Participants: Chris Holland
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201319
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00:12 >>Announcer: It has stood the test of time.
00:15 God's book, The Bible 00:18 Still relevant in today's complex world 00:25 It Is Written 00:26 Sharing messages of hope around the world! 00:40 >>CHRIS: Derek Redmond was a track star for Great Britain. He was a champion 00:44 runner and held multiple records for his speed. He was a part of the 1992 00:48 summer Olympic team. He had trained long and hard for that moment in his 00:53 life. He was racing in the 400-meter sprint. He was a national record holder in 00:58 that race. He had made it to the semifinal round. The gun went off and he 01:03 began his sprint around the track. Less than half way into the race, there 01:08 was a pop - Derek grabbed the backside of his right leg, limped and took a 01:14 knee. He had torn his hamstring - a most painful injury. He had dreamed of 01:20 completing this Olympic race, but the pain was excruciating. He stood up 01:27 and began to hop his way to the finish line. He was lame and in pain. As the 01:32 crowds stood and watched through the background a figure emerged and 01:37 bypassed security. Derek's father Jim came and drew next to his son and 01:44 supported him as they went the entirety of race. The father came to help his 01:50 son finish the race. Friends, we too are a wounded and lame race of 01:54 people. The Father has come to our side and sent us His son Jesus - to take 02:07 us across the finish line. 02:12 We are in part two of our series on Noah, The real story. As we look at the 02:17 passage in Genesis chapter 6 we see that the earth had become a terrible 02:23 place. In Genesis 6:5-8 the Bible says, 03:15 The earth was filled with wickedness, evil, corruption and violence. 03:21 It was a sad place. But in the midst of it all, this is a story of God's grace 03:29 - His unearned favor toward humankind. As we studied in part one of our 03:35 series, we need to understand a bit of history before we can 03:39 understand the story of Noah. In part one of our series we saw that the 03:44 author of all evil is the devil. He is the real reason for pain and 03:49 suffering on this sin sick planet. We studied the history and background of 03:56 where the devil came from. But how did evil enter into the equation of this 04:02 planet's history? 04:07 The story is a rather sad story. It is the story of a great deception and a 04:12 lack of trust. Sometime after Satan was evicted from heaven and sometime 04:17 after the creation of humankind, there is a story recorded of how evil 04:22 came to planet earth. In Genesis 3 it records the story, beginning in verse 04:31 1, 05:11 When God created humankind, He placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of 05:15 Eden. There in that Garden, God gave Adam and Eve all the vegetation to 05:21 eat. In Genesis 1:29 the Bible describes the original diet, 05:44 God provided Adam and Eve with a total-plant based vegetarian diet. Yet there 05:50 was one item that they couldn't eat. Genes 2:16-17 describe that one 05:58 exception, 06:17 Adam and Eve had all the plants of the Garden to eat from, but this one 06:22 tree - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil wasn't to be eaten from. 06:27 We have no evidence what kind of fruit it was. And evidently, it may not have 06:33 been obvious that it was bad. The only indication of it not being edible was 06:39 God's clear message that it should not be eaten. The tree of the knowledge 06:44 of good and evil was a sign of allegiance. By Adam and Eve obeying, they 06:50 clearly defined their allegiance to God. Satan, who had been cast out of 06:55 heaven, was here on the earth. There in the garden of Eden, he paid a visit 07:01 to the first pair. He caught Eve there in the garden and engaged her in 07:08 dialogue. During this interaction we see that there are a series of 07:13 choices made by Adam and Eve that lead to disastrous results. The 07:20 first choice was that Eve made a choice to be in the presence of the tree of 07:26 knowledge of good and evil. God had told them not to eat it - one clear 07:31 way of never eating it would be to avoid ever being close to the tree, 07:39 but by choosing to go near the tree Eve availed herself to temptation 07:44 which could lead to direct disobedience of God's explicit command. Before 07:51 we're too hard on Eve. Don't we all struggle with this? We aren't satisfied 07:56 to be way back from the edge of the cliff, we have to stand on the edge. 08:00 Friends, if we desire to have a life of victory over sin, we have to steer 08:08 clear of sin - not even get remotely close. 08:14 Here the devil has engaged Eve in a conversation and has lied about the 08:19 character of God. God gave them every tree except one. And as Eve defends 08:25 her position she makes two fatal mistakes, she takes on the devil on her own. 08:34 Friends, we must never take on the devil in our own power - we will loose. 08:41 But in the spirit of God and by His strength, we can always overcome him. 08:47 The second mistake was Eve's overstatement of the facts. You see, God had 08:54 told the pair, not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good 08:59 and evil - but Eve states that God said not to touch it. We have no record of 09:09 God saying such a thing. Once Eve had made the choice to overstate her 09:16 case and essentially lie - she was entrapped in the snare of the devil. Then 09:22 the devil promised a higher state of being if Eve would partake of the 09:27 fruit. She was promised to become like God. The devil was tempting Eve with the 09:33 same thoughts that he, himself had given into - to be God. The next verses 09:41 are probably the saddest verses in all of scripture, because like 09:46 dominoes falling, the choices of Adam and Eve set into motion events and 09:52 consequences that affect all of us still today. Genesis 3:5-6 go on to 10:00 say, 10:33 Eve moves from a knowledge of knowing that the tree is forbidden for 10:38 humankind, to believing that it was good for food. Eve made a choice, a 10:45 choice to trust the devil more than God. And friends, that is the 10:53 choice that each of us make when we choose to sin. We choose to not 10:59 trust God, but to trust in ourselves - ultimately the devil. Eve disobeyed God's 11:05 command and ate the fruit. But it doesn't stop there; Eve also gives the fruit 11:11 to her husband to eat. She wasn't satisfied with her own disobedience and 11:17 chooses to involve someone else. The old adage that misery loves company seems 11:27 to be true for a long time. While the record of Adam's failure is not as 11:30 plain, we can see choices that he made that led to this failure as well. 11:40 What can we say about Adam? Adam also made a choice. There at the tree 11:45 of the knowledge of good and evil, we have no voice of Adam - so we deduce one 11:51 of two options, either he was being silent or he wasn't there. It would 11:58 seem because he says nothing that he likely wasn't by her side. 12:04 However, either way, what we can say is that Adam was not taking his role as 12:09 spiritual leader seriously. Adam, as the husband, was called to be 12:15 the spiritual leader, protector, and provider for his family. He was 12:20 absent. When Eve brings the fruit to him, Adam is faced with a crisis. He 12:26 knows the result of eating the fruit, he knows that Eve will die, but she 12:34 hadn't yet - maybe, he thought, God wasn't right. He was faced with a choice 12:44 to obey his own feelings or the word of God. Adam was faced with a crisis of 12:57 faith. Ultimately he made a conscientious choice to disobey and he also ate. 13:09 Immediately the pair noticed a change. The robe of Christ's righteousness 13:16 no longer covered them, they were naked. Seeing their shame, the sewed a 13:24 fig leaf covering. Friends, Adam and Eve did what we all do; they tried 13:32 to cover their sin. And with these choices, they created a separation 13:40 between them and God. God came to the Garden, as He had often done to spend 13:50 time with the created couple, but He was met with their absence. Verses 13:58 8-13 of Genesis 3 tell the rest of the story, 15:03 The Bible now clearly outlines the origins of the problems of Noah's 15:08 day. How did sin enter this world, through the choices of Adam and Eve. 15:13 Oh, how very sad. That story comes down through history until today. The 15:21 story of God seeking out the children that He has been separated from. The 15:31 reaction of Adam and Eve is so disturbing friends. As God reaches out His 15:37 hand of mercy, Adam blames his wife and ultimately God, and then Eve blames 15:45 the serpent - the blame game. This leads to several consequences. The 15:56 serpent is cursed. The devil is promised a deathblow. Human kind is 16:03 promised a savior, but the consequences are no longer residing in the garden. 16:11 And the promise of death - it wouldn't come immediately, but slowly 16:17 the pair would age and become old. However, the pair would experience 16:24 death sooner than expected. 16:29 Adam and Even had children. Cain and Abel were sons. Cain was a 16:35 farmer, he tilled the ground but his brother Able was a shepherd, he 16:39 kept sheep. The Bible records their story in Genesis 4. By this time, 16:46 God required sacrifices that would symbolize and foreshadow the sacrifice 16:52 of Christ. This sacrifice was to be an animal. Cain and Abel brought their 16:59 sacrifices before God, but there was a problem Cain brought fruit and 17:05 vegetables, while Abel brought an animal sacrifice. Cain didn't 17:13 follow God's instructions - he followed his own way. Cain became angry, because 17:18 God wouldn't accept his offering. Cain was so angered by this that it 17:28 led to the first murder ever recorded in history. In Genesis 4:8, the Bible 17:35 says, 17:48 Cain chose to take his brother's life. After murdering Abel, God asks 17:52 Cain what he had done. God had to punish Cain. Cain was marked and he left the 18:01 presence of God. Cain settled in the land of Nod and there, he began a 18:07 people. The descendants of Cain would become a people who were vehemently 18:11 opposed to God. Instead of turning from his sin, Cain seemed to pass it on to 18:19 eventually lead to a people who were wicked, evil, corrupt and violent. 18:31 The story of Noah and the sin of Noah's day begins with the sin of Adam and 18:36 Eve and their son Cain. The environment of the days of Noah was created 18:43 by choices, choices throughout generations to not do right and not to 18:52 choose God. 18:55 Friends, we each have a choice. There is a war raging over each one of 19:02 us. Will you make a choice to be obedient to God and follow Him or will you 19:06 choose selfishly to follow your own ways? God is calling each of us today. 19:13 Like Derek Redman's father, He wants to draw near to you. He knows your 19:20 broken, He knows you're in pain and He wants to assist you and take you 19:28 all the way to the finish line. He is calling you and He is calling me to 19:40 break the cycle of sin and pain. Let the cycle of sin and evil stop with you. 19:53 Today let's choose to follow Jesus and His ways and live on the paths of 19:58 righteousness. You won't regret it. Would you like to accept the grace and 20:06 mercy of God today and follow Him? Today would you like to say that you 20:11 want God alone to rule on the throne of your heart? Do you want to say that 20:17 you desire God and God alone? Listen to this song and may our prayer be that 20:26 we would choose God and God Alone. 20:34 God and God alone 20:40 Created all these things we call our own 20:48 From the mighty to the small 20:52 The glory in them all 20:56 Is God's and God's alone 21:04 God and God alone 21:10 Reveals the truth of all we call unknown 21:18 And all the best and worst of man 21:22 Won't change the master's plan 21:26 It's God's and God's alone 21:34 God and God alone 21:40 Is fit to take the universe's throne 21:48 Let everything that lives 21:52 Reserve its truest praise 21:57 For God and God alone 22:09 God and God alone 22:15 Will be the joy of our eternal home 22:24 He will be our one desire 22:27 Our hearts will never tire 22:31 Of God and God alone 22:39 God and God alone 22:45 Is fit take to universe's throne 22:53 Let everything that lives 22:57 Reserve its truest praise 23:03 For God and God alone 23:11 God and God alone 23:17 Is fit to take the universe's throne 23:25 Let everything that lives 23:29 Reserve its truest praise 23:35 For God and God 23:42 Let everything that lives 23:47 Reserve its truest praise 23:55 For God and God alone 24:18 >>CHRIS: God and God alone. Do you want God to reign supreme in your 24:23 life? Do you want him to sit on the throne of your heart? All it takes is to 24:29 ask. The cycle of sin can stop with you. It doesn't need to continue on. It 24:37 doesn't matter what your background is. It doesn't matter what your past is. 24:40 It doesn't matter what you've done. God offers the opportunity to wipe 24:46 the slate clean and to begin again. It's a new life. The Bible refers to 24:52 it as being born again. Jesus desires us to re-enter a relationship 25:02 with Him. Back in the garden of Eden, we were separated from God by sin. 25:07 When Jesus came to this earth, he was the bridge to reconnect us. And the 25:14 Bible is a story of God's seeking, as he sought for Adam that day, asking, 25:21 "Where are you?" He wants you and he wants you to be in His life. He wants you 25:28 to have a relationship with him. Today, do you want to choose God and God 25:34 alone? If that's your desire, let's pray together. Heavenly Father, 25:42 we want to stop the cycle of sin. We no longer want to serve two masters. We 25:50 want to serve you and you alone. So today we invite you into our heart. We 25:57 invite Jesus into our heart. May Jesus reign supreme. May you reign 26:02 supreme in our heart. Lord, give us victory over sin. Wipe away the past. 26:09 Help us to be born again, to be born anew, and live a life with you. Please 26:18 send your Holy spirit to give us the strength to do so. This is our prayer, in 26:22 Jesus' name, amen. 26:43 Friends, the story of Noah is grounded in the story of sin and the origin of 26:49 sin, the story of the great controversy between good and evil. I'd like to 26:55 offer you a special Signs of the Times magazine called The Great 27:00 Controversy. This offer will be a magazine that will help you build your 27:05 spiritual library and give you encouragement to choose Jesus and to follow 27:10 Jesus. Here's the information you need to get the offer today. 28:06 >>CHRIS: Friends, thank you for watching. I want to encourage you to go to 28:09 itiswrittencanada.ca. There, you'll find resources to help you grow 28:15 in your faith in Jesus. I hope you'll join us again next week. Until then, 28:22 remember, it is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every 28:28 word that proceeds from the mouth of God." 28:34 $$$$$$$$$$$ |
Revised 2015-07-30