Genesis 3:14-19 Understand the Curse to Understand the Cross

Genesis 3:14-19 ESV  The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.  (15)  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."  (16)  To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."  (17)  And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;  (18)  thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.  (19)  By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

It is all over the news.  In fact, you can hardly find an escape.  It is indeed everywhere and now they’re telling us it was here before we knew it was here.  They have us quarantined at home aside from essential trips to find groceries and such.  Why?  The coronavirus outbreak referred to as COVID-19.  This pandemic has certainly got our attention as it wreaks havoc across the globe with hundreds of thousands expected to lose their lives.  This, while the best scientists in the most advanced institutions in the world wrestle to gain the upper hand.

On this Good Friday when we remember the day of Christ’s crucifixion it brings us to the obvious question of why?  Why did Christ have to die on the cross and why is this coronavirus doing its best to kill us?

The answer is found in the passage referenced today referred to as, “The Curse”.  This act of God cursing his own creation was the result of the fall of Man.  Please review the passages preceding where the perfection of the garden was infected by the temptation of the serpent (Satan) resulting in the sin (something less than holy) of Adam and Eve.  That willful disobedience of the first man stained his kind.  That’s you and me.  We now have the nature of sin within us because of what Adam did.  And with that comes our inheritance of the curse.

In fact, the world from that point forward is living under the curse.  The curse of creation has actually been at work attacking through the ages and having a greater and greater effect.  A review of the patriarchs reveal a steady decline in the age to which they live.  Methuselah lived 969 years the oldest recorded living man.  But all of these early men lived for hundreds of years many more than 500.  As the curse persisted so did the decline in the age to which a normal man would live.

Only with the introduction of modern science, our deeper understanding of the pathogens of the curse have we been able to push back.  But are we pushing back successfully?  I mean real success.  Not just incremental improvement.  I would say, no.  Median lifespan is now in the high seventies approaching eighty.  That’s a far cry from 969.  And by the way, that life span of nearly 1000 years was not God’s design.  Man was created to be an eternal being.  Death was introduced with the curse.  None of us were ever supposed to die – full stop!

But with the curse came death and all the means toward death including yes, the coronavirus and this present COVID-19.  It is the result of the curse and it will be defeated by the scientists and our own immune system which God too created.

So what is the tie to this day; Good Friday?

Well, why would it be called “Good” when such a terrible thing happened?  How is the crucifixion of Christ “Good”?

Frankly, it was the only way.  In fact, it was the very purpose of Christ’s coming to this earth in the form of Man living in this cursed creation but doing so perfectly.  Living a sin free life.  That set him up to be the perfect sacrifice.  Not for himself, a sinless man requires no sacrifice.  Just go ahead, live a perfect life and find out.  Ooops, no you cant.  It’s not possible since you come from Adam and were born into the lineage of sin. 

So on this day some 2000 years ago the perfect was sacrificed for the imperfect.  His act of giving himself up on the cross as a holy sacrifice enables the restoration of mankind.  A reconciliation of the cursed back into the presence of a holy God.  His act breaks the curse.

But, whoa, hold on, you said that happened 2000 years ago.  Why do we have a pandemic today?

Well, that is simple to answer but hard to understand.  The simple answer is that God is merciful and full of grace.  You see the impact of the act of Christ on the cross is dependent on our faith.  We must believe what Christ did and believe He did it for us.  In order to do that, some of the generations prior to Christ looked forward to the cross anticipating the Messiah.  There are numerous examples of faithful people believing the promise of a deliverer and that faith being reckoned as righteousness.  Since the cross we look back with the same faith.  God’s grace has provided the time for this message to reach us.  In fact, He is providing time for all to hear and respond to this good news.

So what?  All this blather about reconciliation and sin and etc. etc.  Why does this all matter?  People are sick and dying.

Yep!  They are and they will continue to.  The coronavirus COVID-19 is a blessing in one simple way.  It has our attention.  It has brought the stark reality of life and death literally to our front door.  There is no escape from the cursed world in which we live.  That is, no escape other than through Christ.  Even then, we will all still die.  Well, except those who are still here when Christ comes to bring us home.  But that’s a story for another day.

For today, take a moment to reflect on the cross.  The sacrifice made for you.  Make the decision that this gift of grace is indeed for you and accept it.  You can do that right there where you are.  Just talk to God – in your head or out loud.  He’ll hear you.

And with me and the other Christians around the world anticipate with great joy the celebration of Easter on Sunday when we celebrate the victory of Christ as he conquered death and rose from the tomb.  Like Christ, we who believe will rise and join Him to live forever as originally intended.

The Curse is Broken!  AMEN

Joshua 10:7-11 Holy God; Holy Jesus

Joshua 10:7-11 (NASB) “So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and all the valiant warriors.   The LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; not one of them shall stand before you."  So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal.  And the LORD confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.  As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.”

Who is Jesus to you?  Do you think of Jesus with the long flowing hair and smooth nearly effeminate features hung on so many Sunday School walls when we were kids?  Do you picture the Jesus who said, "Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Luke 18:16b (NASB)  Is God to you you a bit firmer as  you consider passages such as, Matthew 21:12 (NASB)  “And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.”  Is He more ?  Is He safe passage?  “Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” John 14:6 (NASB) 

While all these pieces of Jesus are true if left in isolation or even filled in with like passages it paints an incomplete portrait of our Lord and Savior. 

While it is true that Jesus is love, (1 John 4:8) there is much more to Him than our image of love.  Love is in fact more than warm and fuzzy.  Love is Holy.  Holy is incapable of tolerating anything unholy.  Holy equals Righteous.  And now you’re starting to get nervous – am I right?

Well, we’ve glossed over a few things that we have to go back and clear up.  First, that passage we quoted that says, Jesus is Love – actually says this, “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:8 (NASB)  So the first two points to make are first, Jesus is not referenced by name, it is “God” with a capital G who is mentioned.  And second, if you do not love, you do not know God.

So how can you get away with saying “Jesus is Love” Dale?  -- Here’s how.  John also writes,  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 (NASB)  So, the Word equals God.  So what you say – that doesn’t make Jesus equal to God.  Read on my friend.  “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.  For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” John 1:14-17  So, Jesus is God and Jesus is Love.

Where did I come up with this God is Holy stuff and who says anyone or anything is unholy?  We can clear this one up pretty quick with a New Testament quote from Peter, “Because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.’" 1 Peter 1:16 (NASB) and the other part comes from Paul, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23 (NASB)  Do we have to point out that sin is somehow less than holy?  That is clearly short of God’s standard of holiness.

Ok – what has this got to do with the passage from Joshua.  Simply this.  Joshua picked up the mantle as it were from Moses who had led God’s chosen people out of Egypt through the wilderness and to the Promised Land.  Moses led them there not once but twice you might recall.  On the first trip they arrived and sent twelve spies into the land to check it out and only two came back with reports that they should enter in.  Those two were Caleb and Joshua.

Because Moses failed to lead God’s people into the Promised Land they had to wander the wilderness another forty years and when they came back another generation had been raised up.  Only this new generation plus the two Caleb and Joshua were allowed to enter in.  Only Caleb and Joshua who had given the report that the inhabitants of the land could be defeated plus the new generation not yet circumcised until just before entering in as a way to separate the generations.

What was God’s command to Joshua and His people upon entering the Promised Land?    "Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.  Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.  From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.  No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.”  Joshua 1:2-6 (NASB)

He said take the land I am giving to you.  He said no one there will stand against you.  In later passages as the various battles are depicted even more explicit instructions are given about leaving no survivors.  This holy God commands utter destruction.

So my question comes back to this.  Who is Jesus to you?  Is He only the warm and fuzzy Teddy Bear Jesus or is He your Holy God Jesus?  For me, He is both.  AMEN!

Romans 2:9-11 Perfect and Impartial Judge

(Rom 2:9-11)  “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God”. (NASB)

As honest and pure as a judge in a U.S. court of law can be, he is still subject to his human nature and prone to be less than perfect at meeting out justice.  The rest of us probably fall short of that as we evaluate various circumstances that come our way.  Our natural temptation is to play the role of judge and render our verdict on people and their behavior.  Scripture is clear, that’s a big no no because we are far too imperfect to pass perfect judgment.  Let’s see what the Bible has to say.

After Paul lays out the fact that men having observed nature are responsible to know there is a creator; to know God exists.  Those who fail to acknowledge Him are the objects of His wrath.  He goes on in this discussion of those worthy of His wrath to discuss those who got a big charge out of pointing a finger at those in Chapter 1.  Romans 1 said “They” are without excuse but Chapter 2 goes on to say, “You” are without excuse.  Why?

The essence of Chapter 2 is to say that we’re guilty of judging each other and that in so doing we are both overlooking our own sin but we’re also taking on God’s job.  God is the one and only qualified judge.  Well upon what then will God make his judgment?

Paul makes the case that those who do good will earn a reward but those that do evil will incur God’s wrath.  That sounds fair.  Right?

Well it does actually sound fair but if you take a moment to consider, what you’ve just agreed to as fair means you are also guilty and worthy of God’s wrath.  You see, Paul has just laid out that those who do evil are worthy of wrath and conversely those who do good are not only no longer the object of judgment but they are also in line for a reward.  We naturally think, “I’m good, where’s my reward”.  Unfortunately, we have this idea of good and evil that says that if I’m a little more good than I am bad then I should get counted as good.  WRONG!  The standard God uses is complete holiness; complete perfection.  One little slip and you’re not good.  One little sin and you’re not holy.  So how do you measure up?  I can tell you.  Not judging you I might point out, just relaying the facts here.  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”,

(Rom 3:23)  “as it is written, ‘THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE’”; (Rom 3:10)

So what’s this guilt trip all about?  It is foundational to our faith to understand that we’re not the judge and that as objects of the judgment of God we’ve missed the mark.  We’re all guilty and when I say all I mean all.  Jew, Greek, Gentile, Muslim, Hindu, Arab, Anglo, Hispanic, White man, Black man – We’re all guilty!  We’re guilty because we don’t measure up to God’s standard of holiness.

Why do we need to know this?  Because if we don’t know our own guilt how will we know we are in need of a Savior?  Jesus paid the price for our sins.  He made the perfect sacrifice to appease God’s wrath.  When we understand our guilt before God and accept the work of Jesus Christ on the cross dying in our place by faith we find ourselves guiltless.  We find ourselves righteous.  We find ourselves forgiven.  We find ourselves holy.  Not because of anything we have done but completely because of Jesus.  AMEN!

Deuteronomy 18:10-12 The Evil of the Occult

Deuteronomy 18:10-12  "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,  or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.  For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you.” (NASB)

I see it every time I drive to Fresno – the little house with the big neon sign that says, “Palm Reader”.  Although it is kind of unsightly it seems harmless enough.  Or is it?

What may seem harmless enough is actually something God hates.  How do we know?  Scripture tells us in Deuteronomy that He does.  My initial observation is that these things are nothing new.  The list includes witchcraft, sorcery, those who speak to the dead and etc.  Why would God hate these things?  Simply put, it is because they are a path into the spiritual realm that are apart from Him.  These are pathways into the spiritual realm provided by Satan.  They are evil.

You may say, “That was a long time ago” or “That was the Law and things have changed”.  Yes, God revealed a long time ago His hatred for this kind of evil.  That has not changed.  When you challenge that these taboos were done away with under the freedom of the believer in Christ I’d have to say – hold on a minute.  While it is true that some of the strict behavioral requirements of the Law were done away with in the Church era, those changes are articulated in Scripture.

When Peter was confused about the acceptance of the gentile’s diet he received a vision from the Lord telling him it was okay.    “A voice came to him, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat!’  But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.’  Again a voice came to him a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’" Act 10:13-15 Now had God done something similar with these spiritualist activities there might be an argument.  But no such adjustment in what is acceptable is given regarding these occult activities.

Why does this matter?

Scripture tells us, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places”. Ephesians 6:12  My friends, the spiritual realm is real and it is the primary place where the forces of holiness and evil are at war.  That war spills over into the physical realm, our realm, often enough.  When Satan rebelled against God Scripture says one third of the heavenly host (angels) went with him. (see Rev. 12-4)  Satan and His demons are at work today with strong influence in human behavior.

But some say, real evil is obvious; Hitler was evil.  Witches practicing their Wicca are harmless.  Poppycock!  Palm Readers at the carnival or in their neon lit little house on the highway are harmless too.  Double Poppycock!  These and others actively engaged in the occult are in direct violation of God’s instructions and they’re engaging evil directly.  Maybe they don’t know this but that’s what is going on.  It’s not the only place Satan is at work but it is one place.  If you think it seems harmless Satan is happy; his plan is working.  Although this form of evil is thinly veiled, it isn’t Satan’s plan to be up front with his nature.  Satan is all about the counterfeit and will deceive in any way possible.  “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light”.  2Corinthians 11:14 

So what does all this mean to the believer?  It is important for the believer to know that Satan and his ways are real and to be able to recognize evil for what it is.  Why?  Because we are to avoid evil.  We are called to live decent and holy lives so it is completely inappropriate for a Christian to dabble in the occult.  “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world”.   1Peter 5:8-9  AMEN!