Sunday School - Roger Phipps - From Creation to Deluge

[0:00] Last week, I'm going to make a, try to recover some ground here.

[0:11] Last week, I feel like perhaps in my tunnel vision, I implied that having a piece about a decision is not from God, and I did not intend that.

[0:25] That's not, nor is that true. Let's turn to Philippians, please, chapter 4. Philippians, chapter 4, please.

[0:40] Philippians, chapter 5. And we'll look at verses 6 and 7.

[0:54] Because while having a piece about a decision does not mean that it is God's will, yet in prayer we bring everything to God.

[1:12] And there is a piece of God that passes understanding that keeps our hearts and minds, right? Because, not because we've made the decision so much as we've left the results of the decision in God's hands.

[1:29] Let's look at those two verses, please. Would someone read them? Okay. Okay. Be careful for nothing.

[1:39] You know these verses. But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. Now, that being careful doesn't mean don't be cautious.

[1:54] Be careful means don't be anxious or have not anxiety about it. Verse 7. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

[2:12] So there is a peace of God that comes when we leave it in his hands in prayer. Not so much because we know the result of the decision, but because we realize the results of the decision are in the hands of a loving Heavenly Father.

[2:29] Who? In Romans 8. He's going to do what? He's going to make everything. Everything that comes into my life, even those things that I wish weren't there.

[2:47] Now, that's hard. I always pray that God helps me remember in the darkness what I know to be true when it's light. As I stand here comfortably, those words roll very nicely.

[3:03] But there come dark days when we need to be reminded, don't there? There are some days that we face where it's hard to remember that all things work together for good.

[3:19] Because it doesn't feel too good. It doesn't look too good. So I wanted to clear that up because I did not want to leave that impression.

[3:31] The other thing is, I wanted to look a little bit more. I do not know. We left it last week with the, what did God say to Satan?

[3:47] Or to the serpent? I'll put it that way. I will, on your belly you shall go. And then what else?

[3:57] This is a quiz. Well, dust you shall eat all the days of your life. And then, I will, I will put enmity between, and here's the tricky part, right?

[4:16] I will put enmity between the woman's seed and your seed. Now, what I don't understand is Satan's seed.

[4:29] But, there are a couple of things to remember about that. And I will mention a couple of things with which I don't necessarily follow, but they are presented as arguments.

[4:46] One is that Satan's seed has to do with the beast of the revelation. The beast that comes from the abyss, that's one idea.

[5:02] That would be in Revelation chapter 11 and chapter 13. If you, pardon me, if you look at Revelation 11, 7, he talks about the beast coming out of the abyss.

[5:21] And after the two witnesses that can't be killed for a long time, the world will try to destroy them but can't, then the beast will come and the beast will make war on the two witnesses and he will succeed in killing them and the world will rejoice.

[5:44] It says that he, in verse 13 then, or chapter 13, verses 1 through 4, Revelation, he talks about, And I stood upon the sand of the sea.

[5:58] I saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having the seven horns and the names of blasphemy. And the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority.

[6:16] And then he goes on, And I saw one of the heads, one of the seven heads was wounded unto death, and then it was healed, and the whole world wondered, and the whole world worshipped the dragon, who gave his power to the beast, and they worshipped the beast.

[6:37] That's one view. The seed of the serpent. Another theory proposes that the seed of the serpent refers to the fallen angels.

[6:47] And this view holds that the fallen angels cohabited with the daughters of men.

[6:59] God willing, when we get to chapter 6, we'll be dealing with that more in depth. That's another view.

[7:10] And they would also, the person who would promote that idea also looks to Jude, verse 6, where Jude says that the angels who kept not their first abode.

[7:33] So, that's another view. So, I wanted to be fair about presenting that, because there are well-meaning, and scholarly individuals who don't necessarily agree about what exactly that means.

[7:55] And I frankly say, I'm not sure, because Jesus does say that he says to the Sadducees who questioned him about marriage, you know, they tried to trick him.

[8:09] You're coming up with this, right? They tried to trick him, and they said, hey, about this resurrection business. Now, why, I'm going to back up, and I know I'm, they didn't believe in resurrection.

[8:25] The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. Why? Well, they held only to the first five books. Only to the Pentateuch.

[8:36] Is that the right word? Only to the books of Moses. The Pharisees, which made an interesting pairing with the Sadducees, right?

[8:48] The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? Because the Pharisees and the Sadducees disagreed on everything. Everything, nearly.

[8:59] The Pharisees did believe. Why? Because they held to the writings of the prophets and what they call the writings. So they held to the books of the law and the writings and the prophets.

[9:13] And in the writings, we have Job, and Job makes a beautiful declaration. This body, this body, though it be destroyed and eaten by worms, yet in my flesh, yet I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in my flesh, I shall see God.

[9:38] So, in holding to that, the Pharisees believed in the resurrection. So back to the Sadducees. They're trying to trick Jesus. And they say, oh, this guy had a wife, but he died.

[9:57] And so now, she's married to his brother. And he dies. And she, and on down the line. Now, in the resurrection, Jesus, who's, then in heaven, whose wife is she?

[10:10] What does Jesus reply? Right. That's the real short answer. There's no marriage in heaven.

[10:21] Now, he begins it with, you know neither the scripture nor the power of God. But, he goes on, but in heaven, what?

[10:36] You will, you will be like the, like the angels who are neither married nor given in marriage.

[10:47] So, for that reason, the fallen angels, issue, maybe. At least, it's a, that's one thing.

[11:00] However, more importantly, is my enmity with the seed of the woman.

[11:11] My enmity with Christ. Was I ever at enmity with Christ? Was I? Yes, you were doing that. Of course I was.

[11:24] And while I was his enemy, what did he do? We'll go on. We'll get into that. To the Pharisees, he says, you are children of your father.

[11:43] Who did he call their father? Satan. He said, you are children of your father. They're going to reply, our father is Abraham.

[11:58] And Jesus is going on, if you were Abraham's children, then you'd do the deeds of Abraham, but yet you want to kill me.

[12:09] This did not Abraham. Abraham. Therefore, I say to you, you are the children of your father, the devil, because you do his deeds.

[12:26] He's a liar from the beginning, and the truth is not in him. And if you were, then they say, we are not, they say, you, he said, you do the deeds of your father, and they say unto him, we be not born of fornication, we have one father, even, well, Abraham was the first time.

[12:57] Now they're saying, we have one father, even God. So, they declare God to be their father. And that's kind of a reference to the prophet Hosea, where Hosea prophesies against Israel, against the ten tribes, and he calls them, he calls them children of harlotry.

[13:26] I'll word it that way. The King James is pretty explicit. They're children of harlotry, and God says, I will not have, I will not have mercy on them.

[13:42] And I think that's what the Pharisees are referencing there. But they call God their father, but here in this section, in John, Jesus, in the debate with the Pharisees, says, you are children of your father, the devil, because of the deeds you're doing.

[14:03] So he calls them children of the devil. And then he goes on with his disciples, or the core apostles, and he says, the world will hate you, and that in the Greek, enmity and enemy are the same root word.

[14:29] So he says, the world will hate you because the world what? Hates me. So, understand this, apostles, it's going to get tough, because they're going to hate you because they hated me first.

[14:47] then in my dismay, I go to Romans chapter 5.

[15:00] Romans chapter 5 verses 8 through 11, if you're going to turn there. But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were sinners, help me out.

[15:20] You know this. Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

[15:33] For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

[15:48] And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

[15:59] While I was his enemy, what did he do? He died for me. While I was his enemy, he didn't wait for me to be his friend.

[16:13] I'm so grateful for that. Because on our own, the carnal mind is at what with God?

[16:30] Enmity. And cannot agree with God. It's not capable of agreeing with God. God. And while I was his enemy, he died for me.

[16:45] And somehow, he drew us, right? those of us who have come to Christ, have come and accepted that free gift that he did while we were his enemies, while we hated him.

[17:07] In Colossians chapter 1 verses 21 through 23, and you, sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body, in the body of his flesh through death, to present you, and I love this, to present you holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight.

[17:48] The heart of man is man is what? Deceitful, how deceitful? Desperately wicked.

[18:01] Deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Yet God, who knows me better than I know myself, died for me when I'm his enemy, when I'm his enemy, redeemed me, and in God's sight, I am sanctified, holy, I'm unreprovable, I'm perfected in his sight.

[18:37] Is that not amazing grace? Amen. man, that is wonderful. And as we approach Emmanuel, God with us, and realize what God became a baby, was lived among men, and died for me, and what he provides.

[19:00] God seeks us to do that for us before we were friends. But if you ask a man that is an enemy of God today, a non-believer, he'll say, I want to go to heaven, I think I'm going to go to heaven.

[19:19] I'm not God's enemy. How does he think he's going to get there to heaven if he doesn't seek God? In words, God seeks man, man doesn't seek God. But how is he going to get to heaven if he doesn't seek God?

[19:31] I don't understand that. Well, I don't either. But the Apostle Paul does tell us that we have believed what was presented about Jesus.

[19:50] If I believe that I'm a sinner. Now, first of all, the person who says I want to go to heaven but I don't want to go there with God isn't really telling, you know, that's too bad you're not getting there because there's only one way.

[20:16] And usually mankind in my unregenerate state, I'm at enmity with God and that is not a small word.

[20:26] I really am at enmity. Why? Because I want God to do what I want and I don't want him to be above me and that's tough because I'm never going to be God, right?

[20:41] And God cannot reduce himself. So, if I'm going to come to God, I first of all have to acknowledge that he exists as God.

[20:54] I have to acknowledge that he exists as God. I have to acknowledge then that I'm not God. And I have to acknowledge then that I am at enmity, that I am a sinner, and there's nothing I can do to be good enough to get there.

[21:18] If I don't acknowledge that I'm a sinner, I won't acknowledge that I need a savior. you're. That's the whole point.

[21:29] That's why it has been said, you can't give a person the good news if they don't understand the bad news. And the bad news is I'm damned.

[21:44] In the very literal sense, not in a profane hit my finger with a hammer sense.

[21:57] It's a very literal sense. Without Christ, I am damned for eternity. But I don't have to be. I don't have to be.

[22:10] Because even though I stand condemned, while I stood condemned, Christ died for me.

[22:27] And somehow, when that Holy Spirit of God speaks to us and convicts us of sin, we acknowledge that we were sinners and that we needed a savior and that Jesus is that savior.

[22:47] And when we acknowledge that, we have eternal life. I guess you kind of answered it there, that the Holy Spirit can fix us.

[23:01] And in that way, God is seeking us in that way. Yeah. that's in the Holy Spirit. He's using the Holy Spirit to seek us.

[23:12] That's how we seek to. Okay, that was a long prelim for where we're going. So let's turn to chapter 3 in Genesis, please. I did not quite get finished with verse 23 there.

[23:32] What does God say to Adam? Adam. Adam. Adam. Adam. Adam. Adam. Adam. Adam. You can go back as far as you want, but what does God say here to Adam?

[23:48] This is the inquest, remember? They ate of the fruit, they knew what? As soon as they ate of the fruit, what did they know? They were naked.

[24:00] What did they do? They they sowed leaves, made themselves aprons of leaves, and they hid from God.

[24:12] So God comes into the garden, they hear God walking, so they hid, and God calls out, oh, I know you haven't forgotten.

[24:26] God calls out, where are you? Now, did God know where he was? Sure he did. But he wanted Adam's response, so Adam said, I'm here, well, I was naked, so I hid.

[24:48] And what's God say? Who told you that? Have you? Have you eaten from that fruit that I told you not to?

[24:59] No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

[25:09] No. No. No. No. No.

[25:20] serpent beguiled me. The serpent tricked me, deceived me. The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Then God curses the serpent, and then he tells Eve, childbirth is going to be painful now. And then he tells Adam what?

[25:52] Well, yeah, but it's bigger than just work the ground, because he was supposed to till the soil before.

[26:03] Eat dust is for the serpent, but he says, look, Adam, from now on, cursed is the ground for whose sake?

[26:19] For your sake. Adam, you have cursed my creation, or my creation. I'll put it this way. Adam, because of your sin, I am cursing creation. That's a big deal. That is a big deal.

[26:40] So now what? Now comes the toil. Now it's not going to be an easy yield. Now you're going to fight weeds, and you're going to fight thorns.

[26:58] And by the sweat of your brow, you're going to earn your bread. It's interesting. Thorns were a part of the curse, and Jesus wore a crown of thorns on his head when he crucified.

[27:15] So he had the curse on him. Our curse. I read that somewhere. Well, that's a good picture. That's a good picture.

[27:25] And we remember that always, whether it's an illustration from a parable, whether it's a metaphorical comment in the scripture, we don't take it, we don't try to drag it through every little detail.

[27:48] We remember that, for instance, in the parables, Jesus drew one illustration, usually, from that parable.

[28:00] For example, if you try to make the parable go completely through, then think about the parable of the unrighteous judge.

[28:19] What does he compare God to? The unrighteous judge. Now, was it because God's unrighteous? That's not the comparison, is it? No. The comparison is, this is how you should pray for the coming of the kingdom.

[28:36] That's the comparison. So I better not carry my metaphor too far. That's just a warning to me. But, that is a beautiful illustration because that goes back to, in many ways, the picture of Adam eating the fruit, he participated in the sin.

[29:00] Now, Christ did not do sin, but what did he, he became for me, so that I might be the righteousness of God in him.

[29:20] It's important for me always to remember that. I am accepted of God because of the beloved.

[29:32] Who is the beloved? Jesus Christ. That's why I'm acceptable to God. It's in Christ. I'm not acceptable to God because I'm good.

[29:44] There's nothing I can do to be good enough. So, I need to remember that. And that's a wonderful picture with the crown of thorns.

[29:55] So, okay. Cursed is the ground for your sake. And in sorrow, you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

[30:12] In the sweat of thy face, you shall eat bread till thou return to the ground. Dust thou art and to...

[30:26] Yeah, you know that verse. Okay. Let's, if you would please, just in this, let's look at Ecclesiastes.

[30:45] That doesn't sound right. Yes. Ecclesiastes 9.7, please. 9.7-10. This does not mean that work is part of the curse.

[30:59] Right. I have actually heard people, and I hope they were saying it facetiously, but I have heard people say, yeah, well, I go to work because of Adam's fall.

[31:14] No, that's not exactly true. Someone read to us that portion from Ecclesiastes, if you would please.

[31:26] Well, I heard pages turning. I assumed you were turning there. Chapter 9, verses 7 through, well, let's go through 10. Thank you.

[31:39] Go then, eat your bread and happiness, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has always approved the work. Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head.

[31:55] Enjoy life with a woman whom you love all the days of your bleeding life, which he has given to you under the sun. For this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun, whatever your hands find to do with all.

[32:16] Do it with all your might, for there is no activity or plan or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going. Okay, he's saying basically, now, I don't want to carry it too far because Ecclesiastes is a pretty depressing book.

[32:34] But, what he's saying is, hey, Roger, life is short, and here's what you do. You work hard, you do it with all your might, and you eat the bread of it, and you spend your life in joy with the wife of your youth.

[32:56] That's, do that while you're, while this body is alive. Now, he doesn't stop, he stops there, but Jesus doesn't stop there because now we have life abundantly and we have it for eternity.

[33:16] We have eternal life. And, Colossians chapter 3 verses 22 through 24. Would somebody help me with that one, please?

[33:31] please? Amen. Slaves, we may do it with new masters in everything.

[33:43] We will not only when their eye is on you and to carry their faith, but with sincerity and heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not working for the masters.

[33:58] Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward, it is the Lord Christ you serve. So who do I work for really?

[34:10] The Lord Jesus Christ. That's why you do a good job or your best job.

[34:21] That's why you work with energy. It's because you work for the Lord Jesus Christ. So, work in itself is not part of the fall.

[34:40] The fact that we work and strive and have to struggle for it is part of the fall. But the work itself is not to be shunned or reckoned as part of the fall.

[34:55] Now, let's look, if you would please, at chapter 3, Genesis chapter 3, verses 20 through 24.

[35:14] chapter 4, chapter 4, chapter 4, chapter 4, chapter 4. The point of no return. I'll go ahead and read these.

[35:28] verse 1. Now, the man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

[35:44] Then the Lord God said, behold, the man has become like one of us, or as one of us, knowing good and evil.

[35:55] And now, lest he stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever, therefore, the Lord God sent him out of the garden, or from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

[36:13] So he drove the man, that is God, drove the man out, and at the east of the garden of Eden, he stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

[36:32] The point of no return. Now man is out of Eden, and he's never going back. He's never going back.

[36:47] No matter what Joni Mitchell said right after Woodstock when she wrote the song and said, we've got to get back to the garden, you're not getting back.

[37:00] See, Sherry calls that brain sludge. I say, that's Jermaine's social reference. They're driven from the garden.

[37:13] But what did God do before he drove them from the garden? What does he do for them? He clothed them in animal skins.

[37:24] Now we can see that as a picture of what's about to happen, or what will happen. We can see that as a picture.

[37:36] But the wonderful picture to me is, that's what he does with my sin, isn't it? He covers it over. Except it's better than just covering it over.

[37:49] He actually removes it in Christ. Here, it's a picture of the covering over. So God makes them clothes of animal skins.

[38:04] And we may safely assume that this is the first sacrifice of an animal in order to pay for the sins of men.

[38:21] What is the result of the fall? Well, guilt, death, ultimately it'll be death, moral responsibility, hiding from God, travail in childbirth, cursed ground resulting in grievous labor, and a subjection of the creature to vanity.

[38:54] Turn to Romans chapter 8, please. Because when he says to Adam, cursed is the ground for your sake, it's a big deal.

[39:05] And as you, as we go to Romans chapter 8, let's look especially at verse 20.

[39:22] But Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8, and if you go back to the verse 19, you're going to see mentioned there the anxious longing for the revealing of the sons.

[39:56] Right? Of the, who are, who there are the sons of God? Christians.

[40:09] Those who have been redeemed. And we may safely say the church, the true church. Those who belong to Christ.

[40:20] Christ. Now, verses 20 and 21.

[40:32] Well, actually 20 through 22 especially. What does he say about this cursing of the ground? What is it about creation now?

[40:46] What? What? What? What? What? What? Creation is in bondage. What else?

[41:03] It says that creation was subjected to futility. What does that mean? Frustration? There seems to be no point.

[41:15] in fact, you're not aware of anyone and you haven't heard of anybody who promotes the idea that you are not, that there is no God and there's no point in, there's no point in the universe, no moral point to the universe and so your whole point is get rid of people so that the universe can continue.

[41:58] Have you heard anything like that? Now, they may not word it exactly that way, but that's essentially, there are too many people. You gotta kill them.

[42:10] thin them out. Otherwise, and you might ask, well, what's your point if there's no point to the universe anyway?

[42:25] And the answer is, well, the answer will not be, but should be, something along the line, because I have to have something bigger than myself to believe in.

[42:37] And since I don't want to believe in God, I have to have a cause. I have to have a cause. Or the nihilistic, the nihilistic Marxist idea that there is no real point, and so the only purpose to your life is to gain power.

[43:09] God is to but what does he say here? What does God actually say? The anxious longing of creation awaits eagerly for what?

[43:22] The revealing of the sons of God. The revealing of the church. And that will be when God displays the church before angelic beings, and before the, I assume before the, before all creation, he displays the church.

[43:49] For the creation, verse 20, was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it in, see, I'm trying to see if you have your Bibles open and if you're really reading, in hope, in hope of what?

[44:11] That the creation itself will be liberated or set free from its slavery to corruption and into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

[44:25] So that when God displays the redemption, the whole creation joins in and is free. When Adam sinned, immediately creation was subjected to futility until that great and glorious time when God reveals what he does in Jesus Christ, and he displays the church as a, as it were, a trophy of his grace.

[45:03] I don't have, I don't understand how the history works out. I really don't know. As far as, because there are things in eternity that are eternity set that I don't realize because I'm still in history.

[45:22] the best example or the easiest example for me is, do I feel like I'm seated in the heavenlies?

[45:35] You already know the answer because your answer is the same as mine, isn't it? Do I feel like I'm seated in the heavenlies with Christ right now? What does God say?

[45:47] you are. Now, just because I haven't realized it because I'm in history doesn't mean it's not true.

[45:59] So, I don't know when he reveals all this. It doesn't seem historically like it's at the rapture.

[46:12] It seems more like it's at the introduction of the kingdom. But, hey, God has that in hand.

[46:25] But the whole creation will be redeemed. The curse on the earth because of Adam is not a permanent thing.

[46:38] And so, have a great day. is a member.

[46:57] And so,