I guess I've got as important
a message to bring this morning as I've brought very, very important
message, needful message. And we find it here in Genesis 3,
8 and 9, my text. Verse 8, it says, And they heard
the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of
the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence
of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God
called unto Adam and said unto him, Who art thou? Adam, who
art thou? Now this blessed book, the Bible,
God's Word, is the revelation of his salvation, of how he saved
sinners, and of why they need to be saved. of the necessity
of their salvation. The truth taught here in Genesis
3, 8, and 9, and all of Genesis 3, is absolutely essential to
understanding the rest of the Bible. If you don't understand
what took place here, when God said, Adam, where art thou? And
Adam hiding himself from the presence of God, you'll never
understand the rest of the Bible. You'll never understand the lambs
being offered. You'll never understand God's
anger and wrath and justice. You'll never understand it. You
know, the message here in Genesis 3 is the one above all others
of all things that there are in the scriptures that tells
us why the world is the way it is. Why is the world in the condition
it is? It tells us why salvation is
utter and absolutely necessary. It tells us why Christ came,
and it all starts right here in Genesis 3. You know, the questions
are often asked, why is the world the way it is? I asked it myself
years ago. And I still get pretty, you know,
it's unbelief on my part, but I get upset with the way things
are, and if I was God, I'd change things. In my estimation, but
I'm not God. But I'd sure deal with people
differently, but one of these days He'll deal with them just
exactly the way they should be. Folks upset me the way they do. But why is the world the way
it is? How did we get where we are? How did we get to the position
and come in this world where everything's out of kilter? Where
there's nothing but disease and death, confusion and chaos. murder
and rape, child abuse, disease, sickness. What's the
reason for all these things in this world? And politicians,
philosophers, psychologists, preachers, they've all sought
to answer these questions. And they promised remedies and
gave propositions to get us out of the mess that we're in. But
the problems we face in this world today is revealed in the first question
that's ever recorded in the Word of God. It's the first question
ever recorded. Adam, who art thou? And when he says Adam, everybody
in this building today and everybody you'll ever meet in this world
is a son of Adam, descended from Adam. Every single soul. Adam, who art thou? You could
put your name there. But when God asks that question,
He's asking that question of the whole human race. And He
asks the question, why will you die? Why will you die? Why will
you die? And there's two views to this
question, Adam, where art thou? There's the Bible's view, which
we'll get with in a minute, and then there's evolution. And evolution
says that man started out as some moves that came out of some
primordial place and crawled out and sprouted a leg, sprouted
another two arms, then sprouted some legs. But I ask you this,
if that's so, then there has to be a more perfect man somewhere
than you and I are. Somebody has to evolve someplace
that's better than me and you. But I've never met anybody. When
I look at people, I see everyone exactly the same. I don't see people in different
positions. I see people with different education
levels. I see people with different social levels and economic levels. But I don't see people as any
different in the sight of God. Nothing impresses me about anybody,
only this is the one thing I know of, that if a man don't know
God and don't know Christ, God said, where are you? Where are you? And oh beloved
God, here's the situation. I read it to you. God made man
and woman. Here's why God asked this question.
Adam, where are you? God made man and He made woman.
He made man and He said it's not good for man to be alone.
He made him a woman, made him a helpmate. And He put them in
what He Himself describes as paradise, the Garden of Eden.
And that's what we describe as paradise. And they live there
in this paradise, in this glorious Garden of Eden. And they live
there with God, and they commune with God. And God came down every
day in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way God
can walk is if Him come down in the Theophany. It's come down
as Christ. And they walk with Him, and they
commune with Him. And God's always revealed Himself
to sinners in Christ. And you have this beautiful picture,
here's this perfect man and this perfect woman in this perfect
place, and they're walking and talking and communing with God.
And there they are, and then all of a sudden, we come to Genesis 3, 8 and 9.
There before that we see life as it was. They're walking and
communing with God in this perfect place, in this perfect God, in
this perfect people, in this perfect place. Everything is
just right. There we see life as it was.
And then the next thing we find, Adam and Eve hiding. Hiding. Ain't that what it says in verse
7? And the eyes of them both were opened, they knew they were
naked, so fit leaves together and made themselves open. They
heard the voice of the Lord walking in the cool of the day and hid
themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees
of the garden. This shows them Adam and Eve
hiding in their misery and in their wretchedness and in their
darkness and in their blindness and in their nakedness. What
happened? that caused them to walk with
Him in this perfect place and then all of a sudden start hiding
from Him in wretchedness and misery? What caused them to walk
with Him one day and the next day their desire to avoid Him,
to avoid God, get away from that voice that followed them? What
made them want to get away from that voice that followed them
throughout that garden? And oh my, God comes along there
in verse 17 and 18. He pronounces a curse. He said
in verse 17, and unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened
unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree which
I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is
the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it
all the days of thy life. Thorns and also in thistle shall
it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat of the herb of the
field. Here we're told, because of this
relationship that changed, it announces that a curse came upon
the world. Disease and death came into this
world. A curse came upon everybody that
comes into this world. I mean, a curse of God Himself. Thorns and thistles. You know, if Adam hadn't of fell,
This is what God's going to do. If Adam had to fail, we wouldn't
have briars, we wouldn't have to fertilize, we wouldn't have
to do a thing in the world but enjoy where we live. Now that's
right. And God's going to do away with
this world, and He's going to bring in a new heaven and a new
earth that's going to be what Adam and Eve lived in, and everybody
there is going to be righteous, and it won't be Adam's righteousness,
it's going to be the righteousness of Christ Himself. There's two things I want us
to see, just two things. I want to see life as God made
it. God made Adam and Eve. Took him
out of the dust of the earth and breathed into his muscles
and he became a living soul. Adam means man of the red earth. And then life as it became. As
it became. Not as God made it, but how it
became. And we see first that life as
God had made it. God had made it. But because
of the second. Life as it is now. When God said,
Adam, where art thou? Here we see sin introduced. This
is life as it is now. Sin came into this world through
this one man. We see sin coming into this world.
We see sin introduced in paradise. We see sin introduced into a
perfect... We see sin introduced here. And
man did certain things that changed everything for every member of
the human race from that moment to the end of time. And because
of this one man and what he did and this sin that entered into
the world, that's why we're in the state we're in right now.
That's why men and women right in this service today are in
the condition they're in. And let me tell you something,
man's troubles, Man's troubles are in himself. This is the first
thing I want us to say. Man's troubles are in himself. Man's troubles are not in God.
Man's troubles are in himself. Not in his environment. Not in
his circumstances. Now here's Adam and Eve put in
a perfect environment. In the most glorious circumstances
that anybody can be put in. God called it Eden. God himself
dwelt there. God Himself told the man, all
you've got to do is dress this garb. And oh my, these men will
say, if we can just change man's environment, you can change the
man. Well, this proves that lie. This proves that lie. Adam was
in paradise. Eve was in paradise. Started
out in a perfect environment. Started out in perfect circumstances. And you take children. You take
children raised in a home where Christ is honored. God is called
O. where they are serviced, where
the gospel is honored, and where God loves Christ, and they love
God, and they raise their children like that, and then those children
turn out to be so ungodly, and so wretched, and so mean, and
so hateful, and ignore God after everything they've been taught?
Why is that? Because environment, circumstances,
has nothing to do with what a man is. It's what he is in himself.
The trouble is in him. And man's troubles not in his
conditions or his circumstances, but in himself. Ain't that right? And oh, and I tell you what,
our troubles, why do we have such troubles? Our troubles are
due to a wrong relationship with God. A wrong relationship with
God. Now here's a man who started
out in fellowship and communion with his Creator. God came down
and walked with him in the cool of the day. And he started out
in fellowship. He started out in communion with
God. Started out in communion. I mean, God made him and the
first thing he faces is the God that made him. And he delighted
in his presence. That's my maker. That's my creator. Glorious in his power. Glorious
in his being. And he's here walking and talking
and fellowshipping with me. And now it turns right around
and the same God that he's commuting with walks through the pool and
the garden in the evening and he says, Adam, where are you?
Something's wrong now. What's wrong? Sin entered into
this world. Here's a man and a woman. They
came from the hand of their Maker. Now they're miserable. Now they're
unhappy. Now they're ashamed. And now
they know something is vitally wrong. Instead of delighting
to hear the voice of the Son of God, they just cower now. Cower in His presence. Here they
hear the voice. They hide. They cower down in
the presence of God. Hide from Him. Why would they
hide from Him? Why would anybody hide from God? But people do it. They hide in
lots of places. They hide in their goodness.
They hide in their morality. They hide in, I'm not as bad
as other people. They hide in, I'm an American.
They hide in their patriotism. They'll hide in their church.
They'll hide in their doctrine. They'll hide in their opinions.
They'll hide in their feelings. They'll hide in a thousand places,
but it's all the same thing. They hear the voice of God and
they hide. Coward! And what are the reasons? What are the reasons that brought
into them this place before God? What's the reasons that brought
them to this place before God? Where there they was walking
with Him, communing with Him, dwelling in paradise, and now
they're here and they're cowering in the presence of God. Why did
they all of a sudden become ashamed? Why did they become naked? And
God said, who told you you was naked? I didn't tell you you was naked.
I made you naked. Who told you now that you was
naked? What makes you unashamed? What makes you not want to hear
my voice now? And I'll tell you the reasons
that brought him into this place. And this is a fatal, fatal belief. A fatal belief. I mean, it will
destroy you eternally. And it's this, that man believes
that he knows what's best for himself. Man, every man believes
he knows what's best for himself. God made man upright, put him
in a perfect place. Why did he continue in that perfect
place? Huh? Why now is he hiding? I'll tell you why. Because Adam
believed he knew better than God how to manage his own life.
Yeah? He knew how to run his own life
much better than God did. I know what's best for me. I know what's best for my relationships. I know what's best for my person.
Huh? Oh, God gave him, look back over
here in Genesis 2. God gave him great liberty. All the liberty that a man could
possibly want. There wasn't an animal that would
harm him. There's not anything that would
have hurt him. God said in verse 15 here, Genesis
2.15, And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden
of Eden, to dress it, and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded
the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat. Oh, what liberty! There ain't a thing in the world,
in this world, that I won't hold back from you. You're welcome
to all of it. All of it! But there's only one
thing I command you to do. Just one thing. Watch what it
says now. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree
of the garden, now that's a command thou mayest bring, but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat
of it. Thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest,
thou shalt surely Die. Dying, thou shalt die. The day
you do that, you're going to start dying, and then you're
going to end up in death itself. God gave him great liberty. Gave
him a good life, a just life, just to live. Why didn't he just
live that life? Why didn't he just live it? Live
in the liberty God gave him. Why do we, why don't we live
in the liberty that God gave us? Why do we want to bring ourselves
into bondage? And God gave him only war and
prohibition. Now look here in Genesis 3 with
me, just a minute. Genesis 3, let's go down through
here and see what happened. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field. Now up to this time he had never
crawled. Up to this time he didn't go
on his belly. And we know, and that's why God called him, you
know, calls him the great serpent. Calls him the dragon. And yea,
that serpent. He called the people that he
preached to, oh you generation of vipers and serpents. Because
they're subtle and crafty and deceitful. Now the serpent was
more subtle, crafty, deceiving than any beast of the field which
the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
have God said? Yea, because God hath said ye
shall not eat of every tree of the garden. Oh my, that's not what God said,
you may eat of every tree of the garden, there's only one
you can't eat. And the woman said, O surfer, 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 you touch it, lest you
die. Now God didn't say anything about touching it. He just said,
don't eat it. Just don't eat it. And the serpent
said unto her, the woman, you shall not surely die. Oh my,
that's the first thing he tells a man, you're not going to die.
You're not going to die. God is not going to let you die. God loves you too much. You're
too good a man. You're too good a person. You
just know God's just not just. God is just not righteous and
God's truth is not true. So you just go ahead and eat
it up. You really will not die. There's what he says. God don't
know what's best for you. You need to decide for yourself.
For God doeth know that in the day you eat thereof, then your
eyes shall be opened. You'll see things as they really
are. God's withholding things from you. And you, here's the
key to it, you should be as God's. You yourself should be as a God.
Knowing good and evil. How many people set up themselves
to be their own gods? Their own opinions, their own
feelings. That's all that matters. Their own ideas. What God says
about it don't make any difference. And don't never try to answer
an opinion with an opinion. Answer an opinion with truth. That way a man will be without
excuse. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
Oh my, tastes good. Oh my, sin's deceitful. Oh how the scripture says sin's
deceitful. Ain't that what it says? The deceitfulness of sin. And
here sin deceived her. And here sin so deceived her,
said, oh this tastes so good. And then look, it looks good.
Look how pleasant it is. That's why when you go in a produce
section somewhere, they got all apples, parts and all that. They
want to make it look good. And that's what religion does,
wants to make you look good. Go in the church, get your Bible,
walk out, come up to the front, get an art magistry, and everything
will be okay. They want to make you look good,
but oh my God, listen. And then there was a treated
desire to make one wise. And she took the fruit thereof
and did eat, and gave also unto her husband. And he did eat. This is one thing the devil told
him was true. And the eyes of them both were
opened. And you know what they learned?
Good is lost and evil is all that's left. There was good before that. Now
there ain't nothing but evil. God said, I went looking for
a good man. Did he find one? No. No. And they knew they were naked.
And they went and hid there. Adam, where are you? You see,
beloved, they refused. Here's what man did. He believed
that he knows what's best for himself. What's best for himself. They refused God's truth. They
refused God's Word. Because they themselves thought
they knew what was best for them. And what was best for them wasn't
God's will. It wasn't God's Word. They put
their thoughts and their will against God's law. God commanded
them and they said, we're going to do what we want to do. Their
will in the place of God's will. Their feelings in the place of
God's word. Have you done this? Have you
done this? Have you put your opinion in
the place of God's word? Have you put your feelings in
the place of God's will? Have you put your philosophy
in the place of God's wisdom that's revealed in Christ? Do
you have any shame? They were ashamed. They went
and hid themselves. They were ashamed. Have you had
any shame? Are you happy? Are you well physically? Well
mentally? Do you ever long for anything
better? Do you put your will against
God's will? Do you put your ideas against
God's Word? I tell you what you're doing,
if you do that, you're just repeating what Adam did in the garden.
You're saying, I know what's best for me, and it's not God's
Word, and it's not God's will. I know what's best for me. That's
the first reason. Man's fatal belief that he knows
what's best for himself. That's why we got the shape we're
in, where we're at now. The second reason. The second
reason is man refused to face seriously, face seriously the
fact of judgment. The fact of judgment. And what
God said to him there in verse 11 here of Genesis 3. And He
said, Who told thee thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the
tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat? The
day that I told you you'd eat of it, I told you you'd die. He didn't take that serious.
He didn't take it seriously. Oh, no. No, no. Ain't no way. God told them plainly, the day
that you eat thereof you shall surely die. And that first death
is separation from God. That's the first thing that happens.
Oh, you don't want to hear God's voice anymore. You put your will
in His place. You put your opinion in His place. You put your belief in His place
of His Word. He says truth. You say, I feel.
He says, I will. You say, no, I will. And all
God told them plainly. And so here Adam is left without
excuse. What excuse does he have? What
excuse does he have? Huh? God told him at the beginning. When he first made him. When
he first made him. The first thing God told him.
Everything in here is to do with it. Enjoy it. You've got liberty. Eat everything you want. Just
that tree right there. Leave it alone. That summarizes the whole law
of God. You do what I say because I made you. And that's why he's
left with that excuse. God told him at the beginning
that He would hold him responsible. I'll hold you responsible for
what you do. You eat of that fruit of that
tree, and there's nothing but judgment. Now he's found here
in such misery. You know why? Because he didn't
take the judgment seriously. He didn't take it seriously.
Men go out of this world not taking the judgment seriously,
and they'll take it seriously when it happens. It's going to happen. It's going
to happen. I heard this morning on the news
that one man shot three cops dead and left one in critical
condition, and then they shot him. And the first thing I thought
of, almost guaranteed that they all went to hell just that quick
if they didn't know Christ. Especially that guy shot him.
I mean, the minute he whipped him, the minute of his last breath,
he wound up in hell. And nothing but the anger of
God and the wrath of God to beat on him through all eternity.
And this is a blessing that God gave us. This is such a mercy
that God gave us. We can rejoice and have great
comfort and assurance when we hear of a believer. God called
him home. Oh, we find such joy, such comfort,
and we rejoice in it. But when somebody dies that we
know that don't have any hope whatsoever, none whatsoever,
God won't let us think. He just won't let our mind enter
into that. Now, you think about it. But we just can't think of it.
God just keeps our mind from entering into the depths of that.
That's a mercy, ain't it? A lot of mercy. And I'll tell
you something, man just keeps doing the same thing. Once Adam
done this and he disregarded and refused to take seriously
the judgment of God, the command of God, the day he shall surely
die, and the judgment came, he died. And man keeps doing the
same thing. God looked down upon the face
of the earth, and he saw the wickedness of his man was evil
continually. The thoughts of his imagination
was only evil continually. What did he do? He destroyed
the world with a flood. Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities
of the plain, he destroyed them. Why? Because of their sin, their
wickedness. They did not take the judgment
of God seriously. Adam preached, I mean, Noah preached
a hundred and twenty years, seven judgments coming, the flesh coming,
God's going to destroy this earth and everything in it. Not one
soul took that word seriously. Not one. And when God told him,
He don't store Adam at the Garden of Eden, I mean, Solomon, Gomorrah,
in the cities of the plain, Do you think they took that seriously
there? Lotwin told his own sons and son-in-laws and daughters,
said, God's fixing to destroy this place. Come on, get out
of here with me. They laughed at him and mocked
him. And three people come out of that place. And John the Baptist came preaching
repentance. And he's preaching to people,
flee from the wrath to come. flee from the wrath to come.
And then, beloved men, still refuse to hear. And they cut
John the Baptist's head off. Cut his head off. Why? Because
he said, it's not lawful. God said, it's not lawful. They
cut his head off. That's what they've done. And
God said, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll send my own son. I'll send
him. They'll reverence him. They'll
love him. They'll submit to him. They'll
honor him. They'll love him. They'll worship
him. And they said, this is the heir.
Come, let's kill him and the inheritance will be ours. And
beloved, the time is swiftly, swiftly coming when you'll hear
the voice, where are you? Where are you? Where are you
right now? Where are you right now in relation
to God? Are you putting your beliefs,
what's best for you, in the place of what God says is best for
you? Are you not taking the judgment of God seriously? Oh my! Man's nature, now as to when
he hears the voice of God, is to get away from it. To hide
from it. And I'll tell you what, I'll
tell you how I know this. How many of you read your Bibles
regularly and faithfully every single day? You know why you
don't do that? Because it brings you into the
presence of God. And you want to put that off
just as long as you can. And if you're a believer, you
ought to just delight being in the presence of God. You ought
to enjoy being in the presence of God. But man's nature is, when he
hears the voice of God, to get away from it, to hide. His reaction
is to hide and make an excuse for himself. Adam, if you ate
of that tree, it's the woman you gave me. And then the woman said, it's
the serpent that beguiled me. And that's what man is doing
the same thing today. I'm a victim. I'm a victim. I'm
not the fault. I'm a victim of my circumstance. Oh, well, who and what could
put man back where he doesn't hide anymore? Who could put man back in the
right relationship with God? How can it be done? Man's guilty,
but yet God comes looking for him. Adam, where are you? And he comes looking for him,
not just to condemn him, Yet God had pity on him. God came
after him. God himself called out to call
him by his name. Not only to condemn him, but
to give him, first thing, a gracious, gracious promise. Look what he
says there in verse 15. And I'll put enmity between thee
and this woman. He's talking to the serpent now.
And between thy seed and her seed. Oh, her seed, you know, the seed
of the serpent, it shall bruise thy head, but thou shalt bruise
his heel. Christ is going to crush that
serpent's head, and his heel is going to be bruised. God gives
him this gracious presence of the seed of a woman. A Messiah
that's going to come, a Savior that's going to come, a Redeemer
that's going to come. God, here's what happens. God
faces this evil that came into the world. God faced this sin
that came into this world. God faced man who fell that came
into this world. And He faced it and He defeated
it and He conquered it. Huh? The promise of salvation
is announced. The serpent's head's gonna be
bruised, the seed of the woman's gonna come, and then it says,
when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son,
made of a woman, made under the law, that very law that says,
don't you dare eat of that fruit of the knowledge of good and
evil. He'll be made under the law. To redeem! To pay the debt of
breaking that love. To pay the debt of that wrong
relationship with God. Huh? And then he said he ascended
the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. She sang that song, you
know, the blood, the Spirit, bears witness to the blood that
I am born of God. Oh my, now look what happens
now after God pronounced the curse. Look what he says now
in verse 21 here of Genesis 3. This shows us the gospel that's
going to come. And unto Adam also unto his wife,
See, they're both naked now. They're both sinners now. They're
both hiding from God now. And they've got to do away with
them fig leaves. Them fig leaves won't work. Tell you something
about fig leaf religion. Tim James said this years ago,
and I just think of it often. Whenever you pull a fig leaf
off of a tree, it starts dying immediately. And it'll eventually
die, and you'll have to get another one, and you'll have to get another
one. And that's why religion, outside of Christ, don't work.
You never have peace. You never have contentment. You
never have rest. Your conscience is always accusing
you. You're always doing more for God. You're always trying
to please God more. You're never satisfied. And it
won't last. But if God clothes you, that's
what it says. And unto Adam and also to his
wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and he clothed them. He clothed them. It's like the
prodigal when he returned home, when he came home, came to himself.
The father says, bring hither the best robe. And he didn't
say hand it to him and let him put it on. He says, put it on
him. Put a ring on his finger to show
this glorious relationship that we have, this eternal covenant
we have. And secondly, put shoes on his feet because he's going
to walk different now. He's got to have the gospel of
peace on his feet. And here God's clothing their
nakedness. And in order to clothe them with
the animal skins, He had to shed some blood. Why was blood shed? Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sins. with, you know, God's justice
that says, you know, the soul that sinneth it shall die. And
Adam, you sinned and you're dying. Justice that's going to give
this life must be satisfied with the shedding of blood. And after
the bloodshed, then the nakedness is closed. After the bloodshed
and God is satisfied, God can righteously and justly put clothes
on you. And oh, listen, Christ The blessed
Lamb of God. He came into this world. God
prepared Him a body. A body to die in. A body that
could shed blood. A body that could satisfy the
justice of God from Adam all the way to the last person because
of the worth of His blessed person. The very blood of God Himself.
And the man that comes to Christ and believes in Christ, God will
take The righteousness of Christ, the clothes of Christ, the obedience
of Christ, because he suffered, he faced that loss. You'll die. Oh, he says, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Why did he do it? Because sin
was found on him. And where God finds sin, he justly
condemns it. He justly punishes it. And Christ satisfied the justice
of God there, and the wrath of God was spent on him, and then
he came back from the dead. And beloved, now God can justly,
righteously give you the righteousness of Christ and cover your nakedness
for all eternity. And you will be satisfied because
God is satisfied with what Christ did. Sin has been atoned for. It has been atoned for. Let me read you a verse of scripture.
Well, just look at it. 1 Corinthians 1.30. I want you
to see that. 1 Corinthians 1.30. 1 Corinthians 1.30. I want you
to see this. This is what I'm talking about.
This is what I'm talking about. I remember hiding from God. Oh
my, we hid in our dress codes, in our convictions, in our altars,
in our obedience, in our tithe paying, the way we dressed, all
the things you know that the religion was telling us to do
to get right with God. And I could never get right with
God. Only God can make things right with God. Only God can make the way for
a sinner to come into His presence. And look what he says here in
verse 30. But of Him, of God, are ye in
Christ Jesus. God puts us in Christ. And then
he turns around and God makes Christ unto us wisdom, spiritual
wisdom, spiritual sense. This is the only way I can know
God can be right with me. I see the wisdom of God in Christ
bearing my sins and at the same time making me just. Oh, He's
the wisdom of God to us. We bless God that this is the
way through substitution. And not only that, but He's made
righteousness to us. Not just the righteousness that
He sticks on us to go along with ours. We are righteous inside
and out. That's what righteousness is.
We have the very righteousness of Christ. Was Christ righteous
only on the outside? Or was He righteous in His very
nature? If we became sinners in Christ,
we become sinners in Adam. The only way we can become righteous
is in Christ. And sanctification. Oh my, we
need to be made holy. Need to be set apart. God claims us. He said, oh, they're
mine. Sets us apart. He makes us holy.
Now what's this? And redemption. You know what
that means? That means that He bought us.
That He bought us. Paid for our sin. And because
He bought us, He's going to come back and get us. That redemption
there has to do with Him coming to get this body and change it. Well, wouldn't you love to know
Christ like that? Wouldn't you love to have that
relationship where you don't hide from God?