Rebellion
– I don't care what you think, want or say, I am going to do it my way.
Video clip from Lost when Charlie and his brother have a falling out.
Gen. 1:27,28 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them…
We love the rebel
The one who reaches out and takes what should be his
The one who will not let anyone or anything stop him from getting what he wants
The rebel is always the attractive one.
The rebel thinks he will get the girl, gain more dignity, power, but ends up loosing it all.
Rebellion always breaks the relationship with God
Rebellion always places the rights of the individual above everything
Rebellion reduces my ability to realize my potential – the image of God in me
Just knowing the dangers of rebellion will not stop the rebellion
Prov. 29:19 A servant cannot be corrected by mere words;
though he understands, he will not respond.
Jesus said of knowing and responding to what God has said:
Luke 8:14
The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they
go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and
pleasures, and they do not mature.
We are all rebels in one way or another
The question is – will you stay there?
Rebellion is the essence of what the Bible calls our sin
We have each in one way or many others have said:
– I don't care what you think, want or say, I am going to do it my way.
"I know what is best for me and mine…"
but when I say that and live that way, I do not live in the image of God.
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We are created in the image of God
We were created in relationship, in the image of God with purpose, dignity and responsibility & we were created for relationship
When I rebel – it breaks my fellowship with God, - Charlie –"I know what I …_"
It destroys the image that we were made in, it
steals the best parts of who I really am, steals our purpose, strips
our dignity & shifts the responsibility to someone or something
else & sets us against everyone else.
Rebellion
ultimately breaks my relationship with others because I hurt them and
others. I put myself above others, my needs, interests, desires…
Rebellion is serious - the question is "how long will I stay there?" and how do we get out of it?
God takes rebellion seriously
1Sam. 15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
The essentials of relationship are trust, knowing what is right and wrong and knowing that it applies to you.
When we do not know the difference
between what is right and wrong, what is truth and what is a lie we can
not know what a relationship is and we will not value it.
Rebellion
destroys the trust, it confuses what is right and wrong, what's true
and what's false and it lies to us to make us think we are special,
exempt, the rules don't apply in our case.
When
we are in rebellion, we can think that God is holding something against
us, he is keeping something from us, denying us of something good,
something I deserve, something I have a right to.
All of us can and do live there.
Lets look at this story from Genesis – the book of origins:
Gen. 2:8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9
And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees
that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the
garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil.
Gen. 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
Gen. 3:1 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'?"
Gen. 3:2 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.'"
Gen. 3:4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Gen. 3:6 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.
Gen. 3:8 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?"
Gen. 3:10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
Gen. 3:11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
Gen. 3:12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
Gen. 3:13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
The serpent 3:1 – crafty, shred, cunning
Gen. 3:1 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'?"
We are to be Matt. 10:16 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
The
fact that the snake was cunning not bad but means – under the influence
of Satan, was able to "see" the situation, and "see" an "opportunity"
When the Devil tepted Jesus and did not come out on top, the devil determined he was not shrewed enough and it says
Luke 4:13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
We have an enemy – he is real and active. His motive is to be God. And his way of getting there is to discredit everything God has done and is doing.
The serpent questioned the authority of God "Did God really say,…"– what a rebel does – question authority. – Charlies bro – "I bring you glad tidings…"
He over-extended the limitations that God had placed with no regard for the freedom that Adam / Eve had
The
serpent questioned God direction – he tries to undermine God's wisdom
and in it challenged Eve's obedience to it – "why are you going to do
this?"
Eve- confirmed what God had said – but emphasized her freedom first – but understated it
Gen. 3:2 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.'"
God said "free to eat" (liberty) Eve said "may eat" (priviledge / right)
God said "any tree" (multiple variety) Eve said "the trees" (specific plural)
Lost sight of the big picture
Not only did she minimize their freedom – unsaid way of increasing limits, but she also added to the limits
Talk to a student about the dress code at school –
Boeing – we had a dress code – business dress – on Fridays bus casual
The discussion was always on what you couldn't wear.
We often over emphasis the negatives when we think our 'rights' are compromised. – the spring board to rebellious attitude / actions.
The Serpent sealed the deal – Eve didn't even know she was a pawn in the serpents deal
Gen. 3:4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
"I know what is really going on here – I know what's best"
"God didn't really mean what he said" "He was using Hyperbolae – but those kinds of exaggerations don't really work in reality"
"Besides – God is keeping a good thing from you – your ability to know good / evil"
We all can think we know what is best and good – the opportunity to know what is good can't really be an evil temptation
Rebellion is the mark of immaturity.
We often get this picture of Adam and Eve as
25-30
yr olds, clean cut, physically fit, attractive – also assume God made
them mature, emotionally, relationally, sexually – ready and able to go
off and do great things.
God
gave Adam & Eve every thing but one – the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, not because he didn't want them to have that knowledge,
but they were not yet mature enough for it.
We don't give a 6 yr old the keys to our car, we don't want them to drive - yet
We don't want young people having sex, we don't' want them to make babies – yet
How do we know they weren't mature – they couldn't distinguish the devil when he came to them, they didn't know how to deal with temptation – yet
All think they are more mature than they are – spiritually too
Everyone thinks they know what good is, but we likely do not know what evil is, and we do not know how to tell the difference – until we know the limits of both, we will not know how to tell the difference.
Maturity grows by trusting God
Maturity
comes by exercising faith – trusting God to do what he says he will do,
that he means what he says, even if I don't understand it.
Maturity comes by submitting to the limits God establishes
James 1:4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Part of maturing is knowing the limits and knowing how to live inside of those limits.
That is what is going on with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, there are limits, boundaries in good and evil.
Limitations are designed to help us mature
God
places a limit – a boundary that is not a physical one like a fence,
but a character, attitudinal boundary, to distinguish maturity. Only in knowing the limits will we value the purpose of the limitations. This
comes through a struggle, through accepting and living with limitations
will we prove to be mature, then the mature can know both good and evil.
Heb. 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Maturity is needed to distinguish good from evil and to bear fruit that will last
Adam / Eve gained knowledge with no understanding of how to apply and use the knowledge. They did not yet know the role of good and evil – they thought everything was good, and God was keeping something good from them
God desires Adam / Eve to bear fruit,
He desires that we bear fruit =
To be able to bear His image, live with purpose, dignity and responsibility
To care for His creation so that it can bear fruit and flourish
It
is only the mature that bear fruit and know how to raise / care for /
multiply the fruit – we don't naturally know how to do that
We must learn to live within the limitations God establishes so we can grow and mature.
Gal. 5:16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17
For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the
Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with
each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Gal. 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did
before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of
God.
God places new limitations on Adam & Eve – and us – so we can grow in maturity and experience greater freedom in knowing God
God curses the serpent and the land but not Adam & Eve
The curses reduce the capabilities of the serpent and the land, but God did not reduce the capabilities of Adam & Eve.
But he did place new limitations on them – for a purpose –
To help them mature so they can become fruitful
The new limits / boundaries are intended to work the immature rebellion out of our lives. And increase our understanding and faith in God, to know that He is good,
God sends Adam & Eve from the garden – the classic understanding of this is that God was angry and punishing Adam & Eve. I
don't see any sense that God was angry, He still desired what was good
and best – and it was best for Adam & Eve to not experience the
tree of life – yet – they were too immature for it yet –
God is a good God but the rebellious cannot see his goodness, they can not distinguish good from evil – yet.
How do we move out of rebellion?
Admit God is who He says He is , he is good
Admit where you have been in rebellion – recognize where it has lead you
Believe that God's ways are always better than your own
Believe that God sent his son as both man and God for you to follow
Commit to following Him, commit your life to him, commit to trust him