One of our pastors, Rich Cho, had a great message yesterday!   I didn’t take notes, but tweeted a lot of his comments.

Genesis 3:1-2

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

The bullet points are my tweets:

  • Genesis 3. The mechanism of temptation is a testing of boundaries.
  • The enemy wants us to push moral boundaries.
  • The Bible doesn’t state to debate the devil and he will flee from you!

Genesis 3:6-7
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. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

  • We face the temptation to justify ourselves on the road to compromise.
  • Sin is contagious. It can’t be contained. It is like yeast in bread — it spreads
  • The sin that we don’t deal with gets spilled over to the next generation.
  • Eve could have just called on God. She could have told the serpent — Hold on, I will ask God!
  • Adam was standing with Eve when it all went down. Adam failed to protect his wife.
  • It was Adams responsibility to lead and he didn’t.
  • Married men — wives and children are desperate for you to take the spiritual role!
  • Married men who don’t lead as the spiritual head of the home often wonder why they aren’t respected.
  • Men, get into relationships with other godly men for encouragement. Life groups!

Genesis 3:8-10
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. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

He answered, “I heard You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

  • God comes for us and pursues us. That is good news!
  • Guilt, shame, fear, and hiding come from the first sin. They lost intimacy with each other and God.

Genesis 3:12-13
The man said, “The woman You put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

  • The blame game. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. Blame others because we lack moral character.

Genesis 3:21
The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

  • God doesn’t just come for us, but He confronts us when we have done wrong.
  • God also covered them — made garments of skin for them. He is a loving God.
  • God covers our sin — ultimately with Jesus. Hallelujah!
  • There is NO hope outside of God.

This little story had a lot of meat in it.  It does take a different turn when you think about Adam standing there with Eve when the serpent talked her into eating the apple.  Pastor Rich said the translation actually meant that Adam was WITH Eve.   Since they both walked with God in the garden, why didn’t Adam stop the serpent?  Why didn’t he walk in his role as the head and protector?

How many Christian men out there are more than happy to let their wives walk in that spiritual role?   Pastor Rich was right on when he said wives are desperate for their husbands to take the lead.

This morning I was telling a friend that my husband wants our daughter to miss a day of school this week, but she missed 3 days last week due to a bug.   I don’t want her getting behind and missing too many days, but he feels differently.   So I asked my friend to pray I could keep my mouth shut.   She didn’t know about the message yesterday and she said, “I pray God will place an apple in your mouth each time you need to be quiet.”  Ha ha God.  Very funny!   She said, “I don’t know why I just said that!”

Am I the only one who needs an apple in my mouth?

Pastor Rich said it was part of the curse that women would always want to dominate men, but men would dominate women.

Genesis 3:16b
Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you.

I don’t feel I’m trying to dominate, but share my concerns.   If I ever try to dominate, I pray the Holy Spirit will show me.

Before I went to church, I caught part of Jimmy and Karen Evans testimony on Marriage Today.  Jimmy said that he was very domineering when they first married.  He verbally intimidated his wife and in turn she shut down.  She never shared her heart with him.  He referred to her being covered with fig leaves (referencing the story of Adam and Eve).   Adam and Eve didn’t cover themselves until there was sin.   Jimmy said when there is sin in a marriage, there are leaves as well.    His wife covered herself because of his sinful nature in dominance.   Once he repented and God changed him, she eventually began to share her heart and flourish.  Now they have a wonderful marriage and help others.

The women I know desire men to be the spiritual leaders of their homes.  They hunger to have a partner in life — someone who wants to hear what she has to say.   Jimmy said they now make all decisions together — even financial.   He sees her as a valued partner in the marriage.

From the beginning, there has been a plot to divide couples.

Father, please help the men to rise up and be the husbands and fathers You have called them to be.  And Lord, please help us women hold our tongues and be the wives and mothers You have called us to be.   I pray the marriages of Your children would stand out as different from the rest of the world.   Please give us Your wisdom and grace as we deal with each other and with our children.   In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

I hope this post doesn’t sound too random.  It was interesting that I heard two messages referencing Adam and Eve on the same day, so I wanted to share.   Have a blessed Monday everyone!

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