Choosing Positive Change

Gen. 3:14-19

Theme: We do not like to take responsibility for giving in to temptations and our bad habits; yet it is this very tendency that keeps us from dealing successfully with the besetting sins in our lives.

Introduction: taking responsibility for our actions and failures is the first step to restoring fellowship with God, and strengthening our relationships with those we love. One hindrance to openness and honesty with God is shame. Shame is a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the awareness of wrong or foolish behavior. We can feel so much shame that we cannot bare the idea of facing God; we do not feel worthy of approaching Him for anything. We have zero confidence He will accept us if we did appeal to Him. Such behavior is rooted in an incredible ignorance of the truth that God designed the way of restoration for believers when we fall into temptations. Beloved, there is no reason to hid anything from the Lord…turn to Him.

Another reason we fail to live transparently with the Lord is because we have this faint hope in the back of our minds that God may or will overlook what happened. Perhaps He didn’t notice it…. Certainly, He won’t necessarily call me on it or hold me responsible. This, of course, is flawed human rationalization! God will convict and confront us with our sin and failures to restore us to fellowship with Himself and our love ones. Note how these truths unfold in the account of Adam and Eve. 

 Lesson:

  I. We Must Realize The Lord Will Hold Us Responsible For Our Every Action (Gen. 3:14-19). God’s love for sinners in no way eliminates His holy hatred for sin, for while it’s true that “God is love” (1 John 4:8,16), it’s also true that “God is light” (1:5). A holy God must deal with sin, for the good of the sinner and for the glory of His name.

         A. THE LORD HELD ADAM AND EVE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN.  

The effects of sin are punishment and provision. Whereas the man and the woman had life, they now had death; whereas pleasure, now pain; whereas abundance, now a meager subsistence by toil; whereas perfect fellowship, now alienation and conflict. –Walvoord

                     1)   THE LORD HELD THE SERPENT RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS ACTIONS

Gen 3:14,  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

                      2)   THE LORD HELD SATAN RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS ACTIONS

Gen 3:15, And I will put enmity between thee (Satan) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed [Christ]; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

To Satan, God declared war!  This would climax in his condemnation (Rom 16:20); and to Eve, it was the assurance that she was forgiven and that God would use a woman to bring the Redeemer into the world (1 Tim 2:13-15).

                      3)   THE LORD HELD EVE RESPONSIBLE FOR HER ACTIONS

Gen 3:16, Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

God reinforced His word of hope to Eve by assuring her that she would bear children and therefore not immediately die. But the special privilege of woman as the childbearer (and ultimately the one who brings the Redeemer into the world) would involve multiplied pain in pregnancy as well as submission to her husband. –The Bible Exposition Commentary

                      4)   THE LORD HELD ADAM RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS ACTIONS

Gen 3:17, And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Eve would have pain in the labor of childbirth, but Adam would have pain in his daily labor in the field. As he worked to get his food, Adam would encounter obstacles and have to toil and sweat to get a harvest: and this would remind him that his disobedience had affected creation (Rom 8:18-23). Even more, as he tilled the soil, he would remember that one day he would die and return to the soil from which he had come. Adam the gardener became Adam the toiler. –The Bible Exposition Commentary

         B.    THE LORD WILL HOLD EVERY BELIEVER RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS ACTIONS.  2 Cor 5:9-10, Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

The Lord will call upon each Christian to give an account of himself at the Judgment Seat of Christ!  Therefore, live and battle against temptations to please Him in that great day!

          C.    THE LORD EXPECTS US TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR LIVES BY SAYING “NO” TO TEMPTATIONS AND GETTING RID OF THE BAD HABITS.

When we take the first step and admit that we are responsible for the bad habits in our lives, and when we stop blaming others for our problems, then we can begin to deal with the temptations in our lives.

It is not someone or something else fault.  It is your fault!  This is not the point within itself.  If it’s your problem then you can begin to get victory over it, but if you blame your circumstances, or your environment then there is nothing you can do and you are a victim of circumstances. But God has made it clear that when we take the blame for our failures, then we can deal successfully with temptations.

II. We Must Learn To Be Completely Honest With God and Ourselves.

The Lord wants us to be honest with Him and know the power of real confession.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 1:7–2:2)

1. HE WANTS US TO RENEW OUR FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM.

Confession clears the way to freely enjoy the Lord (1 John 1:9-2:2). Confession is supposed to free us to enjoy fellowship with Christ. It should ease our conscience and lighten our cares. But some Christians do not understand how it works. We feel so guilty that we confess the same sins over and over; then we wonder if we might have forgotten something.

These Christians do not understand that God wants to forgive us. He allowed his beloved Son to die just so he could pardon us. When we come to Christ, he forgives all the sins we have committed or will ever commit. We don't need to confess the sins of the past all over again, and we don't need to fear that God will reject us if we don't keep our slate perfectly clean. Of course, we should continue to confess our sins, but not because failure to do so will make us lose our salvation. Our relationship with Christ is secure. Instead, we should confess our sins so that we can enjoy maximum fellowship and joy with him.

True confession also involves a commitment not to continue in sin. We wouldn't be genuinely confessing our sins to God if we planned to commit them again and just wanted temporary forgiveness. We should also pray for strength to defeat temptation the next time we face it.

The image of returning to the Lord is one of changing directions, of going back (Hosea 14:1–2, 4). We have wandered off, or gone off in anger, or in desperation. We have turned away from God. It is time now to turn back to him; to make a 180-degree turn; to admit our need of God; to confess the behaviors that caused us to turn away from God. Returning is going home again to the place where our hearts belong, to the place where we are always welcomed back.

God says he will heal our backsliding—waywardness. Waywardness is a turning away from God...from what is in our best interest to follow depraved, sinful, and capricious inclinations. There are many ways in which such unruliness can be expressed. Some of us are openly rebellious. We flaunt our wild behavior and laugh at God. Others of us are quietly wayward. We try to appear compliant and good, but inside we are defiantly independent—shamelessly autonomous. No matter how we express our rebelliousness, it is a powerfully destructive force in our lives.”  God says he will love us freely. He will love us generously, completely, until our fears are calmed and our defenses are lowered. He will heal us with his generous love.

2. HE WANTS US TO REPAIR OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH THOSE WE LOVE.

“What I said in front of the boss today was thoughtless and insensitive,” Robert said. “I put you down. I guess I did it to make myself look good. I am sorry. With God's help, I will try to stop treating you like this.”

Phyllis was stunned. She had been hurt by Robert’s comment, but she had come to expect this kind of behavior from him. What she did not expect was for him to be aware of what he was doing, admit it, express regret and commit himself to change. (Source Unknown)

Our defensive instincts often keep us from seeing how our behaviors impact other people. We do something hurtful and then we try to minimize it, adding a second injury to the first, and further damaging our relationships.

The spiritual discipline of confession is at the heart of God's plan for growing us into the kind of people who are capable of intimate relationships. We must continue this spiritual discipline daily. Instead of minimizing your wrongdoings, or shaming ourselves for them, we are invited to promptly admit them. We can clear the air. We can say the truth to God, to others and ourselves.

Accept God’s invitation to live vulnerable, open, honest lives. When we are wrong, we can promptly admit it.

Conclusion:

I.   We tend to excuse our actions by blaming others

II. We must realize the Lord will hold us responsible for our actions

III. We must learn to be completely honest with God and ourselves

Don’t continue in the age-old habit of blaming someone else for your failures. Starting today let us face up to them and take a giant step toward overcoming temptations. No more excuses, I am to blame for my temptations and poor habits. 

God, I acknowledge my problem and I’m not waiting for my circumstances to change, nor am I excusing my habits because of my personality and disposition. Lord by admitting my faults I am putting myself in a position to begin to change and get rid of these habits in my life.