Sermon Notes

The True Meaning of Life | The Purpose of Life from Genesis

Welcome to today’s sermon, where we explore the profound truths about “The Purpose of Life” as revealed in the book of Genesis. These notes are designed to help you follow along with the sermon while listening to the audio version.

Introduction: Moses and the Purpose of Life

• Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, including Genesis, during Israel’s time in the desert to provide instruction and refreshment.
• This sermon addresses foundational questions:
• Who am I?
• Why am I here?
• What is “The Purpose of Life”?

God as Creator and Sustainer

• Unlike the Babylonian myths, which portray gods as takers, the God of the Bible is a giver:
• Acts 17:25 (NLT): “Human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.”
• Everything in creation, including the Tree of Life, was made for humanity’s benefit, yet life is ultimately about worshipping God, not self.

Creation and Humanity’s Place in It

• Humanity was created in union with God:
• Genesis 1:28 (NIV): “Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature.”
• Genesis 2:7 (NIV): “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
• God met humanity’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, placing them in a perfect environment (Genesis 2).

The Fall and Its Consequences

• The Tree of Knowledge represented the choice to trust God or rely on self-effort:
• Genesis 2:17 (NIV): “But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
• Satan’s temptation led Adam and Eve to disobedience, breaking their union with God:
• Genesis 3:24 (NIV): “After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”

Life and Death Defined

• Life: Union with God (spiritual life) and the body (physical life).
• Death: Separation from God (spiritual death) or the body (physical death).
• Romans 5:12 (NLT): “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone.”

Jesus: The Tree of Life Restored

• Jesus restores spiritual life and reconciles us with God:
• John 1:4 (NIV): “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”
• John 14:6 (NIV): “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
• Victory over sin and death comes through Jesus:
• Ephesians 2:1 (NLT): “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.”
• Victory in Christ is not earned but inherited.

Choosing Life

• Like Moses urged Israel to “choose life,” we must choose to trust and obey God:
• Deuteronomy 30:19–20 (NLT): “Choose life by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. For he is your life.”
• “Choosing Life” means focusing on Jesus, the modern Tree of Life, instead of striving through self-effort or living by the world’s standards.

Practical Application: Living the New Life in Christ

• Embrace your identity in Christ:
• Genesis 2:7 (NIV): God’s breath of life signifies purpose and belonging.
• Ephesians 3:14–17 (NLT): Paul’s prayer highlights the strength and love found in union with Christ.
• Trust Jesus daily: “Two words define the gospel: Trust Jesus.”
• Avoid distractions and focus on your relationship with God rather than the “right and wrong” of the Tree of Knowledge.

Conclusion

• Through Christ, we regain “The Purpose of Life”: union with God and living as His representatives.
• Let us reject defiance and self-effort, choosing instead to trust Jesus and live victoriously in Him.

Key Takeaways

• The Purpose of Life is found in union with God, not self-discovery or worldly pursuits.
• Victory comes through Christ’s work, not human effort.
• Focus on the Tree of Life (Jesus) and live out your faith daily.

Bible Verses

Acts 17:25 (NLT)
And human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.

Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Genesis 1:28 (NIV)
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Genesis 1:29 (NIV)
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.”

Genesis 2:7 (NIV)
Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Genesis 2:18 (NIV)
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Genesis 2:9 (NIV)
The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:17 (NIV)
But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.

Genesis 3:24 (NIV)
After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Romans 5:12 (NLT)
When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

Ephesians 2:1 (NLT)
Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.

Proverbs 14:12 (NLT)
There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.

John 1:4 (NIV)
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

John 6:48 (NIV)
I am the bread of life.

John 11:25 (NIV)
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.”

John 14:6 (NIV)
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Deuteronomy 30:19–20 (NLT)
Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life.

Ephesians 3:14–17 (NLT)
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

Books:

“The Genesis Record” by Henry M. Morris
An in-depth commentary on the Book of Genesis, offering insights into the creation narrative and its implications for understanding life’s purpose.

“Knowing God” by J.I. Packer
Packer’s classic work encourages believers to deepen their understanding of God’s nature and character, fostering a more intimate relationship with Him.

Articles and Blog Posts:

“What Does it Mean to Have a New Life in Christ?”
An article that delves into the significance of living a renewed life through faith in Jesus, emphasizing spiritual growth and renewal.
Walk With The Wise

“What Does a New Life in Jesus Look Like?”
A blog post that explores the transformative impact of embracing a new life in Christ, with practical insights for believers.
Seek The Gospel Truth

“What Is Life’s Purpose? (Genesis 1-2)”
This article discusses the foundational truths about life’s purpose as presented in the opening chapters of Genesis.
Biblical Foundations

Devotionals:

“Beginning Your New Life in Christ”
A series of lessons designed to help new believers understand and grow in their relationship with Jesus.
Bible.org

“A New Life in Jesus”
This devotional reflects on the transformation that comes from accepting Christ, encouraging believers to live out their new identity.
Right From The Heart

Videos:

“In-Depth Genesis Bible Study: Book of Genesis Explained”
Pastor Allen Nolan provides a comprehensive study of Genesis, offering insights into creation, humanity’s purpose, and God’s plan.

Transcript: The True Meaning of Life | The Purpose of Life From Genesis 

We’ve been talking about. Moses is preparing his people and a lot of us don’t realize that Genesis comes from the time the people were in the desert in Israel. Moses had to give him some refreshment, and so he wrote the first five books of the Old Testament at that time, and that was refreshment, that was the instruction. And he not only gave them instruction, but they had 40 years to live it out. Think about it. If you had a small business and it took a lot of blood, sweat, tears, laughter, just a lot of sacrifice to get this small business off the ground and it gets established and it’s functioning, it’s taking care of your needs and it’s growing and it’s time to kind of pass the baton to the next generation, what would you do? What would you want to establish for that next generation to take the business?

Sure, you’d want to kind of tell ’em what the business is about, but there’s a lot of work ethic involved behind the scenes. There’s a lot of attitudes that need to be developed towards the business and towards customers, and it would take more than just instruction. It’s just more than writing it out saying, do this. But you’d want somebody to kind of go through it with you, do an apprenticeship and to pass on everything that you’ve gleaned and hopefully have them build on that and take it further. Well, that’s what Moses was doing here is he had to pass something on that was of critical importance to the people of Israel. And really to answer a very basic question, who am I? Why am I here? What’s the meaning of life? The need to know our place in this world goes back for centuries. Generation after generation has been asking that same question, and there’s all kinds of myths and theories out there, aren’t there? Why am I here?

According to the ancient Babylonian legend, which is probably what the people of Israel were familiar with at that time, living in Egypt, the God marduc would create people to make life easier for the gods. That was basically what they were taught. And so there were basically there to serve the gods and the needs of the gods. See, the God of the Bible, however, is not a taker, is he? He’s a giver. In Acts 1725, it says, and human hands can’t even serve his needs for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need that there is. Do you believe that? See now when that written, that was written to people who were already instructed in the Torah in Genesis, in the first five books. So he’s reminding them of something that took place in Genesis one and two and three and was built upon throughout the whole Old Testament that God has no needs, that he is the one who fulfills all the needs.

So we’re taking this journey through the Old Testament over the next several weeks, months. If we go Ephesians speed, it’ll be years and we’re going to see this God who has not changed. Sort of our theme verse through this time is Hebrews 13, eight. Jesus the same yesterday, today, and yes forever for this study, we’re going to be seeing a lot of history, but this is not a historical study. We’re going to be touching on prophecies, primarily involved in terms of how the prophet spoke, the word of God to the people of the day for their day, not so much for the future. So there will be a little bit of that in there, but it’s not a study about prophecy. It’s really laying the foundational truths of the Old Testament that were necessary for the people of those days to find meaning and purpose in life and to see that that’s very applicable today, that we need that foundation today.

You see, after Jesus left the earth, the apostles continued to preach the word. What was the word they preached? They had the Old Testament. They continued to lay that foundation down and it was later continued to be built upon, but they still had the scriptures and they used the scriptures. And the scriptures they used was the Old Testament. It was critically important to them and it’s critically important to us. They had only the Old Testament to work from and the church continued to grow. So we want to see God’s faithfulness to mankind, and we don’t want to just look at it from a science class about creation. No, let’s take it out of the science class now and take it into the humanities class and see that the creation story is as important into humanities class as it is in the science class. Genesis one and two are the account of the sovereign creator who shaped the world for mankind, get that he shaped the world, the stars, everything was put into place for us.

So we were put into a perfect environment. And the paradox to that is even though everything was created for us with us in mind, it’s not about me and it’s not about you, it’s about God. That’s the paradox. That’s the thing that we have trouble wrapping our mind that he did all this for us, but we are to come to him and worship him for who he is. So man was created in this perfect environment. God met all his needs. He was significant. God had him rule over the fish of the sea, the birds, every creature, according to Genesis 1 28, and then 1 29 says that man was safe and secure, that he had everything he needed to eat, all that was taken care of. He was in again, a perfect living environment. The animals weren’t going to attack him or anything else, and then he was accepted.

He had a place to belong. In Genesis two 18, God said, it’s not good for man to be alone. So he made a suitable partner for him and tuck in there is man’s purpose. It was inherent in who he was. And in Genesis two seven it says that God gave him the breath of life. That is an important thing that we’re going to look at today. What is that breath of life? So we can understand what the meaning of life is for today? Looking at the word in their biblical language, there’s two primary meanings for life. One is bios that’s used, and we get our word biology from it, and that would be our physical life. We get our physical life from God, and to die ally means that we are separated. Our soul spirit is separated from our body. And then there’s the word Zoe, which is more the spiritual life.

That is when our soul and our spirit, that which is within us is in union with God. So in order to be spiritually dead, it means your soul spirit is separated from God. So there’s two aspects there. One is that we have physical life because our soul and our spirit is in union with our body. And then the other aspect is that we have spiritual life because our soul and our spirit is in union with God. So for the Christian to be spiritually alive means that we’re born again. We’ve come to life in Jesus Christ by having spiritual life. The concept of life in the Bible is to be in union with, okay? If you think about it that way, life means in union with just like your soul. Spirit is in union with your body or your soul. Spirit is in union with God.

So the idea of death means separation. So I’m laying this groundwork for you because we’re going to put it all together. So what’s the answer to who am I? Why am I here, and what is the meaning of life? Well, the Babylonian myth would answer, you’re a product of the gods in order to make their life easier. That’s what you’re there for. And according to modern myths, it would be that you’re a product of random chance. You’d have no purpose in this universe other than to die and turn to dust. The new age would say that you’re here to discover yourself. The Bible says you are a personal creation of God, the one and only God of the universe, the creator of the universe who cares for you, and that there’s a very unique dimension to your life that’s different from any other life on earth that you can be in union with him.

No other creature can do that. That he’s created you, male and female, and has placed you in this world as his representative. That is the meaning and purpose of life according to the Bible, that we are here dearly be beloved of God and here to represent him in this world. So life’s major purpose is not in knowing our ourself better. It’s in knowing God better and getting to know him. That’s what we pray for these kids in the back, that they’re not just learning about God, but they’re learning to get to know him and trust him. As Moses was giving instruction to the people, this knowledge of creation and their relationship to the creator he felt was critically important. And it’s important for us today that we have that groundwork that the Almighty God of the universe is also the lover of our souls. And to pursue anything else in life is fruitless.

It’s a dead end street. If you pursue anything but God in your life, you won’t go anywhere because to the degree you don’t see yourself as God intended, as his child really loved, at the peak of creation, mankind is at the peak of creation. And to the degree we don’t see ourselves at the peak of creation, loved by God to that degree, we’re going to suffer with a poor self image, a wrong that is our image, and it’s equally so to the degree we don’t see God above that as the sovereign God, the creator, the one whom we live for and serve. We will also not understand our meaning and purpose in life. He has got to be above us all the time. He is not here just to serve us, and we are not here just to serve him. We are here to be in relationship with him.

So let’s look at this garden scene a little closer. Now, I covered Genesis one and two last week, and now we’re going to move on from two to three today. And it says in Genesis two, nine and out of the ground, the Lord caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the site and good for food and the tree of life. There’s that word again, the tree of life. We had the breath of life earlier. Now the tree of life is in the midst of the garden. That word is middle of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Note to self here, there’s two trees aren’t there, and they’re in the middle of the garden. Life could revolve around either one, and the Lord gave him a warning saying, you can eat from any tree in the garden. The abundance is to be expressed here.

That’s what God’s saying in this. There’s an abundance for you to choose from just tons of fruit out there, tons of vegetables, everything to take care of you. You can pick any of it you want. It’s all yours. And there’s one restriction, this one tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Don’t eat from that one. Okay? That’s sort of the way it’s said. So the abundant provision is to be the focus here, not the one restriction. But how do we handle restrictions in our life? How often do we look at all the abundance and thank God for the abundance? But there’s this one area he says, don’t go there. Where do you want to go there? So they could only make one bad choice. God didn’t say that the tree was particularly sinister or anything like that. He just said it was forbidden. That’s it, because all of God’s creation to that point was pronounced good.

So it wasn’t a bad tree. It was just a tree of knowledge of good and evil, and it was off limits. It would be like saying that household cleaners in your home are good, aren’t they? We should have ’em around disinfectants and things to clean the bathroom and the floors. But aren’t they forbidden to children? They’re off limits to children. Well, that’s what God’s saying here. It’s not a particularly bad tree. It’s just not for you. We don’t know why he said that. It is not really explained other than if he partakes of it, he’ll die. So he gave him an explanation of why not to do it. Don’t drink that draino down under the sink there. You’ll die. Okay, well, the kid’s got to trust us or what are they going to do? Say, Ooh, I wonder what it tastes like. Why? Because it’s forbidden becomes a temptation.

So the Lord God said that everything in the garden was good. So when he talked about this tree of the knowledge of good and evil, did you know that’s something that he’s got the knowledge of good and evil, doesn’t he? And even later after the fall, he said, oh, mankind’s become like us. He knows good and evil. Now he’s just like I am. So again, that’s not particularly a sinister tree. It was just off limits. Anyway, Adam had to live by faith, didn’t he? Because he had to trust God. He didn’t even know what death was at that point. All he knew is I have to trust God to not eat from that tree and trust that all this abundance is enough for me not understanding about that one tree Isn’t He called us to live by faith today? Don’t we have to trust him with a lot more than one choice today? Isn’t there? But it’s still a matter of trust. It’s still a matter of allowing God to show us what we should do and what we shouldn’t do. So then comes the fall in Genesis three, and it starts out with Satan saying, really? Did God say you can’t eat from any of the fruit of the trees, any of it? Satan was subtly drawing their attention to the forbidden tree. He didn’t say, Hey, come over here and look at this tree. Now, he was just subtly getting them to think that direction.

It wasn’t real blatant. It never is, is it? He kind of drew them over to the one restriction in the land of abundance. Paul writes about that in two Corinthians 11, three. He says, but I fear that somehow you’ll be led astray from pure and simple devotion to Christ. Now, he wasn’t really leading them astray from all the trees. He was leading them astray from God. He wasn’t necessarily pointing them away from all the trees and what God provided just away from God and what God said. Yeah. So Paul says in Second Corinthians that you’ll be led astray from pure, simple devotion to Christ just as Eve was deceived by the serpent the same way. So it’s only from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is the way she says it though Eve does in Genesis, she says, it’s only from the tree at the center of the garden.

What happened here? It started out there’s two trees in the midst towards the middle of the garden. Now it’s the tree in the middle of the garden. See, she’s starting to focus in on what’s forbidden, what the one restriction is. The tempter was successful in getting her thoughts focused on what she shouldn’t be doing. So now this one tree, the knowledge of good and evil stands right there in the middle of the garden. And then she says that God says, we must not eat of it or even touch it. This thing’s looming bigger and bigger. She’s adding to God’s word now. He said, don’t eat from it. Now she’s saying they’re not even allowed to touch the tree. He never said that. So this thing’s starting to well up in her mind. It’s becoming her focus that ever happened to you.

It happens to me. Why do we think it says that we need to take every thought captive in obedience to Christ? Because where do we go with these things? They just start running away soon as we start to head towards that restriction. So then the serpent comes back. This is his final blow. You won’t die. He says, God knows your eyes will be opened when you eat from that. Yeah, you’ll know the whole story. Then you’ll be just like him. You’re going to know everything, and he doesn’t want that. In fact, God doesn’t want you to have any fun, does he? The second stage of temptation is to discredit God and his character to stimulate defiance in us. That’s a tough word, but it’s an important word to learn this these days. Defiance. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what sin is about. It’s not what we do. It’s why we’re doing it to be defiant. That’s Satan’s work to stimulate defiance and then predict some kind of favorable income from our disobedience. Oh, it won’t be so bad. You’ll see. It’ll feel good for a little while Anyway.

Just remember, God doesn’t want you to have any fun and you’re not really going to reap what you sow. That’s a myth. That’s what Satan tells us. Then what are the effects of that fall? What happened? Well, Genesis 2 17, 4, in that day it says that you eat from that tree, you will surely die. Well, what are the effects of the fall? That’s what starts in Genesis three, eight, the effects of the fall. They ate from the tree. God said, you’re surely going to die that day. You’re surely going to die. They ate from it. Did they die? Did God lie? Was he wrong? No, they lost Zoe. Remember, there’s two meanings of life here. They lost their union with God. Their soul. Spirit was no longer in union with God. They spiritually died. They still had physical life, but they no longer had spiritual life.

So our first condition as a result of sin, okay? The very first condition as a result of sin will always be defined in terms of broken fellowship with God. That’s the first condition we’re going to suffer. Whether we realize it or not, we will have broken fellowship with God. So defiance means death. Defiance means separation from God. Oh, we might get by in this world being defiant. We may have some of the benefits that this world has to offer or maybe just be able to support our own will and what we want to do by being defiant, but we won’t be in fellowship with God. So then ever since that fall, we’ve been plagued by rejection. No longer feeling significant fellowship in our life is a glaring need. Fellowship with God, fellowship with something beyond ourselves. People are always in that search, guilt and shame.

There’s a need of acceptance for affirmation in life, weakness and helplessness. We’re striving for control. I think God allows these disasters in the world today to show us, to remind us that we aren’t in control. We shake our fist at God and say, what happened? He says, don’t you remember? It’s not about you. So also as a result of the fall in Genesis 3 24, it says that God stationed an angel at the gate to the garden of Eden blocking the way to the tree of life that they would never, ever again partake from that tree, that tree in the garden. At that point, the access to the tree of life, which represented spiritual life for them, which represented fellowship with God is not mentioned again until the book of Revelation. Now, there are trees of life that are mentioned, but this particular tree is not mentioned again, it’s not brought back into the picture until the book of Revelation.

And we all continue in Adam’s footsteps, don’t we? In Romans five 12, it says that when Adam sin, sin entered the entire human race in Adam’s, sin brought death. So death spread to everybody. Ephesians two, one says, you are once dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. So there’s all kinds of ways that people try to find meaning and purpose in life. And then we cover up for the ways we fail. We develop coping mechanisms. We strive for popularity or fame, appearance, performance, prosperity. We just want all this stuff to give us fulfillment, meaning in life. We don’t realize that those are all natural byproducts of a relationship with God, that he supplies all our needs, doesn’t he? We don’t have to strive after those things. We’re striving and chasing after the wrong things. We sang this morning about pant, the deer pants after the water.

So my soul pants after you, is that just the song or has your life shown that you’ve been panting after God all week long? We also have damaged relationships. We play the blame game, don’t we? This is almost comical when you think about it. Think about this with your kids. Who did that? Why doesn’t the kitty have any hair? Oh, I don’t know, covered with fur in Genesis three 12, but the woman you gave me, she brought me the fruit and I ate it. It’s your fault God, because you gave her to me and it’s her fault. She gave me the fruit, and then he asked the woman, how could you do this? Well, the serpent, he tricked me. It’s his fault. Just the blame game. Don’t take responsibility. I’m the victim here. We suffer with damaged emotions because he hid himself. He said, I heard the sound of your voice in the garden. I was afraid and I hid myself. So we have those first emotions were expressed where fear and shame.

Many times through scripture, God tells us, do not fear. See, today anxiety disorders are the number one mental health problem. Number one, mental health problem. Why? Because we don’t stand firm into who we are as God’s child under his creation and who he is as the almighty creator, God, in control of everything. We were never meant to be in control. We’re not designed that way. So now the wrong tree has become the focus in life. In Genesis two, nine, let’s look at that again. It says the tree of life. In the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the tree of knowledge of good and evil has become the central focus. That’s all. There’s left there. We are privy now to information that we weren’t designed to handle. Good and evil. Don’t gloss over this. It’s good and evil.

We usually think of that tree as being all bad, don’t we? That evil entered the world before that. I believe it was already in the world. Satan was here at that time. It didn’t enter. Then man’s knowledge of it entered then before that He had God in direct communication, constantly telling him what’s good, what’s good. Follow me, I’ll direct you. So we usually think of it in terms of being all bad, but it does say it’s good. And literally that word good means full of pleasure. So now it’s a tree that has what’s full of pleasure and then full of pain, full of evil. And then it’s said in such a way, it’s everything in between. It’s like when David said that God knows him when he’s standing up and when he’s lying down. Well, that doesn’t mean God knows him only twice now. It means he knows him everywhere in between. So that’s what this represents. Everything in between the whole moral spectrum, we have this tree by default. So what do we do? Try to stay on a good side.

So we do discipleship. We read, we pray, we share our faith. Christian maturity becomes a matter of trying to learn all the principles of the Bible and all these new rules and apply ’em to our life so that we’ll be good to try the best we can to live up to what God wants us to live up to. And then what do we do? We look around and we see a bunch of other people aren’t living up to it. We So we start to want to tell them how they need to live up to what God’s called them to. Did you ever notice just telling somebody what they’re doing wrong doesn’t give ’em the power to change? Did you ever notice that? So we’re painfully aware that self effort is no use against sin. We can try and we can try and we can try, but you know what? Didn’t Satan just tempt Adam and Eve with self effort? You can do this on your own. You don’t need God. So when we attempt to overcome with self effort, aren’t we doing Satan’s work? If God isn’t right, smack dab in the middle of it. We’re trying to get through life without God or trying to please God somehow trying to earn our way to God who earned the way for us, Christ did. Can we add to his work? No, we can’t.

We become these mini Pharisees. We can’t see the whole picture of what’s right, what’s wrong and everything in between. So we start guessing and we start pointing fingers and say, well, this is what God told me to do, so he must be telling you to do it too. And you got to do this too because this is what he told me to do. And we start to want to run other people’s lives and start to tell everybody what’s right, what’s wrong. And then for our own life, we’re always juggling what’s right, what’s wrong? What should I do? What shouldn’t I do? It becomes a list of rules that we follow, and that list gets longer and longer and longer and longer of rules of what it takes to follow God and the terms are never quite clear. How about giving to the church? Is giving to the church a good thing?

You would say probably what happened to Anani and Safari when they gave to the church? How about voting? We enjoy the privilege of voting in this country. How would you like to live in a country where you’re not allowed to vote, that they just tell you what to do? You wouldn’t. But here within this congregation, we don’t vote. Do we go by consensus? We wait till we’re all in agreement because we are one and we believe God will speak through the unity of the body of Christ, and he does, and he has, and he’s moved us along that way. How about lying? That’s bad. But look at Rahab. She told a lie. God ignored it and blessed her anyway. Never even condemned her for it.

Matthew 7 22, it says, Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we cast out demons? Didn’t we perform miracles, prophecy, exorcisms miracles? Are those good? Well, verse 23 says, then I declare to them, I never knew you depart from me. You see how confusing this can get, what’s right, what’s wrong? What should I do? And we’ve got all the gray areas in between. What do you do with your tv? You blow it up. No, you just watch what you’re watching. Health insurance. Well, it’s not trusting God with your health or it’s irresponsibility because you have this opportunity to make sure that you’re not a burden to somebody else. Sports, I won’t go there. Retirement, voting, all those gray areas, everything in between. Starbucks. Starbucks, the Christian examiner Starbucks promotes homosexual agenda with coffee slogan. What do you do? Do you go, well, I go and I read my Bible there so people know I’m a good witness or we have our Bible studies or no, I need to boycott ’em if they’re going to support that I’m not there. What’s right? What’s wrong? What should we do? We become these loophole hunters. Well, I like Starbucks. So if I bring my Bible in and I give a track to the girl at the counter, it’s going to be okay. You see? You give me a double shot of that. Yeah.

You know what the problem is? Man looks on the outward, doesn’t he? Where does God look on the heart? See, we keep trying to move from one side to the other of that tree of good and evil, the knowledge of good and evil from being bad to being good, and somehow we just seem like we can never measure up or somebody else just doesn’t measure up. Sometimes we just resign ourselves. I’m just a no good rotten sinner. So you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to sin. That’s it. It’s all covered in the blood, isn’t it? It’s all covered in the blood.

The line just seems to keep moving around. What’s good? What’s bad? Where’s it at? What can I get away with? What can’t I get away with? We end up judging one another, judging motives, stepping on people’s toes. All this tension and disunity results within the church whose work is that. Remember what death is, separation disunity, what’s good, what’s evil, what’s right, what’s wrong? All that is mingled with death, total separation from God. Proverbs 1412 says, there’s a path before each person that seems right, but it’s end is death. See, our finite minds can’t wrap around this whole thing of good and evil. We can’t handle it. So now what are we hopelessly stuck in this cycle because of Adam and Eve? What’s wrong with this picture? See, what was lost in the fall was restored in Christ. What did Jesus come to do? He came to restore Zoe.

It’s back. We have union with God through Jesus Christ. He came to die for our sins. Yeah, he did that and he came to give us life. Jesus was born physically alive, and he never lost spiritual life. Jesus is that tree of life. John one, four says in him was the life and the life was the light of men. John 6 48, I am the bread of life. John 11. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and a life. He who believes in me shall live even if he dies again. He says in John 14, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth in the life. No man comes through the Father, but through me. Jesus is the life, the light of men. Through faith in Christ, we are what born again. We have life into a new identity. As children of God, we are God’s creation and we need him in order to live victoriously in Christ.

So forgiveness of our sins is only half the gospel. Yes, he forgave our sins, but he came to reconcile us with God. Reconciliation brings into focus alienation from God that we used to experience or maybe do we experience it today that alienation from God do to what? Wanting to have our own way to be defiant, to say, Lord, I can do this without you. Or Lord, you gave me a brain. I’m going to use it. He doesn’t expect us to not use our brain, but he expects us just like Adam and Eve had the opportunity when a serpent was tempting them to turn and say, father, what’s going on? I don’t know about any of this stuff. This guy’s talking about. We have that now we can turn to the Father to answer every one of those gray area questions or any of those struggles for me personally and say, father, what’s going on?

What do I need to do here? But no, our defiance says, no, I want to do this and I’m going to figure out a way to sanctify it. Lord, that’s what I want to do. Sin separate us from God and Jesus came to reconcile us. We are incapable of not sinning, of not being defiant, and there is nothing we could do to atone for our sins. That’s the good news that Jesus Christ came to take care of that. But he didn’t come to make us good. He came to give us life so that we can go to the Father and have union and fellowship with him. So we’re not trying to reform this old nature and try to fluff it up and make it good now. No, we’re trying to live according to the new by going to the Father, by putting our defiance behind us.

You are dead in your trespasses and sins, but God has made us alive together in Christ because the wages of sin is death. But what’s the free gift of God life, eternal life. He who does not have the son, doesn’t have the life does he? But he who has the Son has the life. Are we living the life? Because God says that you were once not a people, you were not His, but now you are the people of God with the life of Christ. We’re free. We are free to live according to the new life in Christ. Not to do our own thing, not to take our ticket to heaven and run, but to live for God. What is this like? Well, this may be a little familiar to some of you regarding the Gallaghers and their adoption of Manderly and Esther, if we were to say that they saved them, they were just saved, that would be like saying, Hey, they went to Haiti.

They got ’em out and brought ’em to the United States. Now they’re in New York. They’re saved from Haiti, aren’t they? Is that enough? Is that all God did? Is that all we are is we’re just saved and that’s it. Draw the line. It’s over. No, they have a new identity, don’t they? Who are they now? They’re Gallaghers, they’re Americans. Oh yeah. There’s a Haitian background there, isn’t there? Primarily, who are they? Old patterns of life. Well, yeah, they were established, especially when they first got here. It was noticeable, the fear, all the new stuff that would go on. There was some retraining to do, some learning to live according to the new life, wasn’t there? Yeah, they’re still learning, aren’t they?

Yeah. Was it earned? Were they brought into the family because of how good they were? What shining examples of humanity? So the Gallaghers just said, oh, we want them so bad because they’re so good, they’re going to make our family look good. Is that why God accepts you? Because you’re so good and you can handle it? No. It was based on need, helplessness and dependence. Are you needy? Are you helpless? Are you dependent? If you’re not, there’s no room in the kingdom of God for you. And physical reminders, they have some physical reminders of where they came from. This old tent is falling apart. There’s a lot of physical reminders from past abuses and whatever else from the sin I’ve gotten involved in and whatever else that are physical reminders of where I’ve come from. But that doesn’t matter. The past is behind me. It’s important to know who I am today.

And there’s going to be occasional setbacks from the world. They’re going to have their struggles. Ghar will have their struggles from the world, and these children will have their struggles. There’ll be those physical reminders, those setbacks, but the relationship that they have is not maintained through their performance. It’s based on love and who they are. It’s just a whole new way of processing life. That’s why it’s important to understand Genesis on through. Who is this wonderful God, the creator of the universe that made all this for us in order to have fellowship with us and then brought us into his family through Jesus Christ. See, victory is not our goal in life. It’s our heritage. We are victorious. God does not see our sin because of Jesus Christ. So we are living in victory. And Adam, we were dead. We were separated from God, but in Christ, we are alive.

We are in union with God, the Bible says, so I advise you to live according to your new life in Christ. Then you won’t do what your sinful nature craves. But you know what Satan’s trying to do to subtly get us to focus on that other tree? What’s right? What’s wrong to go after those things that, oh, our sinful nature craves. Well, don’t focus on those. God doesn’t want you on that tree. God wants you focused on this tree. Stay there and you’ll have victory. You need to stop trying to approach your heavenly Father on the basis of works. So when you pray for God’s blessing, he doesn’t examine your performance and see whether you measure up or not to see if somehow you’re worthy. You’re not. We are not worthy to be God’s children, but he made us worthy in order to do this.

We find that Jesus modeled how we should live. It’s important for us to study his life, that the essence of his life, his word, his works his entire life came from his father. He lived a totally dependent life on the Father, just as Adam and Eve were supposed to do to depend on the Father. That’s what he’s done. Jesus said, I have not come on my own initiative. He also said, I do nothing on my own initiative. He says, I live because of the Father. He also said the words that I say are not mine. Rather it is the Father living in me who is doing his work. Can you say that day after day, moment after moment, we should be able to say yes. More and more I am living because of the Father. Defiance must be abolished. That’s Satan’s plan.

Defiance to God, defiance to his authority structure here on earth by putting ourselves under the authority He’s established. It’s saying, Lord, I trust you. That’s the gospel. Two words, trust Jesus with everything, every aspect of your life. So what’s our key point? The tree of life is to be your central focus. Again, not the tree in the garden, but the new tree established in Jesus Christ. It’s not what others are doing right and wrong. It’s not what you’re doing right and wrong trying to earn God’s approval. So maybe you’ve been barking up the wrong tree for some time. Now. Maybe you have broken or strained relationships. Maybe you’ve made some big blunders in life. Most often it’s because we haven’t allowed God to be in full leadership. But you know what? Starting today, we recommit ourselves to following him. Satan, and the whole world system is going to subtly keep pointing you to the wrong tree.

Stay focused on Jesus. Don’t worry about that other junk. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Jesus is there. How much? None. So move on with the tree of life. So there’s no way to find purpose on the old tree in Christ. We have all the meaning and purpose that we lost in Adam, and we are all one body with Jesus Christ as our leader. That’s the good news. Trust Jesus. You are no longer just sinners saved by grace, but you are saints saved by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, bringing us into unity with God. So is this just New Testament stuff?

Is this just stuff we learned in the New Testament? What did they preach in the early church? Well, listen to what Moses had to say about this subject in Deuteronomy 30, Deuteronomy 30 19 through 20, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death and the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live. Choose life by. Listen to this. Choose to love the Lord your God and obey him and commit yourself to him. For he is your life. What do you love? Do you love yourself? Do you love fulfilling what you think you need? Or do you truly believe that the God of Genesis one, the almighty creator of the universe, can meet every need according to his riches and glory? So why are you here? Why am I here?

What’s the meaning of life? The meaning of life is to follow Christ and to trust him. I’m going to read from Ephesians three, Paul’s prayer for his people. Let’s pray. When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources, that he will give you mighty inner strength through His Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will become more and more at home in your hearts as you trust him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love Jesus. I trust you. Amen.

Original Sermon Date: September 18, 2005

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