WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:12.480 This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:18.000 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:19.440 Let's pray together. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:29.280 Lord, when we come to you, uh when we sing glory to your name, we are just fulfilling part of our creative purpose because we eat and sleep and drink and live to bring you glory. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:34.000 That's why the Bible says, whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, to offer the glory of God. 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:37.119 Lord, deliver us from doing what we do for a paycheck. 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:46.719 That feels good some days, but it'll never be enough to affect our ethic, our morality, our being as people, the way we occupy our space. 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:49.200 And so, Holy Spirit, we're gonna open up the Bible. 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:50.640 We're gonna come to God. 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:53.039 This is not a talk about relationships. 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:59.520 This is a talk about God who created to be free people who trust you for everything and with everything. 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:04.959 Because when we come to God, we're coming to a fountain that is both rich and sweet. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:09.040 And so our poverty gets immersed in your riches today, God. 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:15.519 And the bitter taste that this world leaves in us gets just abolished by the sweetness of who God is. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:23.200 So let us taste and see that the Lord is good and let that leave a sweet, smelling aroma in our mouth and on our lives. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:27.920 So when we get to work tomorrow, the people around us sense something different about us. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:30.319 And it's not us, it's you. 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:32.239 This is our prayer, God. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:34.640 Make it our experience, we pray in Jesus' name. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:36.480 And everyone's uh, Amen. 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:36.959 Amen. 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:37.680 You can have a seat. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:40.959 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it to open up to Genesis chapter two. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:42.079 And let me introduce myself. 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:43.920 If you're our guest today, my name is Neil. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:46.079 I'm the lead pastor here at Grand Park Way. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:49.519 Uh, and uh I'm glad you've chosen to visit a church. 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:52.560 And if you're looking for a new church or love for this, make part of your church home. 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:56.319 If you're watching online, you're part of our online audience, our congregation. 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:58.959 Uh let me say, welcome, take your Bibles, open them up. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:01.200 We're in a series called Return to Design. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:03.439 Typically, we're preaching through a book of the Bible. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:11.199 It's called Expository Preaching, which is not lecturing people about God and boring them to sleep, but no, it's just, hey, this is what the Bible says. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:12.080 This is the truth. 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:16.960 Uh occasionally we break it up with what's called the topical series, but even then, that comes from the Bible. 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:18.240 And such is what we're in now. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:19.680 It's called Return to Design. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:20.800 It's easy to look around. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:28.800 We're in the first, we're we're walking through the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, because we want to see the way God designed the world to be, okay? 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:32.560 It's easy to look around and kind of go, the world is just jacked up. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:36.879 If there is a God and He's really good, why is the world so bad? 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:46.159 And what we want you to see from the Bible, not from me, is that the world's the way it is, not because God's the way he is, but because humanity is the way we are. 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:47.280 Does that make sense? 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:48.400 Say amen. 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:52.560 And it's not about getting mad, it's about getting intentional, okay? 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:55.759 And so in just a minute, I'll start reading Genesis chapter 2, verse 15. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:58.719 I want to talk to you this morning about God's design for relationship. 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:02.960 Now, this is not a sermon about relationships, this is a sermon about God. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:10.560 And so be careful that you don't just listen and think, okay, uh, more notes about a relationship and you get all stirred up about relationships. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:12.479 I want you to get stirred up about God. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:13.680 Uh, here's the difference. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:14.960 Let me give you an example. 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:19.680 Uh, I say to men, when men say to me, Hey, we're pregnant, it's our first child, I say two things. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:21.280 Number one, congratulations. 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:24.639 And number two, be sure and put the crib together in the nursery. 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:26.960 And they always look at me like, What's the big deal about that? 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:29.759 And I'm like, okay, I don't unpack it, I don't go into detail. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:33.360 I just throw out a little tidb of experiential knowledge. 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:38.159 And one in particular, I saw him probably nine, ten months later when the baby was born. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:41.520 And I was like, he was like, hey man, that thing about the crib, why didn't you tell me? 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:43.039 I said, I what do you mean why? 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:44.400 I told you to put it together in the nursery. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:45.680 He said, Why didn't you tell me why? 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:51.599 Because what he did was watching college football, putting his crib together, you know, thinking, baby, look at me, I got it all together. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:53.280 He said, I had it together by halftime. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:57.919 I went sliding that thing down the hall, got to the doorway to the nursery, bonk. 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:03.199 And I said, That's why you put it together in the nursery, because once you get it together, it doesn't fit through the door. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:05.360 And they don't tell you that in the directions. 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:06.319 He said, Man, I was so mad. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:07.039 I said, What'd you do? 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:11.840 He goes, I loosened all the corners and tried to bend it like a trapezoid and jam it in there. 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:13.280 And then my wife's like, What are you doing? 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:14.879 You're scratching the crab in the wall. 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:17.120 He said, We got one of the worst fights of our marriage. 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:19.279 And I just thought, we don't even have this kid yet. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:20.720 We're about to kill each other. 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:23.839 And I was like, Yeah, you put it together. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:25.680 And I said, You had to take it all apart, didn't you? 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:26.319 He goes, Yeah. 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:29.920 I took one end off and tried to kind of get it around there, stand up on it. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:32.560 I said, Yeah, you can't stand up and get it around the corner. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:34.160 You put it together in the nursery. 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:36.240 Now you may be thinking, why am I telling you that? 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:39.680 Because if you're not careful when it comes to relationships, this is what we do. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:49.360 We hear any we hear the word relationship, and we start making, if you're 15, you start making a list of what you want in a husband or a wife, depending if you're a man or a woman, and it's like, okay, I'm getting ready. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:05:02.399 And what you meant, you get to the relationship and you begin to proceed, and then bonk, you hit this impasse, and you can't quite get past this thing because you are all wired up for relationship, but you don't understand God. 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:05.360 Big difference in those two. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:11.839 So today, I really want to talk to you about God and this God's design for relationship. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:15.759 Now, I have two and a half points, not three, not six. 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:17.759 The guy last week, but he had like nine. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:19.120 I like I lost count. 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:20.319 It's just a joke. 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:21.120 Okay, it was good. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:21.920 Go listen to it. 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:23.519 But I just have two and a half points. 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.399 I'm gonna start reading Genesis chapter two, verse 15. 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:27.360 The Bible says this. 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:31.360 Now the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:33.439 Now, this is what's happened so far, okay? 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:38.720 Earlier in chapter two, God created the garden of Eden and He says, I'm gonna make all the plants grow. 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:44.000 He puts the man in the garden, in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it. 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:54.319 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:57.600 And then the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:05:59.519 I will make him a helper fit for him. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:06.480 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:09.759 Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:16.800 The man gave names to all livestock, to the birds of the heaven, to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:24.800 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept, he took one of his ribs and closed up his place with flesh. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:36.959 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man, he made into a woman, and brought her to the man, and the man said, This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, and she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:45.279 Therefore, because of this, therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:49.120 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:51.839 Three things that the text says to us this morning, okay? 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:55.439 And the first one is simply this God designed us for meaningful labor. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:57.279 God designed us for meaningful labor. 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:01.199 Now, this is my half point because I think Blake did a great job talking about this last week. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:04.319 I don't want to go back and re-preach it, but just look at verse 15. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:09.759 It says, the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to keep it. 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:14.240 Work it, work is not because of the fall, because of the uh uh uh of sin. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:21.040 Work is a part of we work because we are part of uh of God saying, Hey, rule over creation and subdue it. 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:24.319 And when I say God designed us for meaningful labor, here's what I mean. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:30.560 Unless we exert ourselves in labor, we bring unmanageable energy to all of our relationships. 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:32.160 Let me say that again. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:38.399 Unless you exert yourself in labor, you bring unmanageable energy to all of your relationships. 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:41.040 Here's how you know you're not exerting yourself properly. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:42.560 I mean by physical exertion. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:44.720 I mean, like, I think I told you this a couple weeks ago. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:47.519 Uh when I get ready to mow the yard, I don't say to my wife, I'm gonna mow. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:50.079 I say, I'm gonna rule over creation and subdue it. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:52.800 And she just rolls her eyes and she's like, just go mow, okay? 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:53.519 Just go mow. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:02.639 It sounds better if I say I'm gonna rule over creation and subdue it, because here's the thing uh yes or no, have you ever just done something that was so physically taxing and exhausting? 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:05.040 And yet when you're done, you stood back and looked at it. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:05.839 You had two things. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:08.240 Number one, this deep sense of accomplishment. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:11.600 And secondly, though you were drained, you felt full. 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:12.720 Yes or no? 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:14.639 Yes, this is exertion. 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:17.040 This is what God created you to experience. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:30.800 And unless you experience, you know, unless you have a rhythm where you exert yourself on a consistent basis, what is gonna happen is that you're gonna retain this energy that should be dispelled by exertion, by physical labor, by working the garden and keeping it. 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:36.399 Unless you exert that in work, you're gonna bring that home and it's gonna manifest in your relationships. 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:38.799 Here's how you know you're not exerting yourself. 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:40.320 You get chippy. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:42.480 Anybody know what chippy is? 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:46.000 Some of you are nodding and your spouse is like, I got nothing. 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:51.840 Uh yeah, it's when you come home and everybody's on your nerve for no real reason, but they're just on your nerve, okay? 00:08:52.000 --> 00:09:00.879 The cat makes you mad, the dog reminds you that it costs money and does not generate income, your kids are not grateful, your wife is late with dinner, everything's just wrong. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:04.879 The news puts you in a bad mood, you wanted beef and your wife made chicken. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:12.480 You should ask yourself, instead of why is everybody so screwed up, you should ask yourself, hey, how am I exerting myself? 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:17.120 Because I got a lot of energy that I'm bringing to things, and this doesn't belong to these people. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:17.600 Okay? 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:21.120 And so I'm just saying, God designed us for meaningful labor. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:26.080 Okay, here's the second thing the Bible tells us today that God designed us for responsible freedom. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:28.000 God designed us for responsible freedom. 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:29.840 Verse 16 and 17, look at them. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:37.519 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:41.200 For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:45.759 There are not two more important uh verses in the Bible, in my opinion. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:56.879 Now, when I say uh that God designed us for responsible freedom, this is not the ultimate freedom that our world talks about, our culture talks about, because for them, ultimate freedom is the freedom to do whatever I want. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:07.440 Um, but but the freedom that's demonstrated here is basically I can live my life in such a way that I demonstrate that there's someone to whom I am ultimately responsible. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:08.000 Okay? 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:13.200 Now, responsible freedom infers that there's someone uh to whom we are responsible. 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:20.879 Now, because of that, part of our thinking process around this needs to acknowledge that God has the moral authority to say to you two things. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:23.039 You may and you may not. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:25.120 You may and you may not. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:29.519 I don't mean just in the big things, I mean in the warp and woof in and out of daily living. 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:33.440 God has the moral authority to say to you, you may and you may not. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:34.799 Somebody asked me this past week. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:36.720 I said, Hey, are you preaching on Sunday? 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:38.159 You haven't preached, where have you been? 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:39.600 And I went, I still work here. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:40.799 I got a kid in college. 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:41.840 We were there last week. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:44.000 A couple weeks ago, I was speaking at a men's event. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:44.960 Yes, I'm preaching. 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:45.759 What are you preaching about? 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:47.840 And I told him, and the guy goes, Well, I have a question. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:49.120 Are you gonna answer this question? 00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:51.120 I said, Please send me all your questions. 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:52.720 I'll write a sermon around them. 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:55.519 Uh no, he goes, I mean, you're talking about the Garden of Eden, right? 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:58.480 The good, the tree of uh, yeah, I said the two trees in the garden. 00:10:58.559 --> 00:10:58.799 Yeah. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:01.679 God said, You're free to eat of any tree in the garden of this one tree. 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:03.519 I said, There wasn't just two trees. 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:06.879 It's not like, oh, you got one tree and you got this other tree. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:08.720 I hope this one has the fruit you like. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:09.039 No. 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:12.240 God says to Adam, you're free to eat of any tree in the garden. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:14.240 It's like a fat boy at a buffet. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:16.639 I mean, it's just it's just all you ever wanted. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:18.639 But God says, of this one tree, don't eat. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:22.159 He goes, Well, why did God put the that that tree in the garden to begin with? 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:23.759 And I said, That's your question. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:27.360 He goes, Yeah, I've gone to church most of my life and no one's ever answered the question. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:28.240 I said, It's real simple. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.120 He goes, Well, then answer, I said, I'll answer it on Sunday. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:36.480 You're just trying to make me come to church. 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:41.039 Or you can sit home and say, COVID, and I'm watching it here in my pajamas. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:43.440 Just kidding, online people. 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:44.799 I know you have good reasons. 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:49.840 Um, my friend Roger, who's recovering from knee surgery, Roger gets a hall pass. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:52.240 The rest of you, step your game up, play. 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:56.240 Anyway, and so I said, here's the thing, I'll answer it for you right here. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:12:00.799 Uh, the reason God puts the other tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden is real simple. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:01.600 Look at me. 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:05.440 It's because God is demonstrating to Adam and Eve you're not God. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:10.399 And by extension, he's demonstrating to you and I you're not God either. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:15.120 We'll get into this next Sunday when we get to chapter three, because all everything breaks loose. 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:18.240 And the serpent comes along and says, Hey, surely did God say? 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:22.240 And he said, Well, you know, God said we could eat, but yeah, oh, you're not gonna die. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:23.360 You're not gonna die. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:25.759 In other words, God's afraid you're gonna be like him. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:27.120 That's what he goes on to say. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:30.000 And so look at me, and we'll unpack this more next week. 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:34.799 But if you can be like God, knowing good and evil, right and wrong, why do you need God? 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:40.879 And so it's the foundational lie that humanity continues to believe, but I'm getting into next week. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:42.159 Let me get back into this week. 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:44.399 God designed us for responsible freedom. 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:46.240 That means God has the moral authority. 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:51.360 He puts the tree in the garden and has the moral authority to say, you may and you may not. 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:56.399 You gotta ask yourself, in your daily living, does God have the moral authority? 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:59.120 Does he have dominion over you to say yes and no? 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:01.840 Like, for example, last night I went to a friend's birthday party. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:07.279 This wasn't just a birthday party, it was my friend's 60th birthday party, and it was like an adult party. 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:08.559 And so they had adult food. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:19.360 They had this incredible beef tenderloin, a huge pan of it with some whipped potatoes and some just some fancy green beans, uh, and they had some rolls there. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:21.440 I called them biscuits, and somebody goes, They're rolls. 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:22.799 I went, okay, whatever. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:24.559 Uh, and and so it was incredible. 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:29.919 And so I was like one of the first 10 people in line uh because I just wanted to let people know it was okay to eat. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:37.840 Uh, and so we went and got seated, and we're all sitting in these round tables, and I finished quickly because I didn't have that much, and I just thought, you know what'd be good? 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:40.399 Because the tenderloin was about that thick. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:45.840 It was cooked perfectly, and it had this pepper encrusted, and right next to it was this bowl. 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:49.039 They called it aju or something, but it was like brown gravy. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:51.600 It was thicker than like prime rib juice, as I call it. 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:52.799 My wife's like, it's aju. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:53.919 I'm like, it's juice. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:54.720 Be quiet. 00:13:54.799 --> 00:14:02.240 Uh and so I'm sitting there fantasizing about while everyone's in here eating, I'm gonna go back there and get them tongs and pick up on the slabs of red meat. 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:05.360 And while no one's looking, I'm gonna dip it in that bowl of gravy. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:08.320 I'm gonna slap that bad boy in between that biscuit. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:10.720 That's that he goes, they're dinner rolls. 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:13.120 Yeah, shut all the way up, okay, Karen. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:17.600 Anyway, uh check one, two, one. 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:20.159 Y'all are like, where's the guy from last week? 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:21.679 He was so much kinder. 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:25.200 And I'm sitting there and I'm getting excited. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:30.320 I'm looking around because everyone's talking and they're ding ding ding ding ding ding ding with their knife on a glass because you want to make a toast. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:31.919 And I'm like, ding away, people. 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:35.440 I'm fantasizing about red meat, bread, and gravy. 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:42.639 And then I put my this and that, remember, this is all does God have the moral authority to say to you, you may and you may not. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:48.399 So I put my hands on the table to press and get up, and very clearly the Holy Spirit said, You may not. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:53.200 And I went, and the lady beside me said, Are you okay? 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:56.240 Oh, I was just too, I was just stretching my legs. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:14:59.600 And I was like, Well, what's up with that? 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:00.720 I mean, I had just a little bit. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:07.039 No, we're gonna read later, and I don't want you to be like bloated and full of food, so just let's just say no and get ready to read. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:12.960 Okay, I wasn't bitter, I wasn't like, man, like God, you're holding out on me. 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:18.480 See, because if you think God's holding out on you, and that's the lie that Adam and Eve believed, look at me. 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:22.320 Not just back at the Bible, but somebody in this room think God's holding out on you. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:27.759 And when you believe that, here's the next thing you do: you take matters into your own hands. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:29.600 That's just human nature. 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:39.120 And so to keep you and I from doing that, I just want to point out four words or phrases that'll kind of help us realize that God designed us for responsible freedom, okay? 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:43.039 Here's the first one, the first phrase, the Lord God, the Lord God. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:47.039 I told you last week, when you're reading the Bible, look and listen for things that are repeated. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:54.559 Uh, one of the the cadence of Genesis chapter two is the Lord God, the Lord God, the Lord God, the Lord God, the Lord God. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:56.639 It's repeated over and over and over. 00:15:56.799 --> 00:15:59.440 Now you may be thinking, what's the big deal, Bible nerd? 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:00.000 Who cares? 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:03.679 Well, in Genesis chapter one, the first chapter, it was just God, remember? 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:09.360 God created the heavens and the earth, and God said, Let there be, and it was, and it was good. 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:11.200 Remember, that's the rhythm of creation. 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:14.159 God said, It was so and it was good. 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:19.519 But all of a sudden, in chapter two, he refers to himself, he's referred to as the Lord God. 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:20.879 What did he change his name? 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:21.679 No, look at me. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:27.919 God didn't change his name, he pulls back the curtain on his character and says, Let me reveal to you more of who I am. 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:29.120 What do you mean? 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:39.440 Well, God is Elohim in Hebrew, it just means God, but the phrase the Lord is the is the Hebrew word, just Jehovah, Jehovah. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:44.080 And they didn't have uh vowels in their in in their language back then. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:47.120 And so they would come to that word, it was so sacred, so set apart. 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:50.159 They would just think in their mind, the existing one. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:54.399 That they didn't want to slander God's nature by mispronouncing his name. 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:57.120 So they would just think and say, He is the God who exists. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:03.519 And so in Genesis 1, God created and God said, and God, Genesis chapter 2, the Lord God. 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:10.559 And so what God is saying, he's kind of winking at us, and he's saying, by the way, I am the existing one, I am the God who's always existed. 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:18.559 That since I am all that existed when nothing else existed, I'm gonna have authority over everything that comes to exist into existence. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:27.039 And so God makes a big statement just by saying, Hey, the Lord God, I'm the existing God, I've never not existed. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:30.559 And because I was pre-existent, I was here before you got here. 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:35.279 In my mind, I think I've got the moral authority to tell you you may and you may not. 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:45.200 And the degree to which you agree with those two things is the degree to which you enjoy and experience the freedom God created you to enjoy. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:46.799 Here's the next thing I want you to see. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:49.279 Just the word commanded, right there in verse 16. 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:54.480 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:56.880 Do you realize if you ask most people what's the first thing? 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:00.960 And I ask people in counseling this question a lot, what's the first thing in your mind? 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:02.000 Do you understand? 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:04.079 What's the first thing that God said to humanity? 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:06.799 You know what everybody says, don't eat of the tree. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:10.559 No, that's the second part of the phrase. 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:12.880 The first part is God commanded him. 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:14.640 He didn't ask him, he didn't suggest. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:18.559 He said, Hey, if you're just willing, if you're all out of ideas, I've got a suggestion. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:27.119 No, God, the existing God, commands Adam and He says, Hey, this this, I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:28.880 I am telling you. 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:37.039 He commanded the man, saying, and look at what he tells him, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:37.920 Why is this? 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:40.720 Because God designed us for responsible freedom. 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:44.079 You say, I don't I don't know what what you mean. 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:45.279 Why is this a big deal? 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.799 Uh, God's first words to humanity are about freedom. 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:50.000 Uh, why is that? 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:53.839 Because when we sin, we forfeit freedom and we choose bondage. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:58.240 Uh, and this is why, if you if you're here and you're like, I don't really understand the Bible. 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:02.559 My friend invited me, there's free coffee, so I'm here, okay? 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:05.599 Uh, I can explain the Bible to you in less than 30 seconds. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:10.720 It's simply this God created you and I to be free people. 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:15.200 He commanded him and said, You are free to eat of any tree in the garden. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:25.599 They just Adam and Eve disobeyed God and trusted someone else, and because of that, they forfeited their freedom, and everyone since born has been born into bondage to sin. 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:29.039 We are by nature sinners and by and by choice we sin. 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:34.799 Jesus comes to give us back the freedom we were created to to live with in the first place. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:39.680 This is why in John's gospel, New Testament, he says, if the Son has set you free, you're free indeed. 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:45.279 That's why in Galatians about chapter four, he says, it is for freedom that Christ has set you free. 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:50.160 Now, why does the Bible have to say, in case you're wondering, it's for freedom. 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:53.200 The reason Christ sets you free is for freedom. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:54.799 Why does he have to say that? 00:19:54.960 --> 00:20:00.880 Because when we get set free, we look around and we choose the most comfortable form of bondage we know. 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:05.359 Like, for example, my daughter is a freshman at college. 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:07.680 She goes to a private Christian school. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:11.119 Uh and I said to her, I'm such a bad dad. 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:12.720 Listen to what I'm fixing to say. 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:13.200 Okay? 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:21.599 She said, Well, dad, you know, there's Bible studies, you know, on I got church on Sunday, then there's a Tuesday night Bible study, then there's a Thursday night, then I got a small group, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:25.279 And I said, Hey, babe, limit the number of Bible studies you get into. 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:30.400 And she looked at me like, you're going to preach your hell. 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:35.039 And I said, Hey, you don't need to be in four or five Bible studies. 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:36.559 You don't need to be in three Bible studies a week. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:38.799 How much of that stuff can you actually traffic? 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:41.440 Go to church and maybe go to one Bible study. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:43.359 What else do I do the rest of my time? 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:44.559 Homework. 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:47.119 To the glory of God. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:52.000 I have a friend that told me, I think my son's in six or seven Bible studies. 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:54.160 Look at me. 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:56.559 See, bondage takes many forms. 00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:58.400 That's just religious bondage. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:01.440 That's all it is. 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:04.480 That's why I'm gonna put your head. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:07.599 I'm not here to put you in religious bondage. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:09.440 You need to go in the Bible coding. 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:11.359 No, no, no. 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:11.920 Look at me. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:13.119 You're free. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:16.559 See, the baby agrees. 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:21.920 The baby said, hey! Oh my gosh! Yes. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:23.039 You're free. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:24.000 You're free. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:25.440 Here's a third thing. 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:27.519 And by the way, let me just ask you this. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:32.960 If this is really true, is that freedom uh was by design. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:34.400 God designed you to be free. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:37.519 If you believe this, how would it change the way you think about God? 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:41.279 Would you think about God? 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:45.200 Would you stop thinking about God in terms of, oh, he doesn't want me to blank? 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:48.400 Verses, no, he he created me to be free. 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:51.359 Here's the third word I want you to see or phrase. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:53.440 He says to him, He commanded the man. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:59.599 Right there in the Bible, verse 16, and the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:01.440 That phrase may surely eat. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:03.680 The Hebrew word there is devour. 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:05.359 Is devour. 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:09.039 So I want you to see, not just that God intends you to be free, create you to be free. 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:09.759 Look at me. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:12.480 He says, I want you to enjoy this freedom. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:14.079 I want you to devour. 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:18.720 It's not like, oh, you and Yule Gibbons go over there and have a pine cone and look like you're happy. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:19.839 Just gnaw on that. 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:25.839 No, God says, I want you to devour any tree in the garden, but of this one tree. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:28.319 Well, why'd God put the tree there in the first place? 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:30.480 To demonstrate to them you're not God. 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:33.200 You do not get to decide right and wrong. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:36.000 Here's the last word I want you to see is just the word die. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:41.279 He says, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:41.680 Why? 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:44.480 For in that day you eat of it, you shall surely die. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:46.000 Now, why is that a big deal? 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:48.960 Because we were created to live forever in a perfect world. 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:52.240 And so dying is a very severe form of punishment. 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:57.920 Now, we no longer believe that because we think, oh, I live 70, 80 years, that's a good life. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:22:58.480 Okay? 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:09.519 So the reason as a Christian, you get to live forever and not just in heaven on a cloud, playing harps, eating angel food cake, you will come back and live on the earth in its pre-fallen state, okay? 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:17.200 Before, because the Bible says in Romans chapter 8 that creation is groaning as a woman in the pangs of childbirth, okay? 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:22.240 Uh and because it's longing for the sons of God to be revealed, because God's not just redeeming people. 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:25.759 Look at me, God's redeeming creation, He's redeeming everything. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:33.759 And so, Christians, when it all goes down, you come back and you live on the earth in its perfect state, the way God created it to be, and you live forever. 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:34.799 Why is that? 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:43.359 Because God's a God of restoration and redemption and rest, and he restores to us the created purpose, which was simply this you're supposed to live forever. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:47.839 You the fact that people die is the most tangible evidence that sin is real. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:50.640 Now, let me unpack this just a little bit. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:51.279 Are you still with me? 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:54.000