't know if I'll go to Heaven one day. I don't know if my sin is forgiven. I have this big hole in my heart, but I want Christ to come and fill that void." Maybe I'm talking to somebody here who has walked with the Lord, but you've allowed sin to get into your life and it's separated you from the Lord and you need to come back to him and receive his cleansing.

Pray this if you would: "Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the savior who died on the cross of Calvary and rose again from the dead. Jesus, come into my life. I choose to follow you now. Be my savior, be my Lord, be my God, and be my friend. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

Dave Dell'Osso: Pastor Greg Laurie praying with those who want to make a change in their relationship with the Lord. It's an important day for some of our listeners today. If you've just prayed with Pastor Greg and asked Jesus to be your savior, Pastor Greg would like to help you get started in this new walk of faith.

It's important to build a solid foundation. He'd like to send you a complimentary copy of his New Believer's Bible. It's in the easy-to-understand New Living Translation. Just give us a phone call at 1-800-821-3300 and ask for it. You can call us anytime 24/7 at 1-800-821-3300.

Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. Pastor Greg, we hear from people all the time who tell us how these daily studies have impacted their lives. So many have found the Lord and been encouraged through this teaching. We hope our listeners might pray about making an investment so these studies can continue.

Greg Laurie: It's really true, Dave. Even a little bit helps. People need to hear the Gospel so badly. They need to hear the teaching of the word of God. It changes everything because it changes us. I'm passionate about it, and I'm called to do it, and I'm thankful for it.

But I can't do it alone. So I'm going to ask folks that are listening, if you think more people need to hear the Gospel, if you believe more people need to hear the teaching of the word of God, then prayerfully consider investing in Harvest Ministries and maybe even become a Harvest Partner, which means you're someone who stands with us every month in your faithful giving. That opens up a lot of new opportunities for us. Thanks for that.

Dave Dell'Osso: That's right, and we really are thankful for your partnership. You can reach us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org.

Next time, more insights from the book of Genesis. We'll focus on keeping our thoughts in harmony with our beliefs. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.