God's First Words to the First Sinner

Q: What does the Bible say about Adam's sin?

Adam's sin brought shame, guilt, and fear into the world, fundamentally altering his relationship with God. The Bible teaches that through Adam's deliberate disobedience, sin entered the world (Romans 5:12). Adam's choice to eat from the tree of knowledge represented a rejection of God's authority, leading to shame, guilt, and fear for both himself and humanity (Genesis 3:6-10). Adam initially experienced an intimate relationship with God, characterized by holiness and purity, but after the fall, he hid from God out of fear and shame (Genesis 3:7-9). This event not only affected Adam but the entire human race, establishing a condition of sin and separation from God that needed to be restored through Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22).

Q: How do we know God's authority is important?

God's authority is essential for establishing the moral order and relationship between Him and humanity. In Genesis, the tree of knowledge of good and evil serves as a symbol of God's authority over Adam. By instructing Adam not to eat from it, God established a covenant of obedience that was meant to affirm His sovereignty (Genesis 2:16-17). Adam's transgression represented not just a failure to obey but also a direct challenge to God's rightful authority. The significance of God's authority is highlighted again in Romans 13:1, which emphasizes that all authority is ordained by God. Acknowledging and submitting to this authority is fundamental for believers today, ensuring a proper relationship with God and guiding moral conduct in life.

Q: Why is Adam's role as a federal head significant?

Adam's role as a federal head means that his sin resulted in the fall of all humanity. In Reformed theology, Adam is considered the federal head of humanity, meaning his actions had repercussions for all his descendants (Romans 5:12). When Adam sinned, he not only fell himself but also plunged all humanity into sin and death. This represents the principle of federalism in theology, where one individual's actions can represent and affect others. As such, salvation and righteousness are also mediated through a representative, Christ, who, as the second Adam, provides redemption and reconciliation (1 Corinthians 15:22, Romans 5:19). Understanding Adam's role helps us see the essential nature of Christ's redemptive work as a reversal of the curse that began with the first sin.

Let's open our Bibles again now
to the third chapter of Genesis. I hope you will be much in prayer
that God will enable me to deal with this subject this morning
in a way that will be both glorifying to him and profitable to us. Now, first of all, With all the
scars of sin on the human mind, no matter how smart we think
we are, we are awful dumb. There are a lot of scars of sin
on these minds of ours. One of the tragedies of the fall
is what happened to the human mind. And with all the scars
of sin on our hearts and our twisted, perverted, warped, unnatural
affections, and all the scars of sin on our bodies. And we're
aware of those. It'd be difficult, it'd be so
difficult. It'd be almost impossible for
us to imagine, and I mean imagine, not describe with any accuracy,
but even imagine. It'd be difficult, impossible
almost for us to imagine what Adam was really like before he
fell. Now we do know this, he was created
in the original creation in the image of God. Now I resent most
every movie that I see that pictures Adam and Eve. A picture that's
being quite dumb and ignorant and illiterate. But Adam was
created in the image of God. As I say, with the scars of sin
on our minds and hearts and And our imaginations, it's impossible
for us to imagine what this man was like. He knew no fear. He
knew no shame. He knew no guilt. He knew no
hate. Adam was a genius. He was created
in the image of God, holy, holy. And that's not in Christ's holiness,
that was in his holiness, his righteousness. Adam had a righteousness
before the Father. enough that God walked with him
and talked with him. He had a perfect body. Adam and
Eve had perfect bodies, totally free from any fatigue, pain,
death, disease, sorrow, absolute, absolutely perfect as far as
the flesh is concerned. Who can tell what wisdom this
man had? Who can tell what understanding
he held He had dominion. Let me show you that. Turn to
Genesis 1. He had dominion. He was the king. He was the one
in control of everything God had made. That's what it says.
Genesis 1. He was no caveman. In Genesis
1, 28, God blessed them. This is Adam and Eve. And God
said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, live as a man and wife, bring
forth children, replenish the earth, subdue it, find its treasures,
find its wonders and mysteries, subdue the earth, and have dominion,
absolute authority, control over the fish of the sea, over the
fowl of the air, over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Adam, you are the king, a God-made
king. God authorized an anointing.
Turn to Genesis 2, verse 19. Now listen to this. God, in verse
18, made a woman and brought her to the man. And then in verse
19, listen, and out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast
of the field, every fowl of the air, and brought them to Adam
to see what he would name them. And whatever Adam called every
living creature, That's the name you call him today. A brilliant
man. Thousands of living creatures.
God brought him to Adam. He didn't bring him to a caveman,
to a fool. He brought him to Adam. And Adam named him. So
who can tell? I don't, my imagination, I don't
have anything to compare it with. But Adam was created holy. Adam was brilliant. Adam was
totally free from any stain or sin, and Adam had wisdom and
understanding. God planted a tree in the garden,
turn to Genesis 2, 16 and 17, and called it the tree of knowledge
of good and evil. He commanded man not to eat.
And you might note something in verse 9, out of the ground
made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the
sight and good for food. the tree of life also in the
midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and
evil. In verse 16, the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of
every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of
it. In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Now there's
been a lot of speculation as to what the tree was. This is
one of Satan's devices to get man's mind off of the important
thing here. The important thing is not what
the tree was. The important thing is this. The main point is this. That tree was a token or symbol
in the midst of that garden of God's authority over man. Man
had authority over all that God had made, but God had authority
over that man. Man had dominion. Adam was the
king. He had dominion over every living thing. But there was one
who had dominion over him. Adam was a man of authority,
but Adam was in subjection to him who hath all authority in
heaven and earth. And this tree was a symbol of
that. This tree was a token of that. And as long as that tree
stood untouched, Adam was saying, the Lord's king.
But when Adam reaches out to take that tree, he's taking God's
kingship, God's authority, God's lordship unto himself. Thou shalt have no other gods
before me, making a god of himself. That's what Satan said to Eve.
If you eat of this tree, God knows that you'll be like God.
And God will have no more authority. This was God's law. This was
God's covenant with Adam. Obey and live. Leave the tree
alone, Adam, and live. Eat of the tree and die. Well,
we know that Adam sinned. If you look at Genesis 3, I read
it, the woman was first in the fall. The woman was deceived.
But now listen to this, and listen well. Adam was not deceived. It says that. You want me to
show you that in the Scripture in 1 Timothy, chapter Chapter 2
turn over there with the first Timothy chapter 2 now the woman
was deceived the Satan came to the woman and he deceived her
she was she was deceived but Adam was not and Consequently
after that God now hold on right there. God said to Eve He said
now that your husband's going to rule over you your desire
shall be to your husband Because you were deceived in this thing
Adam shall have the rule over thee. In 1 Timothy 2 verse 12,
verse 11 says, Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. I suffered not a woman to teach,
nor to use up authority over the man, but to be in silence.
Far! Adam was first formed, then Eve.
That's the first reason. Secondly, Adam was not deceived,
but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Now,
I don't know how much time took place, and we can get sidetracked
here easily enough, how much time took place between when
the woman took that fruit and ate of it, and it says in verse
6, and she gave it to her husband, and he did eat. Now, the average
person pictures Adam as a henpecked man under the wiles of this beautiful
woman, and whatever she told him he'd do, he'd do. That's
not true. Adam was a king, and Adam was
brilliant. Adam entered this sin deliberately
and willingly. You know, the Word of God does
not record everything that happened. If the Word of God recorded everything
that happened, the world wouldn't hold the books. That's what it
says of Christ. If everything our Lord said was
written, the world wouldn't hold the books. And the Holy Spirit
has given us just a summary of what happened. It said that Satan
spoke to the woman, she was deceived, she took of the fruit and ate
it, gave it to her husband, he ate it. I don't know how long
Adam contemplated this thing. I don't know what went through
his mind, but I know this. God never said that tree wasn't
good for food. Back here in verse 9 it says,
God, out of the ground, He made to grow every tree that's pleasant
to the sight and good for food, the tree of life, and also the
tree of knowledge of good and evil. But it was a forbidden
tree. God didn't say there was no pleasure
in it. God didn't say there was no delight in it. God didn't
say it wasn't good for food. God said don't eat of it. There's
pleasure in sin for a season. A man may find a certain pleasure
in destroying someone. He may give pleasure to his hate
and pleasure to his malice and pleasure to his ambition by putting
someone else aside, but only for a season. God didn't say the tree wasn't
good for food. He says don't eat of it. And
Eve took of it. And she ate it and nothing happened.
Because judgment was not upon Eve, the commandment was not
to Eve, it was to the man. God said to Adam, if Eve only had eaten of that
fruit, Adam would have not fallen. Because God created the man.
The man is first. Eve was created out of, she came
out of Adam. Adam had to eat in order for
the human race to fall in sin. We don't get our sin from Eve,
we get it from Adam. Eve was not our representative,
Eve was not our federal head, Eve was not our human representative,
Adam was. Adam had to eat of that tree
for man to fall. for the human race to fall, for
sin to come into this world. By one man sin entered this world,
not by Eve, not by one woman, by one man, Adam. And thus far
he hasn't eaten it, his wife has, and nothing's happened.
She's the same. She took the fruit and ate it,
nothing's changed. Adam considered that, I'm sure.
She told him what the serpent said, he considered that, I'm
sure. She told him how good the fruit was. This is good. He considered that, I'm sure.
She told him, look, I'm not dead. I'm sure he thought that over.
And I'm sure he thought something else over. The voice of the Lord
God. God was not speaking now. God was silent. God had already
spoken. And I'm sure he considered that.
And through all deliberation and consideration, he made up
his mind. I'm going to eat it too. And
it was not a henpecked man receiving or a man beguiled or deceived.
The Scripture says Adam was not deceived. This choice, God would
not have plunged the whole human race under His wrath and condemnation
because they had been deceived. Adam was not deceived. He was
a wise man. He was a thoughtful man. He was
an intelligent man. He was a man who was a king.
He represented a people. And he made this choice deliberately. And that's the reason there's
no pity to be wasted upon Adam. He considered this thing, he
thought it over, he compared the voice of error to the voice
of truth, he compared the voice of Satan to the voice of God,
he compared what might happen against what God said would happen,
and he made his choice. Just like Satan made his choice.
I'm gonna be God. I'm going to throw off the shackles,
I'm going to throw off the yoke, I'm going to throw off the scepter,
I'm going to be gone. And he took it, now then, verse,
look over here, Genesis 3, 7. It says the woman ate of it,
nothing happened. When she gave it to her husband,
verse 7, and the eyes of them both were open. That's when it
happened. When Adam took that tree, just
as soon as he took it, God said, you'll die, and that's exactly
what happened. Sin entered this world through that man, that
federal head, that representative, that man. Now six things took
place. Six things happened to Adam and
to us, and these are six problems right here. You can read your
books on psychology and philosophy and all these things, what's
wrong with the human race. Here are the six things right here.
Number one, sin made Adam ashamed. Ashamed. That's most of our problems. Go to that right there. Many
of them do. Adam knew no shame. God created the man and the woman
beautiful, perfect, put them in the garden. They didn't know
they were naked. Because why? Nakedness meant
nothing to them. They saw no evil in not having
clothes on. They saw no evil in anything.
Why? They had no evil in their hearts.
You know the reason that you see evil in things? Because you
see it in here first. You see it in here. Everything
starts in here. The fountain was pure, therefore the water
was pure. The source was pure, therefore everything that came
from it was pure. Everything Adam saw was pure,
what he heard was pure, what he thought was pure, what he
felt was pure, because he was pure. He had an inward holiness
and everything was holy. He didn't need to shield anything
or shelter anything or cover anything. He didn't see any evil
in anything. He was holy. That's our problem. We've lost
that inward holiness. And losing that inward holiness,
everything's impure. It's impure. You know the reason
that someone says something to you and offends you? You see
evil in here. That person may have meant no
offense at all, but in here you thought offense, therefore you
heard offense. When you see something that causes
you shame, you know why? Because the shame's in here.
If you had no shame in here, you'd see no shame. Secondly,
Adam felt guilt. Sin made him ashamed and sin
made him guilty. He couldn't face God, so he ran
and hid. But the day before, he was walking with God. The
day before, he and God had real fellowship. But now he couldn't
face God. His eyes couldn't look directly
into the eyes of God. He looked down because he was
guilty, guilty. He felt that awful guilt. That
guilt that drove him away from God. That guilt that kept him
from meeting God. That guilt that kept him from
expressing his affections for God. That guilt which kept him from
being himself. He felt he was wrong. And therefore he didn't
want any communication with God. He wanted no encounter with God.
He was wrong. And then thirdly, sin made Adam
afraid. Well, Adam never knew fear. God
said, Adam, where are you? I was afraid! Well, Adam knew
no fear before. He had known no fear. He wasn't
afraid of the elements. Boy, fear is a part of our emotional
structure, isn't it? We fear the storms, we fear the
snow, we fear the floods. We fear the beast, we fear other
men, we fear death, we fear sickness, we fear tomorrow. We just shook
up anxious because we're filled with fear. It started right here.
Adam never knew fear. He could walk among the beast
and never tremble. He could walk through the world
that God had made and never know fear. He could even face a holy
God and His holy law and have no fear. But here he is hiding
because he's afraid. He's afraid. And then sin not
only made Adam ashamed and made him guilty and made him afraid,
but made him a fool. Why do we do what we do? Why are we so ignorant? It started
right here. God says, where are you, Adam? Well, I saw I was naked and I
hid. Hid from whom? Hid from you. Here is a brilliant man who could
name all the animals. Here is a brilliant man. who
had dominion over everything God made, here's a brilliant
man under a tree or bush, thinking he could hide from God. Now that's
a fool, isn't it? Here's a man, here was a brilliant
king, because of a fall, because of sin, became a fool. Just like
that. You don't think this fall was
a catastrophe? You look at Adam, trembling under
that tree, thinking God couldn't see him. What fools we are, all
because of sin. And then watch this. This makes
me so ashamed here of the human race. God said in verse, here
in verse 23, no, not 23, but verse 13, verse 11, He said,
Adam, who told you you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree I
commanded that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, listen,
the woman you gave to be with me." She gave me of the tree
and I did eat. Adam was filled with hate. Just
a little while back, look at Genesis 2, 23. Boy, he loves
this woman. She's the apple of his eye. She's
the joy of his life. In verse 23 of Genesis 2, Adam
said, This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She shall
be called woman because she was taken out of man. How he loved
her. Now here he is, just a little
while later, willing for God to punish her and leave him alone.
Here he is, just a little bit later, willing to sacrifice her
to save his skin. What's happened to this man?
Sin. Isn't it dreadful? The woman
you gave me. He doesn't even call her my wife.
He doesn't even call her Eve. He doesn't even call her my helpmate.
He speaks as if she were a total stranger to him. The woman you
gave me. She gave me that tree, that fruit,
and I ate it. Isn't that different? Hate. Hate. He never knew that
before. Justifying himself. Alibiing
for himself. It's her fault. And then Adam's
in the sixth place. There we have shame, guilt, ignorance,
fear, hate. And then Adam became a dying
creature. God said, Dost thou art, that
dost shalt thou return. Became a dying creature. Now then, all of these six things,
would you like to be rid of them? Would you like to be rid of them?
Christ said, He that believeth shall not be ashamed. Secondly, guilt. Therefore, there
is no condemnation to them who are in Christ. No condemnation. Fear. Our Lord said to his disciples,
Fear not, I am with thee, be not afraid. Ignorance, Christ
of God, is made unto us wisdom. Hate, the love of God, is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Death, Christ said, he
that believeth on me shall never die. Everything that Adam lost,
God's restored to me in Christ. I have everything he lost. All
right, God comes to the garden. Now this is interesting here,
and I won't keep you long, but I want you to see these things. Adam fell, and then he hid himself,
and God came to the garden in the cool of the day, and He called
out the first words to the first sinner. He said, Adam, where
art thou? Where art thou? And this question,
I believe, may be applied in five different ways. I'll give
them to you quickly. Number one, God asked it, this
question, to arouse the sinner. Adam was the sinner and God asked
him. Now sin dulls the mind. Sin lulls a man to sleep. It's
just like Sermons are wearisome to us, but reading the Bible
is a wearisome chore. Church attendance to most young
people is a dreaded affair. You know why? It's like a fellow
at the North Pole who's freezing to death. You know what he wants
to do? He wants to be let alone. He wants to sleep. He wants to
sleep. He's in terrible danger. He's
dying, but he wants to sleep. And that's the way it is with
a sinner. He wants to sleep. He doesn't want to lift up his
eyes. They said the rich man died and in hell he lifted up
his eyes. He'd never lifted them up before. If he'd have lifted
them up before, he wouldn't have been in hell lifting them up.
But he never lifted them up on this earth. He was lulled to
sleep by sin. How we can go on ignoring death
and sin and God and judgment and eternity and the law I tell
you how we're drugged by an evil nature. But now this is interesting. Look at verse 8. Look real good
at verse 8. And they heard the voice of the
Lord God walking. God came walking. Does that mean something? It
does to me. It means this. The Lord is in
no hurry to smite the offender. He came walking. He didn't come
flying as on wings of wrath. He didn't come hurrying with
his sword drawn to slay. He came walking just like always. Walking. Enoch walked with God. Adam walked with God. God's long-suffering. God's patient. Patient with us. That's the reason a lot of people
go on in their sin. You know that? It's because God
is so long-suffering, so patient. Because an evil work, because,
listen to the scripture, because judgment against an evil work
is not executed speedily, men go on in their rebellion. And
God came walking. Now watch this. In the cool of
the day. Not in the dead of night, as
he smoked the firstborn in Egypt. Not in the dead of night, and
there was night in the garden, the day and the night. And God
didn't come in the night. when Adam would be fearful and
looking in the shadows and the darkness. He came in the cool
of the day. Not in the morning, not in the
early morning in haste to get it over with. I don't know when
this happened, but I know that God waited and God came walking. Not in the heat of the day, as
in the heat of anger, but in the cool of the day. The patience
of the Lord. He came walking in the cool of
the day and God spoke. I saw this movie, the Bible,
and the voice said, Adam, where art thou? I wonder, that's not
the way God spoke. Adam, with compassion and love
and long-suffering, Adam, where art thou? God takes no pleasure
in the death of the wicked. You know, we think God, David
summed it up. God said, you think I'm like
you, but I'm not. And he spoke this to Adam. Has
God ever quietly spoken to you? Quietly through his word, to
arouse you, to wake you up. Awake thou that sleepest, come
on, do a little thinking, come let us reason together. Though
your sins be as scarlet, I'll make them white as snow. I don't
have a hammer to beat you, a sword to slay you, I have a voice to
woo you. And then Adam, God spoke this
to convict the sinner, secondly, to arouse him and to convict
him. He said, Adam, I made you in my own image. I gave you dominion
over all the earth. I gave you the garden of delights. I gave you a beautiful wife.
I gave you good things to eat. I covered you with glory. I ask
of you but one thing, your loyalty. I ask of you but one thing, not
to eat of that tree." Adam, are you a thief? Adam, are you an
idolater? Adam, are you a rebel? With one
stroke, Adam broke both tables of the law with one stroke. And
this is the essence of sin. We've got sin brought down to
little old outward acts of flesh. This is the essence of sin. Adam
took to himself another God. And that's God's issue, that's
God's argument. Adam made an idol of his flesh. Adam took God's name in vain
by doubting God's word. Adam left the rest and the state
of peace in which God had placed him. Adam dishonored the Father
in heaven. Adam killed himself in his posterity. Adam committed spiritual fornication. Adam stole forbidden fruit. Adam
coveted God's throne, and Adam bore false witness before the
world against God. Where are you, Adam? I'm separated
from God. My sins have separated me from
my God. I'm under the curse of the law.
Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things written in
the book of the law. Where are you, Adam? I'm condemned by the
justice and holiness of a sovereign God." And then in the third place,
God asks the question to seek the sinner, to arouse him, to
convict him, to seek him. I thank God this is not a stern
voice, a voice of wrath and condemnation. It's the voice of a father. Where art thou? Where art thou? And God came to reveal to Adam
a Savior that God had already ordained, to announce to Adam
forgiveness. God didn't come to smite him,
he came to save him. God didn't come only to drive
him out, God came to tell him how he could be brought back.
That's right, God did put him out, but God gave him the way
back. God Almighty did put his judgment upon him, but he also
put his grace upon him. And God came and revealed to
Adam Christ, to Adam and Eve. And when we're preaching the
gospel of law to you, we're preaching also a gospel of love. When we're
preaching the gospel of righteousness, we're preaching the gospel of
redemption. When we call, where art thou, where art thou, we're
not calling in condemnation, we're calling with seeking mercies. You can come back if you want
to. Whosoever will, let him take the water of life. God put a
tree in the midst of that garden called the tree of life, and
he put Adam out to keep him eating of that tree. But I'm telling
you, if you want to eat of the tree of life, take it. Christ
is that tree of life. Go ahead. God said, let's put
Adam out of this garden. Let's eat of that tree and live
forever. I'm telling you, Christ is the
tree of life. Eat of him and live forever. Adam, where art thou? Well, I'm
separated from God. Do you want back? Would you like
to come back? I'm away from God. Would you
like to come back? I'm under condemnation. Would
you like to be free? I'm guilty, would you like to
be forgiven? I'm dying, would you like to
live? Oh, so much. Then come to Christ and I'll
give you life. And then in the fourth place,
now listen to this. This is spoken to Adam, not only
to arouse him and to convict him and to seek him, but it's
spoken to Adam to bring Adam to repentance. Now this is so
important. And you get this, please, if
you don't get anything else. God knew where Adam was. Why did God ask him where he
was? Adam, where art thou? God knew
exactly where he was. God never asked a question for
information. God knows all things. God asks
questions for your information and for your confession and for
your plea for mercy. Adam, where art thou? I was naked. That's for Adam's information.
Who told you you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which
I forbid you to eat? I have. I have. And instead of saying, Father,
I'm sorry, I repent, I was wrong, he began to justify himself.
He began to blame somebody else. He began to blame the woman.
And this revealed to Adam his true wicked nature. Adam heard
himself saying things that he didn't know he was capable of
saying. Adam heard himself expressing things that he had never thought
before. He found out what he was. He
found out who he was. And God will never bring a man
to faith until he brings that man to self-confession. Cain, where is your brother?
God knew where his brother was. God knew his brother was dead.
He wanted to hear Cain say, Am I my brother's keeper? Wicked,
isn't that wicked? I don't care about my brother. Am I supposed to watch out after
him? Am I his nursemaid? Am I his babysitter? Listen to
you, King. Listen to you. Our Lord said, what think ye
of Christ? Well, he's a prophet, he's Elijah, John the Baptist,
he's a great healer, this, that. God knows our thoughts before
we think them, our words before we speak them. God wants them
to be a reality to us. I mean, Adam, let's hear it from
Adam. Come on, let's hear what you've
got to say. Where are you? Where are you? What God asks these questions
for is in order to make them a reality. If God didn't make
them a reality, listen to me, if God didn't make them a reality,
we'd lose our personality. Adam's not a tin can, a robot,
neither are you. God's people will seek him, but
they must. God's people will call upon Him,
but they must. God's people will pray, but they
must. God's people will come to Christ,
but they must. God's people will sue for mercy,
but they must, and they will. And it will be a sincere suit,
and it will be sincere prayer and sincere seeking as if they
had no motivation but their own wills. And to most of them, that's what
they think. They're unaware of his secret workings. They're
unaware of his mighty power. They're unaware of his sovereign
operation of grace. And I say to any saint, Adam,
where are you? Do you know where you are? Be
a preacher, I know where I am. I've got troubles, my troubles
have got troubles. Shame, guilt, fear, hate. Justification, spear, all these
things. Yeah, death. You want to be free? I sure would like to. Well, come
to Christ. God's in mercy inviting you to
come. Seek the Lord while he may be
found. Call upon him while he's near. Unaware of the secret movement
of his Spirit, the wooing of his grace, the calling of his
Spirit, the work of Christ, come to him. Come to her, tell me,"
the blind man said, who had been healed. Tell me who he is, and
I'll believe on him. Tell me who he is. The woman
at the well, under such an awful sense of guilt, said, when the
Messiah comes, he'll tell us, and I'll believe on him. Christ
said, I'm he. She said, I'll take that. I'll take that. And
then last of all, listen to this. If you don't hear this voice,
Adam, where art thou? Spoken to arouse you. and to
convict you, and to seek you, and to bring you to repentance,
you'll hear it someday in wrath. Someday. Someday. If the voice of God in mercy
does not bring you out of your hiding place, out of your refuge
of lies, out of your false religious refuge, if the voice of God does
not summons you to the throne of grace, you'll hear it in a
different tone someday. It will summon you to a voice
of judgment. Adam, where are you? Come hither to be judged. If mercy won't flush you out
of your hiding place, God's voice will someday. For he said, the
rushing waters, the rushing torrents of God's wrath shall come through
and you'll be routed out because your refuge will not stand and
your hiding place will not be secure. Where are you? Where are you now? Where are
you now? Well, you're in the place where
mercy can reach you. And grace can find you and Christ
can lift you. But one day if you don't come
now, today is the day of salvation, now is the accepted time, one
day life is going to be over and you're going to be lying
on the deathbed and your hand limber and limp by your side
and your eye covered with film and the voice mute and the faculties
dull. Where are you now? Where are
you now? I'm leaving the body. I'm going
into the valley of death. I'm crossing that cold, chilly
stream. Where are you now? I'm standing
before God's judgment. Where are you now? I'm here all
alone without a mediator. Where are you now? I'm in hell."
And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and he
cried, Father Abraham, have mercy. Why didn't he cry that before?
Why didn't he cry when God came? That first voice, that first
hour, that first warning. Where are you? Here I am, Lord,
and I need help. I need help. I need mercy. Don't
try to work it out yourself. Bring all your fleshly works
of self-righteousness, and God will spew them out of his mouth.
Bring all your goody-goody promises and resolutions, and God wants
no part of them. Just bring empty hands. Here
I am, Lord. Here I am. Here's this fallen,
wretched, naked creature, and I need mercy. Our Lord said,
I come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Oh,
everyone that thirsteth, come to the water. Come all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest." Come just like
Yah. Don't try to fix it up. Don't
try to fix up that old carcass with fig leaf aprons and say,
here I am Lord, I did a pretty good job covering my nakedness,
now you just take care of the rest of it. You come naked like
Yah. He knows you. He knows you. He knows me. He knows our frame.
He knows where it does. He doesn't expect anything else.
You bring anything else, it's a phony. God doesn't like phonies. God turns phonies away. That's
what the Pharisees were. They were phonies. They cleaned
up the outside while the inside was wretched. And God looks not
on the outside. He looks on the inside. So come
like you are. Leave the outside alone. Just
come like, be yourself and you'll be received. Try to be somebody
else and God will throw you out. Is anything you despise worse
than hypocrisy? Just be yourself. Because God
knows every thought and every desire every need and every failure. He knows all of that. And he
loves those folks like the woman at the well and the harlot who
bathed his feet and Zacchaeus up the tree and Peter who says,
I'm a sinful man, and Isaiah who said, I'm a man of unclean
lips, and David who said, my sins are ever before me. That's
the kind of folks God loves. It's these phony, religious,
hypocritical, pious, holy-in-the-now, veneer-covered, wretched graveyards
that God throws out. Adam, where are you? I know where
you are. I know where you are. I know what you're doing. But
I want to hear it from you, just like it is. Just like it is,
Adam. All right, Lord. Here I am. Just like it is. And He'll furnish
you a Savior. Our Father in Heaven, Lord, expose
us to ourselves. Deliver us from that false veneer
of religion that seeks to impress men and impress the world. And yea, Lord, God, deliver us
from trying to impress Thee. Christ is the impression. We're
accepted in the Beloved. Christ is the representative.
Christ is the tree of life. He's our Lord. He's our Savior.
Look not upon us, look upon Him. And look upon us in Christ and
love us in Christ, just as I am without one plea of self-works
or self-righteousness or merit, without one plea, but that thou
bidst me come to thee. O Lamb of God, I come, just as
I am poor, wretched, blind, sight, riches, healing of the mind,
all I need in Christ to find. Lamb of God, I come, in the name
of Thy Son, our Lord and Savior, we pray.

God's First Words to the First Sinner

What does the Bible say about Adam's sin?

How do we know God's authority is important?

Why is Adam's role as a federal head significant?

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God's First Words to the First Sinner

What does the Bible say about Adam's sin?

How do we know God's authority is important?

Why is Adam's role as a federal head significant?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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