WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:03.919 This is the fourth Sunday in Advent. 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:09.519 We are in our sermon series from the book of Genesis. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:17.440 It raises the question for all of us today that God asks of each of us, where are you? 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:21.199 Where are you this Advent season? 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:24.079 Do you know? 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:26.879 Don't ever assume. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.760 Don't ever assume that you know where your heart is. 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:33.920 The heart can be quite tricky. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:36.799 The heart, the Bible says, can be deceitful. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:44.479 As we've seen the last few weeks, we can we can hide from God in all kinds of ways. 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:47.280 This morning we're going to look at that in particular. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:51.679 The ways that we hide, but the ways that God finds us. 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:56.159 Reading from the Word of God, Genesis chapter 3. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:01.600 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:07.439 And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:12.239 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:21.359 And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:24.719 He said, Who told you that you were naked? 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:28.719 Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:36.239 The man said, The woman from whom you gave me to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree, and I ate. 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:41.040 Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:45.120 The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:52.400 The Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all the beasts of the field. 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:57.359 On your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:03.280 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:08.479 He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:16.240 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:21.680 This is the precious, pure, powerful word of God. 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:24.960 It's prayed together. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:37.360 Oh God, we thank you that as you met our first parents in the garden and had a solution, would you please meet us today? 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:46.000 Would your solution for our sin not only be very clearly understood, but greatly desired? 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:48.960 Holy Spirit, only you can do that. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:51.759 We'll never get there on our own reasoning. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:03:03.360 So, Holy Spirit, would you please uncover whatever it is that would be holding us back from seeing what Jesus provides. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:05.120 In his name we come. 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:06.159 Amen. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:22.159 The last two weeks we've looked at the origin of how this mess came about, the troubles and the sorrows in this world, the consequences of our falling to temptation. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:28.080 Not only did Adam and Eve fall to temptation, but we all have done that. 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:30.479 We all share that sin. 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:34.159 Succumbing to temptation, they lost their peace. 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:39.840 As we've seen in this sermon series, fear and peace do not coexist. 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:43.360 What we fear, we often try to control. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:45.280 We all know that. 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:49.039 Out of fear, we go into hiding. 00:03:49.280 --> 00:04:03.439 We've seen in this sermon series that we all are very familiar with fig leaves, the largest leaves that were available in the Garden of Eden, looking for maximum coverage, maximum protection. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:10.800 How do we protect ourselves from this world, from others? 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:14.879 God asked the question of Adam, who told you that you were naked? 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:18.240 Once he sinned against God, he just knew it. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:22.959 He just knew inside that he had lost his shalom, his peace. 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:24.800 Things were not well. 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:30.560 Living in shame, we looked at last week. 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:34.079 Living in shame. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:36.000 Shame is a beast. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:38.560 Shame tries to name you. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:46.079 Shame tries to tell you who you are based on what you've done that has not measured up to God. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:50.399 But Jesus has something better, as we saw last week. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:53.920 Jesus says, no, I'm not going to name you by your sin. 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:58.480 I'm going to name you by what I've done for you, child of God. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:04.319 As the call to worship reminded us this morning, behold, what manner of love is this? 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:06.879 That we are the children of God. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:12.240 Once we come to Christ, nobody is born in that position. 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:14.000 You must understand that. 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:16.720 You are not born with the remedy. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:19.040 You're not born with the covering that Christ provides. 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:23.839 That's something that we must all receive in this life. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:26.480 We've talked about that. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:32.720 We just know that something inside is wrong, don't we? 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:36.000 Are you still trying to kid yourself? 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:41.439 Are you still trying to convince yourself that you're okay inside? 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:44.000 That you really don't need a savior. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:49.439 We're going to try to disabuse any thinking about that today. 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:54.879 We begin searching for something on the outside. 00:05:55.279 --> 00:06:04.000 Again, as we saw last week, it may be intelligence, it may be beauty, it may be our sense of humor, athletic, artistic achievement. 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:05.839 It may be shyness. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:10.000 Whatever it is, counselors call these things layers. 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:17.759 Layers that we put over ourselves so that nobody ever sees what's really going on inside of us. 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:21.759 And we try desperately to cover up. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:25.360 But nobody does well enough. 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:38.319 Whatever helps us to run from admitting to ourselves who we are to anyone, including ourselves, we discover protective strategies that work. 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:45.519 Anything that helps us deal with life with our souls buried in the same time. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:51.120 And sometimes we, the cover feels unbearable. 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:54.079 And that's when we struggle with shame. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:56.319 The silent killer. 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:00.480 Jesus came as we saw last Lord's day. 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:03.439 Jesus came to take your shame. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:06.959 Jesus came to take your guilt. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:09.279 Jesus came to take your sin. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:13.279 It was all nailed on the cross with him. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:20.319 But again, it's a work that Christ did, but it's a gift that we must receive. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:25.839 Until we receive that gift, we are still left on our own. 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:28.000 And that's not good for anybody. 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:34.720 And so as we continue this last week on the series, the first point, let's just talk more about the cover-up. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:43.360 As we go back to that verse we've been looking at, our theme verse, verse 9, where God calls to Adam and says, Where are you? 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:47.839 And he said, I heard you in the garden and I was afraid. 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:50.160 Okay, we looked at that week one. 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:54.399 Last week we looked at, because I was naked. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:58.000 This morning, so I hid myself. 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:03.360 Before the fall, being known and knowing God was a blessing. 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:07.199 But since the fall, it feels like a curse. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:11.680 We play the game, hide and seek, but it's not a game. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:14.000 But it's a version of that. 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:20.240 How do I hide from the powerful gaze of God? 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:26.560 Remember the fresco we talked about in Florence last week? 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:33.679 Banished from the garden, depicted in our Adam is just holding, hanging his head down in shame. 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:35.440 He can't even look up. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:39.039 And Eve's head is thrust up. 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:41.360 You just see the misery on her face. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:44.960 It's tough. 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:50.159 And so we banished from the garden because of our sin. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:56.879 We hide and we wait to see if we can remain hidden from God. 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:02.720 We're just going to talk about what that looks like a little bit more in some very practical ways right now. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:08.000 But before we get into the hide and seek more, let's talk about why we hide and seek. 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:17.039 You know, throughout the Bible, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, people know that they can't stand in front of a holy, perfect God. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:20.480 It would be our undoing. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:23.519 Isaiah said that in Isaiah chapter 6. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:31.120 In the year that Uzziah the king died, he had a vision of heaven and God comes to him. 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:37.440 And when he sees God approaching him in holiness and knowing that he's not holy, and he was a priest. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:40.159 He was one of the better ones. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:42.559 But he said, Woe is me. 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:49.200 I am undone, because right now the holy God is coming after me, and I cannot dare to look at him. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:52.559 Isaiah came undone. 00:09:52.720 --> 00:10:00.240 Moses had the same experience, much like that in Exodus chapter 33, verse 20, where he says, God, show me your face. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:02.960 He's like, Moses, I can't show you my face. 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:08.799 If I showed you my face, my pani, my presence, you would die. 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:22.720 That kind of hot, pure, the heat of God's glory, the heat of God's holiness, would melt you on the spot. 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:25.600 He says, You cannot see my face. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:28.960 No one can see my face and live. 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:31.360 What about the New Testament? 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:40.080 Early on, when Jesus and his disciples were out and Peter was fishing with some of his brothers. 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:44.639 And Jesus says, Hey, you guys, how's the fishing going? 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:46.559 And Peter says, Not well, Lord. 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:48.159 We haven't caught anything all night. 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:51.120 And Jesus says, Well, put the net on the other side of the boat. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:55.120 And you can just sense this exasperated Peter. 00:10:55.360 --> 00:11:00.799 You know, Jesus, we get that, you know, you're Messiah, but we're the fishermen. 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:02.879 We know how to do this. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:03.919 Thank you. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:06.080 He said, No, no, really. 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:08.320 Put the net on the other side of the boat. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:10.720 You know what happens. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:15.440 They catch so many fish that the nets start to burst. 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:22.639 What was Peter's reaction when he now he sees the glory of God being manifested through the person of Jesus? 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:24.559 Do you remember what he said? 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:27.039 Depart from me, Lord. 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:32.480 I can't take this high voltage of your glory. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:35.440 I feel so unworthy inside. 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:39.519 See, that's why it's really hard. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:41.600 You just can't look God in the face. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:44.720 There's too much to hide. 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:49.919 There's too much that we are broken over. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:53.039 But you can't look Jesus in the face. 00:11:53.759 --> 00:12:00.080 That's why Jesus came from heaven to be the Father's representative. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:06.080 And so we still hide from God in many ways. 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:10.960 When God, the real God, shows up, our real selves can't handle that. 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:17.200 Let me give you an illustration from Bible scholar Jim Boyce. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:41.360 At one time in his life, when he was getting his doctorate living in Switzerland, each year in the town of Basil, the Swiss equivalent of Mardi Gras would be held, and people would don their mask and their costumes, and they would play games and they would do things that they would not normally do because, well, think Mardi Gras. 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:55.360 They had their mask on, they had their costumes, and somehow they felt permitted, they felt permissioned to act out in some ways that they knew would be displeasing to God. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:03.759 Each year the salvation army in that town would advertise on billboards all over the city with this message. 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:07.360 God sees behind your mask. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:11.279 And you know that's still true. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:15.840 God sees behind your mask and mine. 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:21.759 Every day's Halloween unless you go to Jesus for your covering. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:30.480 Every day is Halloween unless you learn to believe that Jesus died to take that cover. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:36.399 Boyce's comment, he goes on to comment about that. 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:39.919 There are only two religions in this world. 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:43.919 The first religion is a religion of works. 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:46.639 Let's think of it as our own covering. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:49.120 We'll get to the second religion later. 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:59.039 The first religion is a religion of covering, covering up, putting on masks, putting on costumes, as we've talked about the last two weeks. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:12.799 Very, it's a very common way, the religion of works, our own covering, one very common way that most of us have done this many times over, is just trying to be good people. 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:28.559 Trying to do good, trying to be good, so that if there is a God out there and he really is holy and he doesn't just wink at sin, that well, maybe this will appease him. 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:32.639 The Bible never teaches any such thing. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:34.480 It's not true. 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:40.799 He goes on to give the illustration of something that many of us will relate to. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:43.200 Playing the game of Monopoly. 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:46.720 I don't know about you, but I love that game. 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:49.200 I still love that game. 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:59.200 You know, when you're winning, when you get boardwalk and park place, and you get putting houses and hotels, isn't it a rush? 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:08.080 And you start putting your competitors out of the game, and Sharon says, I'm really too competitive in this game. 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:12.240 Maybe some of you're thinking, a rush. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:19.679 And then you sit there on the board and you've got all your cash. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:22.799 You know, you practically own the whole bank. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:33.919 And then you take all that monopoly money and you go down to the bank down the street to open up a new account. 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:36.559 Alright? 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:43.840 You've got all that monopoly money, and you put it on the counter, and you say, see, I'm here to open up a new account. 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:47.919 And the cashier looks at you like you're nuts. 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:51.440 What's all this? 00:15:52.799 --> 00:16:00.320 You put down your winnings on the counter and they say, I'm sorry, but we don't recognize this kind of currency. 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:03.039 It gets you nowhere. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:12.879 Your monopoly money works well when you play the game, but it has no value, it has no currency with God. 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:19.120 You know, that's what we do when we cover up by trying to be good. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:21.440 That's exactly what it's like. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:23.919 We cover up. 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:28.559 And we do all these things, and we try to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:30.559 We try to be the best that we could be. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.879 Because we just know inherently you're supposed to do this. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:37.840 You're supposed to try to be good. 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:40.960 And doesn't it earn us something? 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:44.720 The Bible says, no, it doesn't. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:47.200 The wages of sin is death. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:52.320 But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:58.240 Not in God's bank account. 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:02.159 We deceive ourselves, as we've said in this series. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:05.759 Sin is where you put a move on yourself. 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:09.759 And I'm not saying we, it's not that we understand this consciously. 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:11.519 It's not that we're conscious about all this. 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:14.400 We don't even know what's going on in our motivation. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:17.759 All we know is that we're trying to make it. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:25.279 All we know is that if there is a God and I'm going to please him, I have to have something to give him, right? 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:30.319 God says, I'm not taking your monopoly money. 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:34.079 I'm not taking your efforts to be good. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:36.400 I'm not accepting that. 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:42.960 For you to think that just demonstrates that you really don't take your sin seriously. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:47.680 I cannot atone for my sin. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:49.359 Neither can you. 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:54.079 We do that in so many ways. 00:17:54.559 --> 00:18:00.160 So long as we can convince ourselves that we're acceptable by comparing ourselves to others. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:03.359 That's a favorite game some of us play. 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:11.759 We can hardly go a week, we can hardly go a day without comparing ourselves, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:15.680 And you know, we can always find people that make us look better. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:18.240 But that's not the point. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:21.039 Those aren't the rules that God plays by. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:23.680 God says, I'm not playing that game. 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:29.839 But some of us think, well, I'll take my chances if there is a God. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:43.519 John Flavel, the great theologian, said centuries ago, there are some people who have lived 40 or 50 years or more in this world and have scarcely had one hour's discourse with their own hearts. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:48.160 I think that's particularly true during the Christmas season. 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:55.039 We can get so caught up in all the activities, all the sentimentality of Christmas. 00:18:55.440 --> 00:19:00.319 We can get so caught up with listening to beautiful music. 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:06.160 Sharon and I were at the Kennedy Center last night listening to the Messiah. 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:20.319 And you know, I just wonder how many people in that large choir, how many people in that orchestra are playing this beautiful music, but they really don't understand the message of the Messiah. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:22.480 We can do that. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:26.559 But it's not ever going to help. 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:36.960 Brennan Manning said the false self suppresses or camouflages our truest feelings, making emotional honesty impossible. 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:50.319 Living out of the false self creates a compulsive desire to present a perfect image to the public so that everybody will admire us and yet nobody will really know us. 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:55.519 I know what that looks like, don't you? 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:03.759 The times when I've just tried to put on that mask, convince myself and convince others that I'm better than I really am. 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:06.559 The cover-up. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:08.960 The cover-up. 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:11.440 It's not for you. 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:14.400 It's not for me. 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:19.440 Jesus came to offer something so much better. 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:30.160 And so let's not focus so much now on the cover-up, but let's focus on the divine covering that Jesus offers us. 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:37.839 Satan's mistake was that he reasoned that if he could get Adam and Eve to sin, God's wrath and anger would fall on them. 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:42.880 What he failed to see, because he's not omniscient, the devil's not omniscient. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:51.839 What he failed to see is that God's only Son would come and stand in our place. 00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:57.519 The Heidelberg Catechism says in Question 11, talking about what happened. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:05.039 And sin committed against his supreme majesty must be punished with the supreme penalty. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:08.240 Isn't that ring true? 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:18.640 He is of the most supreme majesty, and yet the majestic one came to pay the supreme penalty. 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:24.079 This divine covering, you see it in the text printed in your bulletin in verse 21. 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:30.559 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:35.839 As we looked two weeks ago at verse 15 of this text printed. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:40.720 Right after they sinned, Adam and Eve sinned. 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:45.200 God didn't leave them to stew in it. 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:48.240 God didn't leave them without any hope. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:51.680 Here's the first offer of the gospel in the Old Testament. 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:58.319 God says, You have sinned, you have fallen, but I am going to give you a remedy. 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:11.039 I will send a Son, one day, and that son will bruise the head of Satan, crush the head of Satan, and that happened on the day that Jesus was crucified at the cross. 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:15.759 The day that Jesus was crucified on the cross, Satan was defeated. 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:23.759 The Bible tells us, Paul tells us in Colossians chapter 2, and that moment that God disarmed all the powers of this world. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:28.559 He disarmed them by taking all of our offenses. 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:31.920 We were talking about this in our CFC this week. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:34.160 All of us have a rap sheet. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:40.880 All of us have a very, very, very long list of how we have sinned against God. 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:49.119 When Jesus Christ died on the cross, that rap sheet, Christian, was nailed on the cross with him. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:53.519 That's what it means that Jesus became sin for us. 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:56.559 That's what it means that Jesus became a curse for us. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:01.279 That's what it means that Jesus took our shame, our guilt. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:06.559 And that's why he can look you in the eye today and say you are forgiven in Christ. 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:08.720 You are righteous in Christ. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:12.880 Who does that? 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:15.519 But Jesus. 00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:18.319 This is why I love him. 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:21.680 This is why I want to serve him. 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:25.440 Who does this but the Son of God? 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:29.039 Oh, thank you, Jesus. 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:40.160 And so he takes skins, the garments of skins, and clothed Adam and Eve in the garden. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:44.720 In order for them to be clothed in the skins of animals, the animals had to die. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:45.920 We know that. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:52.400 So also for us to be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus, which the skins represent. 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:54.240 Jesus had to die. 00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:58.640 Let me take you back centuries ago to the Old Testament before Jesus came. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:13.279 If you were an Israelite and you worship the true God and you sinned, you would come to the priest with your animal, let's say it might have been a lamb, and you would kill the lamb. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:17.599 The priest would say, Why are you here today? 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:19.759 And you would have to confess your sin. 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:22.160 You would say, I'm here today because. 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:26.000 But you would kill the animal. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:33.279 The priest would take the blood of the animal and sprinkle it on the horns of the altar. 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:37.599 But that animal had to die. 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:42.079 He was a symbol of the fact that I should have died. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:46.960 The Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:52.319 The skins represented the life that had to die. 00:24:52.720 --> 00:25:02.720 We said earlier that there are only two religions in this whole world: either the religion of works, what we try to provide, or the religion of skins. 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:05.759 The religion of skins. 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:09.839 Not works. 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:22.880 When he shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in him be found. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:28.799 Dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:36.400 You know when you stand before God in heaven, you will not have one shred of condemnation. 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:40.400 Can you imagine? 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:47.200 You will be able to look Jesus in the eye because you will have no shame. 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:49.039 You will have no guilt. 00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:55.680 You will be able to look him in the eye, dressed in his righteousness, and say thank you. 00:25:57.279 --> 00:25:58.240 Thank you. 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:02.559 On Christ, this solid rock I stand. 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:06.480 All other ground is sinking sand. 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:08.400 This is true. 00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:12.079 This is the religion of skins. 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:15.440 My hope is built on this. 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:18.160 Put down your monopoly money today. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:21.759 Put it down. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:35.839 Say to him, Lord, I understand maybe for the first time in my life that there's not one good thing that I can bring to atone for what I've done. 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:37.759 Jesus paid it all. 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:39.759 All to him I owe. 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:48.720 Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, again, Jesus was bruised, he was smitten, he was afflicted, Isaiah tells us. 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:53.039 He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. 00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:57.440 The punishment that brought us peace was upon him. 00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:01.200 We don't have it printed in the text, but we read it a couple of weeks ago. 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:08.960 If you go further in chapter 3 of Genesis, verse 24, we see that the cherubim were placed at the garden's entrance. 00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:13.920 Once Adam and Eve were banished from the garden because they had to wait for the Messiah to come. 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:18.160 They no longer belonged in that garden, in that paradise. 00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:19.839 They had to wait. 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:22.559 But God promised that one would come. 00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:29.039 The cherubim guarding the entrance so that they would not get back on their own. 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:32.880 They would not get back by their own efforts, by their own works. 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:42.319 The cherubim, most often in the Word of God, refer to these figures over the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:54.160 So if you don't know the story of the Old Testament, God gave his people an ark of the covenant, which symbolized the very presence of the holiness of God. 00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:57.839 And above the ark was the mercy seat. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:00.400 But the mercy seat was empty. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:02.960 Why was it empty? 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:06.960 It was waiting for this one to come, this promised one to come. 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:14.720 We who were banished from the garden because of our sins, one day would be admitted back in. 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:24.799 As the high priest sprinkled the blood of the lamb once a year, once a year, one day a year, the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies, the tabernacle, and then later in the temple. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:28.640 And he would go to that mercy seat and he would sprinkle the blood. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:36.319 He would sprinkle the blood of the animals that were slain for us one day in Christ. 00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:43.519 The ark represented all the essential elements from the scene of the Garden of Eden. 00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:45.039 Isn't this beautiful? 00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:47.359 I mean, just think of the imagery. 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:51.279 What the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament represented. 00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:53.039 The presence of God. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:56.000 You know what was above the Ark of the Covenant? 00:28:56.160 --> 00:28:58.640 Cherubim on either side of the ark. 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:09.599 With their wings outstretched over the ark, and the ark wouldn't would have been roughly this size, and their wings would touch over the ark. 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:11.519 The holiness of God. 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:16.240 The lid of the Ark of the Covenant was covered with solid gold. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:24.079 At each end of the ark was a golden cherub whose wings covered that ark, that covered the mercy seat. 00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:30.319 There were palm leaves that were embroidered on the veil which separated the Holy of Holies from the holy place. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:37.119 Palm leaves, the garden, all pointing to the day. 00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:39.599 We call it Christmas. 00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:51.680 When Jesus would leave heaven to come to this earth to do everything that we could not do for ourselves because of love. 00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:54.720 This is the week of love, right? 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:59.359 It's appropriate that we're thinking about the love of God this morning. 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:09.440 The mercy seat had been empty until the day that Christ came and finished the work that he came to do. 00:30:12.160 --> 00:30:13.759 He came to do this. 00:30:14.240 --> 00:30:17.200 And because of that, Eden is open again. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:20.400 The garden is open to all who come. 00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:24.799 The garden is open to all who come to Jesus Christ as their covering. 00:30:25.119 --> 00:30:26.720 Put down your rags. 00:30:28.480 --> 00:30:30.480 Put down your good works. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:34.079 Put down your best efforts. 00:30:35.359 --> 00:30:37.440 Say, Jesus, I need you. 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:39.759 I need you to be my covering. 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:42.880 I thank you that you are all the covering that I need. 00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:44.640 And receive him. 00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:50.079 The Bible says, for as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become sons of God, daughters of God. 00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:51.680 But you have to receive them. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:53.680 None of this happens automatically. 00:30:53.839 --> 00:30:55.599 None of this happens because you go to church. 00:30:55.759 --> 00:30:59.039 None of this happens because you belong to a certain family. 00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:09.119 It happens as you receive him, as you trust him, as you put all your faith and confidence in him, what he did. 00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:12.720 Eden is open. 00:31:14.799 --> 00:31:18.480 Glory to God in the highest heaven, peace on earth among men. 00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:20.960 Glory to God in the highest heaven. 00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:23.759 Eden is open again. 00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:29.200 Thorns melt away with sorrow and sin as we walk with God again. 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:31.200 Free from the curse. 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:33.200 Your promise has come. 00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:36.400 Glory to the Father. 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:45.680 I'm here to tell you this morning that Eden is open. 00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:52.640 Jesus' arms are opened, welcoming you. 00:31:54.720 --> 00:31:56.160 Come to Jesus. 00:31:57.359 --> 00:31:58.799 Come to Jesus. 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:01.599 He's the one that knows you best. 00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:03.599 He's the one that loves you the most. 00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:05.119 But you must come. 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:07.039 You must come. 00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:13.920 Lord Jesus, please continue to speak into the hearts of your people here this morning. 00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:18.799 Lord Jesus, please continue to speak truth and grace. 00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:21.200 We need both. 00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:26.400 We need the truth about ourselves, we need the truth about you, but we also need grace. 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:29.279 Unmerited favor. 00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:44.559 Lord Jesus, this morning we celebrate the fact that you offer, you offer covering, the only covering that we'll do, that will suffice. 00:32:45.119 --> 00:32:46.880 And so we don't have to live in shame. 00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:48.799 We don't have to live with our guilt. 00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:53.039 We don't have to live with that guilty conscience. 00:32:53.359 --> 00:32:56.240 We don't have to, we can acknowledge the truth about ourselves. 00:32:56.400 --> 00:32:58.000 We can come out of hiding. 00:32:59.039 --> 00:33:01.359 Lord, that's what Christmas is really about. 00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:07.039 You left heaven so that we could leave behind our fig leaves. 00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:09.920 We come to you, Jesus. 00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:11.680 We love you, Jesus. 00:33:11.920 --> 00:33:15.119