Truth Comes from God and is Ignored at Great Costs – Genesis 3:1-24
In VBS this year, we will be looking at the fact that truth comes from God, but society attacks this at every turn. Think of how our kids and grandkids are being subjected to what is going on in the culture. We are in an anti-God and anti-Christian culture in so many ways.
Now, we aren't to give in and give up. That's what some do. They just throw in the towel. But the Bible says we are to be salt and light. We are in the world, but not of the world.
This year in VBS, kids will be shown five everyday sayings that sound right but dangerously miss the truth found in God's Word. We will see that God's truth never changes, even when it is radically different than what the world says.
The theme in VBS is “Breaker Rock Beach.” The idea is of a majestic rock that towers above the water. The waves of the sea crash around it, the wind blows, and yet the rock stays, like a strong tower. The waves and winds of the world change and crash against us, but God's Word is like the majestic rock that never comes crashing down. It withstands everything thrown against it.
In day one, we will see Romans 12:2... We are not to be conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds. We'll see that truth comes from God and how Satan tempted Adam and Eve. Day two, we'll look at Daniel and how Daniel chose God's way. Day three, we'll see the rich young ruler and how he missed the invitation Jesus gave him because he was so caught up in his possessions and wealth. Day four will present to us what the Apostle John wrote, that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father but through Him. Day five will key in on Paul with the Ephesians, how Paul once attacked Christianity, but how he now preaches the thing he once tried to destroy.
Today, I want to introduce us to what we'll see on Day 1, how Satan attacked God's truth. Some today try to say truth is relative. What God says isn't necessarily the way things really are. This is what Satan wanted Eve to believe. We'll look at that today and what happened. Was truth relative? Was it up for grabs? Could Adam and Eve ignore it and prosper? Obviously, no.
The world today says the same. Satan is still trying to convince people that God's Word doesn't really hold sway, that it's not necessarily true, and that we can go our own way without consequence. Well, let's see today how that all worked out for the original couple. Stand, please, for the reading of Genesis 3.
In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, we read: (1) But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. (2) For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, (3) heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, (4) treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, (5) having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.*
What a different picture that is from Genesis 1-2: “And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was good.” We have to ask ourselves, what happened? It is clear that something happened to interrupt the good creation that God had made. We can't simply say, “It's the Democrats, or it's the Republicans, or it's the radical left or right.” No, something more has to explain what has happened.
The Bible refers to it as the fall. The fall refers to that period of time in Genesis 3 when the first couple listened to the voice of Satan and disobeyed God, and sin was introduced into the created order.
It is important to see that disobedience to God's Word, what the Scripture calls sin, affected everything:
It affected Adam and Eve's relationship with God, as we see in our text today. They are hiding from God and alienated from Him.
It affected their relationship with one another. Thus, the battle of the sexes began.
It affected their children. In Genesis 4, the very next episode after the fall, we see one brother rising up and murdering the other brother.
It affected society. In Genesis 6, God saw all the wickedness of mankind, and said, “Every thought and intent of his heart is now wicked, and the whole earth is filled with violence.”
As Paul says in Romans 8, the whole of creation was plunged into darkness. The only hope for mankind, the only hope for this world, is redemption through Jesus Christ our Lord. That is why the Scripture says that God is going to make all things new. The heavens and the earth will pass away, and God is going to create a new heaven and earth as the Scripture says in various places, in 2 Peter 3, for example.
In the meantime, what is the church to do today? The church is to obviously pray. God is Sovereign over this planet. He is Sovereign over all things; And we need to preach the gospel. If the redemption of mankind is the only answer, then we need to be about our Father's business. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, even so send I you.”
In other words, political parties and activity, demonstrations, taking to social media, and whatever other avenues people take, are not the answer. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer.
As we look at the first couple, and we see what they did and what happened, we need to understand that we continue today to do the very same thing. God's truth is being attacked today more than ever. People ignore it, mock it, try to change and amend it, and look at where it has gotten us today. Genesis 3 has a strikingly contemporary relevance. The problem continues to be that when men and women, at Satan's instigation, ignore God's Word, and think that they have better solutions, we ended up alienated from God and from one another, and evil of all sorts fills the vacuum. Think of all the division and hatred today. Look at how everyone is so separated from one another and divided from one another. Why? Because we have ignored and rejected God's standards.
