Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the chapter we read, chapter
3, Genesis chapter 3. Reading from our text just part
of verse 9. Our Lord's question to Adam,
where art thou? The whole verse reads, And the
Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? You might say this is one of
the most important chapters in the whole of the Word of God.
If you took this chapter out of the Word of God, then you
would take out the account of the fall of man, how sin entered
into the world and death by sin, that record would no longer be
found as the source and root of all the evil and all the sin
and all the death and all of the suffering that is in the
world. Also there would be taken out
the first promise of the Saviour. In verse 15 we have the words
that our Lord spoke to Satan who had come in the form of a
serpent and said, I will put enmity between thee and the woman
and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head
and thou shalt bruise his eel. There is the promised seed of
the woman which should be our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Church of God, right through
the Old Testament, expected that it should be one of the offspring
of Adam and Eve, that would be the Saviour, that would be the
Redeemer, that would be the one that would bruise Satan's head. and that he, Satan, would bruise
his heel. And so it is a very vital, very
important chapter. It records the severance of that
fellowship and communion that Adam and Eve had with the Lord
before the fall. We would remember when God created
the earth and created man. He pronounced all things as good,
but from this chapter, all is not good. Death enters into the
world. This chapter sets forth the change
between God's perfect, good creation, and when death entered, and when
all was marred, all was under the curse, and Adam and Eve and
all his descendants, and we included, are under the curse and have
need of a saviour. I want to note with the Lord's
help this evening, firstly, the use of questions. Our text is a question. And then secondly, the first
and second questions asked in the Bible are also found in this
chapter. The second one is the one of
our text. And then thirdly, the answer,
where Adam was. The question is, where are thou? So I want to think first of the
use of questions. Those of us that have children,
grandchildren, We know that they learn through asking questions. How many times that they are
saying, why, why, why? They're asking questions of their
parents of things that they don't understand. And that is a very,
very good tool in the learning process of a child and those
also that are older as well. When questions are asked us,
it makes us to search us, search ourselves, and to force us to
consider how we would answer that question. If we are asked point blank,
are you a Christian? We would be forced to really
consider whether we really are a Christian. If we are asked
point blank, do you have assurance that when you die that you will
go to heaven? You'd be forced to think and
really consider, do I have a real warrant? Do I have a real scriptural
title to heaven? An assurance that it is well
with me. And so questions can cause us
great searchings of heart as to how we would answer. It's
easy to drift along and to just assume things, but when someone
asks us a question, it brings us up, Lank, and we have got
to think, how will we answer this question? The power of questions
is also reflected in our Lord's teaching, and we're seeing that
many times. The questions may be gone, by
those who were seeking to trip up and to undermine our Lord,
to question His authority, but the Lord turned it about and
turned the questions back unto them. There's many examples of
this. One example would be in Mark
chapter 11, and we see in that chapter, verse 28 onwards, the chief priests and elder scribes,
they came to the Lord, and they asked Him, by what authority
doest thou these things, and who gave thee this authority
to do these things? And the Lord answered them with
another question. Jesus answered and said unto
them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me,
and I will tell you by what authority I do these things." Now, Lord's
question to them, the baptism of John, that is, John the Baptist,
was it from heaven or of men? Answer me. Now we're told what
went on after the Lord asked that question. They reasoned
with themselves, saying, If we shall say from heaven, he will
say, Why then did ye not believe him? But if ye shall say of men,
they feared the people, for all men counted John, that he was
a prophet indeed. Of course, John clearly pointed
out the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. So they answered and said unto
Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto
them, Neither do I, tell you by what authority I do these
things. And they were forced then to
concede that they could not answer this question. And they were
looking at the implications of if they answered one way or if
they answered the other way. And so this pattern very often
was repeated through our Lord's ministry The questions are also
reflected in the history of the Church. The Church has always
realised the benefit of using catechisms to present questions
and then answers to very clearly fasten in the minds of their
congregations, their children and their people, the truths
of God. Luther's small catechism of 1529,
then we have the Heidelberg 1563, and also then the Westminster
ones of 1648. And even William Gadsby had his
own catechism that he used amongst our churches. So it is a recognised
way of teaching and features prominently in the Word of God
and in the teaching of the Church of God. And here it is here in
our text. The Lord God called unto Adam
and said unto him, Where art thou? Now secondly, We have the
first and second questions that are asked in the Word of God.
I always feel it is very profitable in any doctrine, in any teaching,
to go back to where it is first mentioned in the Word of God.
And of course in the first three chapters of the Word of God here
in Genesis, we have the first mention of many, many of the
truths that are then reflected right the way through the Word
of God. We have the creation, we have
the one day in seven, the Sabbath day, we have the formation of
man, the giving of the law, the breaking of the law of God, the
giving of the promise of the Savior, we have marriage, we
have the establishing of all of these before us in the Word
of God. And so here we have two questions,
and a lot can be told us from just thinking of these two questions. First we have the question asked
in verse 1, which is asked by Satan. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he
said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said he shall not eat of
every tree of the garden? He is questioning what God hath
said. Satan coming to the woman, undermining
the word of God. Then we have in our text the
second question. where the Lord God is asking
the question, calling unto Adam and said unto him, where art
thou? Now there's two important things
that we need to draw from this and remember really in all of
our lives. Satan, he will always question whatever way it is, whatever
law, whatever command, whatever duty, whatever promise, whatever
exhortation, he would suggest questioning, undermining it,
taking away its authority and its power, and he comes in very
subtly and he does not say, very fast that God is a liar, but
he comes in a subtle way and poses a question in the mind. Hath God said, he shall not eat
of every tree of the garden? Has he really said that? Is that really a command? Is that really part of the word
of God? Is that God's word? The woman
said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees
of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst
of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat of it, neither
shall ye touch it, lest ye die. Well, Satan, he knew exactly
what God had said, and so he says, not lest ye die, But then
he comes out in the open, and the serpent said unto the woman,
ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, ye shall
be as gods, knowing good and evil. Not only did he question
what God had said, but that he also now is saying that there
is an ulterior motive why God has held this back from the man
and the woman. He does not want them to have
their eyes open. He does not want them to be as
gods, knowing good and evil. Remember, Adam and Eve at this
time were sinless, they were unfallen, they were spiritually
alive, they were in fellowship with God. There was nothing in
them that would tempt them to sin. They'd been created perfect
and pure, but with the capability of sinning. They had a free will,
and that free will now is being used to follow along with Satan,
and to question the Word of God, allow the Word of God to be questioned,
and God's integrity undermined. And that then led to the fall,
led to actions that are wrong. And if we could only remember
these steps, Satan will put in the mind a questioning of what
God has said. And then he'll insinuate that
there is a reason why we should not accept the Word as it is
set before us. and then it will lead to disobedience
to that Word. How many at first reading of
the Word of God would say, this is what the Word means. It tells
me I shouldn't do this or should do that. And then in comes Satan
and he questions, is that really, is that really what it means?
Is that really what God has said? And then there'll be a suggestion,
well, that can't be what God means. He can't really intend
that for man. And that will then lead to a
direct actions opposite to the word. We need to remember that. Satan, his questions will question
Word of God and lead to disobedience. When our Lord asks questions,
He asks questions of us, where we are in relation to the Word
of God. Where we stand in relation to
the Word of God. Great blessing for us if we are
walking in accordance with the Word of God, at one with it,
in obedience to it, following it. The Lord said, My sheep,
they hear My voice and they follow Me. And what is very to be noted
here, we don't read in verse 8 that Adam He hears the Lord
God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. He doesn't. He hears the voice of the Lord
God walking in the garden. God is a spirit. God fills all
things. God had not bodily parts as we
have. He cannot be seen. His presence
is known. his voice. He was known with
Elijah in the cave when that still small voice came to him. He covered his face in his mantle. He was made known to Samuel by
his voice calling out to Samuel, Samuel, Samuel. May we remember
that. The word was used to create the
world. God spake the world in chapter
one into existence. God's presence is known in this
world by His voice. And it is in the proclamation
of the gospel through the word of God, faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of the Lord. That is why the Lord said
that heaven and earth shall pass away But my word shall not pass
away. The presence of the Lord is known
by His word. And it is a solemn thing when
the Lord is silent and when there's no real evidence of His presence. But let us remember these two
first questions in the Word of God. And what it says before
us, wherever the suggestion comes in, the Word of God is questioned,
that's Satan's work. Wherever it is that we are searched
and questioned as to our standing according to the Word of God,
that is the Lord's work, to search His people out, to bring their
as a lamp, as a light, as a standard lifted up. Thy word is a lamp,
and to my feet a light, and to my path. And it is the Lord that
brings that word. And that word, in this case,
is the question, where art thou? I want to look then, thirdly,
And the answer to the question, how would we answer this question? How does Adam answer it? He says, I heard thy voice in
the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked and hid myself. Just hearing the voice of the
Lord made him fear his nakedness and to hide himself. May we remember that and may
we come back to that in a moment. Then the Lord asks another question. Who told thee that thou wast
naked? Then he asks another question.
Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest
not eat? The Lord is using these questions
like we said at the beginning to force Adam to actually think
about what he has done, and the effect of what he has done. So where is Adam? Where the question
comes to him, he is hiding, hiding from God. Adam and Eve hid themselves from
the presence of the Lord God. One thing it teaches us, we can
never hide from God. But when God comes, then we will
really know our true state and condition and will hide. We read at the end of the world
that when the Lord comes with power and great glory in the
clouds of heaven, and every eye shall see him, then the multitude
of the earth shall mourn, and they shall call upon the rocks
and the hills to hide them from him that sitteth upon the throne. And God says of his people, when
they see these things come to pass, Look up for your redemption,
draweth nigh. Their eternal inheritance in
heaven is coming. But all of those that have disbelieved
His Word, rejected His Word, those who have sinned and there's
been no Saviour, no redemption, those who perhaps have lived
their whole life in complete defiance that there is no God
and there is no accountability, They will one day have to face
God. They will be just like Adam and
hide themselves, but then it will be too late. With Adam,
it was not too late. And in the day of grace, it is
not too late. But when the Lord's voice is
heard here, it has this effect first, Adam, he, He hides himself. He knows he cannot meet God. He cannot face God. He cannot
stand before God. This is one of the first effects
of sin. It takes away our standing before
God. It takes away our strength. It
takes away the fellowship and communion that one's Adam had. And there is a seeking to hide. from the presence of God. Jonah, he thought, to run away
from God. He couldn't. The psalmist, in Psalm 139, he
testifies how God is everywhere, and even if he descended into
hell, they're up there. From the utmost part of the world,
wherever he went, God was there. Yet here is this effect with
Adam. He's hiding from God. Maybe it
is with us in some aspect or those that may be joining us
online. You are hiding from God. You
are seeking to hide from Him. You say, how can I hide from
God? You're hiding from His Word. You don't want to hear His Word.
His Word makes you want to run away from it, and hide from it,
to be swallowed up in the things of this world, or make out you
haven't heard it, but you don't want to face with the Word of
God. You know the Lord said, that
he that is of God cometh to the Word, that his deeds may be manifest,
that they are wrought of God. those that are not of God. Because
their deeds are evil, they do not come to the light. And the
Word of God is spoken of as the light, lest their deeds be made
manifest or be found out. And this is borne out by Adam
right at the very start. If there is with us any hint
of this, That we are hiding ourselves from the Word or perhaps from
certain chapters or portions of the Word that we cannot bear
to read because our searching it is for us. Then may this question
the Lord asked Adam, search us out as well. And we realize that
if we cannot stand before God's Word here, how shall we stand? before God at the last day. The second place where Adam was,
was under the law as a transgressor. The law was given by the Lord
concerning this one point, that was that they should not eat
of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden. And that
law was broken. Adam now was a transgressor. He had broken the law of God. He'd broken the covenant of God. He was therefore a transgressor
of the law. Paul in writing to Romans is
very clear that all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. All have sinned, there's none
righteous, no not one, that the fall has come upon all men. We all are transgressors from
the womb, and we all actually are transgressors. Adam was under
the law, we are under the law as descendants of Adam. By the
law is the knowledge of sin, Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do
them. So the other place that Adam
was, was under the curse. And that is that we are under
as well, except we're brought out from it through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Not only was Adam under the curse,
but also all of the earth was. Thorns also and thistles shall
it bring forth to thee. Now shalt eat the herb of the
field. In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. For out of it
wast thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou
return." Let's emphasize, of course, in the next verse, Adam
called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living,
and that there goes through all the generations of Adam, all
have sinned, have come short of the glory of God, all are
under the curse. And there's a curse even if we
commit one sin, we're brought under that curse, and that curse
was that in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely
die. When dying, thou shalt die. So again, where Adam was, immediately,
when the Lord asked him where art thou, he was dead spiritually. Again, the same as we all are
by nature. Still, we are in the image of
God in one sense, we are rational creatures, We're not like the
animals that can't reason things, though some birds and animals
have a limited reasoning, yet we can learn, we can be taught,
and what we have taught we can then apply to other things and
reason that through and think it through. We are put in the
pinnacle of God's creation to have dominion over all of His
creation And that still applies, and in many respects we still
bear the image of God, and yet spiritually we are dead. We cannot
understand the things of God. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God, neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. We need to remember that. That was immediate with Adam. We need a new birth. We need
to be born again. We need to be spiritually born.
The natural man looks upon the things of God, the Word of God,
as foolishness. He cannot understand it. He cannot
enter into it. That is how he is dead spiritually. But then naturally, in dying
thou shalt die. If we only turn just a few chapters
along. Chapter 5, we read, This is the
book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man,
in the likeness of God made he him. Male and female created
he them. Not the confusion of male and
female has been brought into the world today. that is Satan's
work, male and female, created them and blessed them and called
their name Adam as a surname in the day when they were created.
But then you have the list of all the generations right through
to Noah, 1640 years, generations. And they lived many years, 800
years, 900 years, but right the way through. this chapter we read, and he
died, and he died, constantly, however long they lived. And
that is the pattern right through this world's history. There's
no man that liveth that shall not see death. Only at the very
last time when God comes again, then those that are alive at
that time, instead of dying in the natural way, those are God's
people shall be caught up to be with him in the air and those
that are not to be brought before the judgment day and then banished
to hell ever after. It is evident in this world that
there is sickness and sickness leads to death and death is all
about us, a solemn reminder of the sentence that was brought
on Adam and follows right through his race. There's no other way
in which there is a reason for death in this world. God gives
it. God tells us the reason for it. God also tells us how this world
is so wonderful and the creation still, though marred by sin,
is still a wonderful creation. By design, design of a maker,
there is infinitely wiser than what we are. So Adam was dead
spiritually, and he was dying naturally. And yet, where was
he? He was still in the land of the
living. Adam was not cut off straight
away. And that lengthening of days,
that time, was the blessing. That was the case when Jonah
was sent to Nineveh and he said that 40 days that Nineveh shall
be destroyed. In a way there was no gospel
there, there was no good news, but the good news was it was
not immediately destroyed. There was given 40 days, a day,
a time of testing and the day in which Adam lived and the day
in which we lived are days of grace. They are days that God
has given to man upon earth to hear the word of the Lord, to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved, to know the saving
grace of God. And so Adam, he was in the land
of the living and you and I are still in the land of the living. We are still not banished eternally. We still hear the Word of God. We still are in the day of God's
grace and mercy. And so then, we have in the seventh
place, Adam under the searching Word of God. God comes with his
question, where art thou? God could have been silent to
him, but he wasn't. And this is a great blessing
that you and I should be under the Word of God. Just a few verses
on from where the Lord had said this and questioned Adam, where
art thou? Then the Lord speaks the words
of the promise that we spoke about before in verse 15. the
promise of the Saviour, not even spoken to Adam, but spoken to
Satan, and Adam listened on. What a ray of hope this is, for
everyone that hears the Word of God that convicts them as
a sinner, and that causes them to hide from God, that hears
the Word of God and they are brought in as guilty, under the
curse, under the sentence of death, and yet in the land of
the living and by and by, they hear the promise of the Saviour. We read in Hebrews 11, where
there are the list of those that go right from Abel, right through
all of the prophets, the Old Testament saints, those that
lived and died by faith. And all of them, they confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth. They saw
the promises afar off and embraced them. And this is the promise,
the promise of the Saviour, the promise that there should be
one to redeem them, set them free by the payment of a price. The gospel is that in Adam's
place, in the place of all the people of God, God would send
his only begotten son, and that he should make him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we should be made the righteousness
of God in him. He would send a substitute instead
of Adam, Instead of you and I, Christ would die. Instead of
the wrath of God on us, it would fall on Him. Instead of the debt
being paid by us, He would pay it. Instead of spiritual death,
He would give spiritual life. He says, I have come that they
might have life, that they might have it more abundantly. I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of mine hand. And the Lord Jesus Christ
then gives them that spiritual life in him here below, and he
gives them to have that eternal life with him in heaven, so that
though they still must die, the spirit separates from the body,
returns to God that gave it, and returns to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And then at the last day, the
body shall be raised, the spirit joined with that body, and be
forever with the Lord. When our Lord was crucified,
there was two thieves that were crucified with him, one on one
side and one on the other. And at first they both said to
him, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us, come down from
the cross. But one, he was brought changed,
brought to see who the Lord was. He rebuked his fellow. He said, does thou not fear God
being in the same condemnation? And he said to the Lord, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. How could he
see that suffering spectacle of blood and sorrowing and agony
beside Him as the King, the King of Glory. But He did. And the Lord said to him, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. After that, our Lord yielded
up His Spirit to His Father. He died. And after that, then the legs
of the thieves were broken by the Roman soldiers. They died. The bodies were still on the
cross, but the soul immediately with the Lord. This day shalt
thou be with me in paradise. All men have a body and a soul. We're not like the beasts that
just perish and are no more. When death comes, the soul returns
to God. It will ever live, either in
heaven or in hell, either with Satan or with the Lord. Where art thou? We could add, Where wilt thou
be? Adam was on earth, you and I
are on earth, and under the day of grace. But what a blessed
soul that can say, when asked, where art thou? And say, I am
in God's covenant. I have been put amongst his children
by God's mercy and grace. I have been brought unto his
word. I have been brought into his living church. I am part
of his bride. I am part of his inheritance. I shall be forever with the Lord. I am in the Lord. I am in a good place, a safe
place. I am where I would not be by
nature, but by God's grace I am. we might be able to say with
the Apostle Paul, by the grace of God I am what I am. What a question this is, and
may we go from the Lord's house with this question ringing in
our ears, where art thou? And may the Lord give us to search
our hearts and that we might know where we really are as standing
before God, whether it is still in ignorance of Him and fear
of Him, or whether it is with Him and with that blessed prospect
of heaven and glory with the Lord. May the Lord add His blessing. Amen.