Creekside Church, Sunday, Oct 20, 2024
Grasping
Locations & Times
Creekside Church
660 Conservation Dr, Waterloo, ON N2J 3Z4, Canada
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:30 AM
GENESIS 3:1-13
1 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’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 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.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 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. 7 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.
8 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. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
----------
SUMMARY OF THE REST OF GENESIS 3
-The serpent is cursed b/c of what he has done
- Woman – emotional grief and anguish
- Man and woman – instead of ruling together will be in a power struggle with one another
- Man – ground cursed because of you - toil
- God makes them clothes
- Banished and driven out of the garden
----------
One way to describe what has happened here is the disruption of Peace/Shalom
- Hiding from God - No more peace with God
- Shame - No more peace with self
- This woman! - No more peace with the other
- Ground is cursed - No more peace with creation
----------
THEMES AND REALITIES IN THIS STORY THAT WE ALL KNOW
- Serpent – temptation, sin
- Grasping – control, trust issues
- Anxiety - worry
- Hidden, ashamed, afraid
- Pain and Toil – life is hard
- Exile – the desire for renewal – return of God
And yet, even in this chapter of the Bible there is mercy and grace
- “surely die…” – but they didn’t die and there is no speaking of death
- Clothed – through the sacrifice of animals? – blood shed
- They can’t deal with their shame but God can
----------
REFLECTION
Reflect on how Jesus redeems and undoes this story
In Jesus…Incarnation
-Walks among us
-What it must have been like to walk with Jesus
Grasping
Philippians 2:5-6
5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, 6 who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped,
- Jesus entrusted himself, and so I can trust
- Jesus the perfect image bearer
Kingdom
Pain and Toil that we feel are fading
- kingdom is here and now
- Spirit is here
- Taste of something – hope for a new creation
Anxiety - Don’t worry – look at the birds…flowers…garden
-Because he cares – undo the lie that he doesn’t care
Serpent crusher
Genesis 3:15 - And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
- He crushed the serpent – cost him his life
- The snake, sin, has no more power or claim
Death & Resurrection
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
1 Corinthians 15:22 - For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive...
Mercy and Grace
Phil 3:9
- a righteousness not our own but from faith in Jesus
- Clothed with an Alien righteousness
----------
JESUS PUTS AN END TO OUR EXILE
Septuagint is the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible. There is good reason to think Jesus and his disciples were very familiar with this.
Luke uses the greek word "paradiso" in Luke 23:43.
In the Septuagint, the word we usually translate as Garden is translated as the Greek word "paradiso".
So what is supposed to come alive in our minds when Jesus says, "today you will be with me in paradise?"
Answer: That this moment on the cross accomplishes bringing humanity back to the garden. It is the end of our exile.
**can’t help but note – they would have both been naked in this moment. So this criminal is naked and ashamed. And Jesus tells him he's about to be in a place known for being naked and unashamed.
1 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’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 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.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 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. 7 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.
8 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. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
----------
SUMMARY OF THE REST OF GENESIS 3
-The serpent is cursed b/c of what he has done
- Woman – emotional grief and anguish
- Man and woman – instead of ruling together will be in a power struggle with one another
- Man – ground cursed because of you - toil
- God makes them clothes
- Banished and driven out of the garden
----------
One way to describe what has happened here is the disruption of Peace/Shalom
- Hiding from God - No more peace with God
- Shame - No more peace with self
- This woman! - No more peace with the other
- Ground is cursed - No more peace with creation
----------
THEMES AND REALITIES IN THIS STORY THAT WE ALL KNOW
- Serpent – temptation, sin
- Grasping – control, trust issues
- Anxiety - worry
- Hidden, ashamed, afraid
- Pain and Toil – life is hard
- Exile – the desire for renewal – return of God
And yet, even in this chapter of the Bible there is mercy and grace
- “surely die…” – but they didn’t die and there is no speaking of death
- Clothed – through the sacrifice of animals? – blood shed
- They can’t deal with their shame but God can
----------
REFLECTION
Reflect on how Jesus redeems and undoes this story
In Jesus…Incarnation
-Walks among us
-What it must have been like to walk with Jesus
Grasping
Philippians 2:5-6
5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, 6 who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped,
- Jesus entrusted himself, and so I can trust
- Jesus the perfect image bearer
Kingdom
Pain and Toil that we feel are fading
- kingdom is here and now
- Spirit is here
- Taste of something – hope for a new creation
Anxiety - Don’t worry – look at the birds…flowers…garden
-Because he cares – undo the lie that he doesn’t care
Serpent crusher
Genesis 3:15 - And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
- He crushed the serpent – cost him his life
- The snake, sin, has no more power or claim
Death & Resurrection
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
1 Corinthians 15:22 - For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive...
Mercy and Grace
Phil 3:9
- a righteousness not our own but from faith in Jesus
- Clothed with an Alien righteousness
----------
JESUS PUTS AN END TO OUR EXILE
Septuagint is the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible. There is good reason to think Jesus and his disciples were very familiar with this.
Luke uses the greek word "paradiso" in Luke 23:43.
In the Septuagint, the word we usually translate as Garden is translated as the Greek word "paradiso".
So what is supposed to come alive in our minds when Jesus says, "today you will be with me in paradise?"
Answer: That this moment on the cross accomplishes bringing humanity back to the garden. It is the end of our exile.
**can’t help but note – they would have both been naked in this moment. So this criminal is naked and ashamed. And Jesus tells him he's about to be in a place known for being naked and unashamed.