If you’d open up your copies of God’s Word to Genesis. Genesis chapter 3. Begin our morning here in the word of God. Let’s give attention to it. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden. And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die.
For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. And she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. and the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” That’s from the reading of the Word of God. Amen.
Would you pray with me? Our Father and our God, we ask now that you’d help us. We are here. We praise you for bringing us. And we ask that you would awaken us. Lord, we are awake, but now we need to be awakened spiritually. And so we ask that by and through your word this morning, you would make us alive in Christ. Help us as we study this doctrine of sin, this doctrine of the fall of man, and work upon our hearts that we may see, Lord God, what you have done to address this problem that we have made as we have transgressed your law. We ask this in Jesus’s name, amen.
All right, I need my clicker. So what’s the first thing we do as we’re studying the Westminster Confession typically here in this place? What’s the first thing? Review. Who said review? Okay, yes. So what do you remember that we’ve been talking about lately? Anything, one thing. This is what, the sixth chapter? That means we’ve been through five? Five chapters. What was the first chapter on?
What? The Word of God. Why did we start there? We need the Word. Everything comes out, right? Everything we’re going to be talking about comes out of the Word of God. Okay, the second chapter was about who? God, okay. And this is actually one of the shorter chapters. Why is chapter two so short? What can you know about God? We learned it from the Word. We learned it from the Word, yes, yes. So most of what we know about God is negative, right?
He’s not this, he’s not this, he’s not this, he’s not, doesn’t have a body, doesn’t have passions. Because why is that? Why do we speak of God in the negative? Well, because we are finite. And he’s infinite. And what can the finite know about the infinite? Ultimately, God is incomprehensible. But he has revealed himself to us to an extent such that we can know him. And so we speak in negatives a lot.
What was the third chapter on? Decrees, decrees of God. What’s a decree? Will of God, determination, a decision, a plan. Has God planned anything? Everything. Okay. Anything that happens is part of God’s decree, right? And how does he execute his decrees? through creation and providence, right? And so you’d expect the next two chapters would be on creation and providence. OK, who made all things out of nothing by the power of his word in the space of six days and all very good? God, OK.
Is that important to remember? Do I keep on saying that? Yeah, OK, all right. And then we talked about what? Providence, providence. Has anything happened that God has not providentially planned and ordained? No. Okay. There it is. The great creator of all things does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things from the greatest even to the least by his most wise and holy providence according to his infallible foreknowledge and the free and immutable counsel of his own will to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy. Okay. Do you believe that? Yes? Okay. All right. Oh, chapter six is on what? The fall. Why would we go to the fall now? Why would the divines, that’s the title that’s been used to describe those who wrote this document, why would they go to the fall now? What is the fall? About man Have we learned anything about man so far? Oh Created by God, okay anything else about man?
Made in God’s image anything else Yeah, yeah all about creation I hear some whispering in the back Made perfect okay, which is all about creation remember God executes his creeds through creation and Providence is all good still creation Is Providence fit in here with regard have we learned anything about man with regard to? Providence oh What that God governs his actions kind of important Right? God has decreed, right? He works out his decrees through creation and providence.
Most of what you were describing with regard to man, what we’ve already learned about man, was with regard to creation. You left off a big part, and that was with regard to providence. We’ve learned a lot about man with regard to the providential hand of God. Right? I think we’re gonna see that. as we go to this part now, fall. Where do we see the fall in scripture? Chapter 3. Chapter 3. Very good. OK.
First, I think, getting back to your first question, the special act of providence that God exercised toward man in the state where he was created was entered into a covenant of life with him. This is here now because that covenant was broken. So you think that does that answer your original question? That’s that’s that’s a really good answer to my question. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. You got to get here. You got to see. God’s creation, God’s providential hand.
And now, in a sense, man has been placed into the garden, right? Adam is in the garden now. It’s a very good garden. Lots of trees in it. Two of them are named. One is the knowledge of good and evil, and the other is the tree of… Only two are named. That’s interesting.
Everything’s good in the garden. It’s, in a sense, paradise. Right? In a sense, it’s paradise. So that’s that’s kind of the backdrop. That’s where we are as we begin to look at now the fall. All right. So the first paragraph in this chapter reads this way, our first parents, who are our first parents?
Adam and Eve being seduced by the subtlety and temptations of Satan. Now, I thought there was a serpent in the garden. Okay, well, all right. Sinned, and eating the forbidden fruit, this their sin, God was pleased, according to His wise, holy counsel, to permit, having purposed, to order it to His own glory. Do you see anything about providence here? Huh. Okay. Not only does he allow it, permit. What are the next two words? Having purposed to order it to his own glory. All right. OK, well, let’s get into this.
How do we know that they sinned? How do we know that this fruit was forbidden? How do we know that? God told them. Pointed it out, right? Genesis in the prior chapter, Genesis 2. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. You shall surely die. Those are God’s.
That scripture says nothing about touching it. Well, it doesn’t. There’s something wrong with Eve. Right? Because she actually adds to the word of God. Yeah. Yeah. So right away, right away, as Eve is, she’s discussing things with a serpent. Strange beginning. Right away, we see something’s wrong. Something’s going on in Eve’s heart. Right away. Yeah.
So this is why they should not eat, because God told them, Not to what is this? Well, Chris referred to it earlier, this is actually part of the covenant of works, isn’t it? Where Adam is told to actually work. To earn the favor of God. He was given a task, he was given this probationary period as God is testing him to see if he will continue to follow him, to walk after him, to obey him. And so this one command was given to Adam and his dear wife to follow as a probationary test.
And so we see the negative here, that which would happen if he transgressed. What was the positive? I’m getting a little bit of a rabbit trail, I’m sorry. What was the positive? Because there are always negative and positives with regard to the commands of God.
Yes, sir. You wouldn’t die. You wouldn’t die. Well, that’s that’s really close, I think, to the fulfillment of what would be given to Adam had he obeyed. Because right now, Adam is actually eternal, isn’t he? His soul is eternal. He will live forever. So to say that, well, that’s it, he’s gonna live forever, seems to fall short of what God was promising Adam would have if, in fact, he obeyed. So it seems to me that the promise was that he would, if he obeyed, that he would not only live forever, but live forever in an unchangeable estate.
Because right now he’s changeable. Right now he’s mutable. Okay, that was a bit of a rabbit trail. But this is the command. And so when the divines write about them sinning, you gotta go, okay, how do they sin? Right, how do they sin? And so this is what we see.
This is what Eve does as she’s talking with The serpent, so when she saw that the tree was good for food, it was a delight to the eyes. The tree was desired to make one wise. She took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. This is what Burkhoff, Louis Burkhoff, writes about the nature of the first sin. It may be said that from a purely formal point of view, man’s first sin consisted in his eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
We do not know what kind of a tree it was. I thought it was an apple. No, we don’t know. It may have been a date or a fig tree or any other kind of fruit tree. There was nothing injurious in the fruit of the tree as such. Listen to this. Eating of it was not per se sinful. for it was not a transgression of the moral law.
This means that it would not have been sinful if God had not said, of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shall not eat. There is no unanimous opinion as to the reason why the tree was called the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Rather common view is that the tree was so called because the eating of it would impart a practical knowledge of good and evil. But this is hardly in keeping with the scriptural representation that man by eating it would become like God in knowing good and evil, for God does not commit evil and therefore has no practical knowledge of it. It is far more likely that the tree was so called because it was destined to reveal One, whether man’s future state would be good or evil, and two, whether man would allow God to determine for him what was good and evil, or would undertake to determine this for himself.
And so that’s exactly what Adam and Eve do. They determine for themselves, right? Sir? What were you just reading from? Birkhoff, Systematic Theology. Smart guy. OK. All right. So how did this happen? Right. We went over creation. Everything’s created. Very good. Very good. And and I challenge you, I’m not sure I see that anywhere else in Scripture. Very good.
Now, we know that Jesus is a beloved son of God, and we don’t see that really anywhere else in Scripture either. But as God creates things and he beholds what he’s made and behold, it’s very good. That’s a unique passage in scripture, which means that there was no sin within Adam and Eve at the time that they were created.
They were holy. They were righteous. They were following after God. They were made in the image of God. Right. So how did this happen? Made in the image of God. And there it is. It was very good. God saw everything that he’d made and behold, it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day, including Adam and Eve. Right. So how did it happen? How could they transgress the law of God? They’re made very good. They’re made after his image. Adam’s naming the animals. And the assumption is that he’s naming them perfectly because he knows the will of God. He’s thinking his thoughts after him. How did this happen?
And one reason I touch upon this is because the divines really don’t deal with this. They actually don’t really deal with how did sin enter the world. And so in a sense, I’m trying to address that. How is it that those who are very good can now, at this moment, transgress God’s will? Yes, ma’am. I’m assuming that Satan had already been thrown out of heaven at this time, that he had challenged God’s authority.
Well, we don’t know anything that stands behind this. Moses chose not to reveal that to us if it was revealed to him. But the serpent tempted him. He did tempt. But you’re making an assumption that he’s already fallen. Right. Right. And I think that’s probably a good assumption to make. I just, I can’t say. I’m not sure the scripture tells us at what point in time does Satan fall. I don’t know. Certainly prior to this.
Angels? Adam and Eve. Oh, they still, yes. Just like you. Yes. They did choose. Yes. They did choose. And some people say, well, that’s, yeah, you should put me there. Right? You should put, you should put me there. Why is, why is that? Yeah, I wouldn’t have done that. I wouldn’t have done that. Okay. Yes. OK.
Now, going back to Chapter 4 on what? Creation. After God made all of the creatures, he created man, male and female, reasonable and immortal souls and do them with knowledge, righteousness, true holiness after his own image, having the law of God written in their hearts and the power to fulfill it. And the power to fulfill it. How did this happen? Here, here it is. Because that paragraph continues on.
And yet, under a possibility of transgression, being left to the liberty of their own wills. You already mentioned it, free will. Free will, they were made moral creatures. The ability to make their own decisions. Which was subject only change, which I actually think is key too, because obviously, Yes. Yeah. And so that’s one reason why I say, well, I think the promise was that if they had obeyed, they would have then been fixed in their holiness and their righteousness and been transformed into that condition where they could not sin. Didn’t happen. They were subject to change by their own choice, right? Speaky and Smalley write this.
Unbelief in God’s revelation and trust in Satan’s lies darken the human mind so that it no longer perceives matters rightly. Through this self-deceit, the desires of the body and soul become, I think that should be so depraved, Leading sinners to commit outward acts of transgression against God Hmm is that what happened unbelief in the Word of God Yes, oh He doesn’t want me to have this He’s not a very good God He’s not good to me. Yeah, he doesn’t want that. He’s an envious God.
Yes, ma’am? I’ve always thought that probably, for me, the saddest part of the whole Bible is that they had perfection. They did. They had God. What more do you need? Wow. And that wasn’t enough. How did this happen? Well, they thought it wasn’t enough, right? They came to the conclusion that it wasn’t enough. There is something you haven’t given me yet, and I should have it, right? Because I know better than you, right? Do you ever think that way? No? Oh, OK. All right. All right. Good. Good, good. OK. Unbelief. It should be unbelief in God’s revelation. Somebody needs to check this. And trust in Satan’s lies darken the human mind. Right? That’s happened. Genesis, again, Beaky and Smalley.
Genesis 3.6 bears witness to the depravity of man’s entire nature and life. Entire nature and life. It also teaches us that faith in God’s word is our best guardian of our hearts. Best guardian. We’re gonna talk about that a little bit this morning, I hope, in the preaching of the word.
Again, Beaky and Smalley, but they’re quoting William Perkins. Who’s William Perkins? Was he English? He was. William Perkins said, this one sin contained many sins. Unbelief of the truth of God’s word, contempt of God, pride and ambition. Ingratitude, some of you were speaking of that just a moment ago. Ingratitude for God’s good gifts, craving to be wiser than God, the blasphemies of charging God with lying and envy, the breach of the whole law of God. A lot happened there in that.
Yes. Yes. Yeah, you can add to Mr. Perkins’ list. Yeah. Yeah. All right, questions on how this happened? How did it happen? What’s the short answer? Yes, sir. For God’s glory. Yes. Well, that’s why. That’s why it happened. I want to know how. Providence, OK. Providence. OK, so now I’m talking about in the mind and heart of Adam.
How did this happen? Stephen has the answer. Yeah, I think that’s it. He’s left to the freedom of his will, and he just made the choice. I am going to cast off God. I’m going to follow my wife, because I really like her. His eyes were on Eve and not God.
Yes. OK. Well, I think that’s, from my perspective, that’s the answer. Yeah. He’s left to his free will. He’s a moral creature. So why did God allow this to happen? Eve already answered the question. All right. Why didn’t God force Adam and Eve to obey? Like, I’m going to twist your arms. In fact, I’m going to tie your arms behind your back. You can’t pick that fruit, and you won’t be able to eat it. Why not?
Why didn’t God make Adam and Eve in such a way that they could not transgress His law and will? Like a robot. Wouldn’t it have been better if Adam and Eve had not sinned? Wouldn’t it have been better? Okay, let’s think about it. Who says it would have been better? Nobody?
Okay Yeah reset This was their sin God was pleased according to his wise and holy counsel to permit having purpose to order to his own glory Hmm. Well, it was already said the cat was out of the bag How does this glorify God Hmm it does Yes. Christ is lifted up. Yes. Yes. Yes. And His justice. At the same time. Isn’t that true? God chose His mercy and justice at the same time, obviously, at the cross. How glorious is that? Something for us to meditate upon. And anytime we ask that question, why? We always go to the answer for God’s glory. Romans 11, for God has consigned all to disobedience. Really? Yes. Why? That he may have mercy on all.
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways. Wow. That’s the end of the doctrinal portion of Paul’s letter to those in Rome. And now in verse in chapter 12, he begins applying all of the. Indicatives that he’s set forth. OK, questions on 6.1, because 6.1 provides that umbrella over all of the chapter. And so the divine’s will now begin to break down that paragraph 6.1 in these subsequent paragraphs with some finer points. Any questions? Yes, ma’am. How did she know it was good to eat if she hadn’t tried it? Were the animals eating it and they not dying?
And you know how sometimes when you see something, it’s like the arrows coming in here. Most of us are sinning lately because we go against the arrows and say, that’s a dumb thing to do. Why don’t we just, you know, it’s quicker to go against the arrows. We may not get children that way and things like that.
And I think she was looking at the apple If you can justify, this would be better for me. They don’t quite grasp that God doesn’t grasp that this is a good thing. You kind of reason it in your head about some sins. All the time, right? Because she couldn’t possibly know it was good for food, because there’s all kinds of things that look beautiful. Poison ivy? Let’s not talk about poison.
I just had to say it, because it’s on my mind. Good point, good point, thank you, thank you. All right, we’re gonna go to 6-2, your last chance. Okay. By this sin, they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God and so became dead in sin and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body. So here’s a question.
God told Adam, in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. Now, we didn’t read the next passage in chapter 3. But as we get to the end of chapter 3, what happens? Did they die? Well, wait a minute. God said, in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. So how can you say no? I heard a word. I heard a word back there. Oh. Oh. Spiritual death. But not that day. Right? They had children. Some good, some not so good.
But this deadness and sin. I’m going to need some explanation here to help me. So what you’re saying is, as God said, the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. He was referring to spiritual death as opposed to physical death. Is that what you’re saying? Part, okay, help me. Did they actually physically die that day? Okay. Right, they didn’t eat from it. So. Right, but I’m just asking a very simple question. On the day that they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, did they die physically? No, they didn’t. And so as God said to Adam, the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.
It doesn’t appear to me that he was speaking of physical death on that day. If he’s not speaking of physical death, then it seems to me that he was speaking of spiritual death. which is indicated by and evidenced by what? I am a little bit hard of hearing. They’re still alive, but where’s the spiritual death exemplified?
Oh, that’s it. They were removed from the presence of God. They were removed from the garden. They were removed from paradise, so to speak. What makes it paradise? God’s there. And so they’re removed from it. Yes, the tree of life is inside and God’s keeping them from that, but He’s also keeping them from Him.
Right? They lost communion with God. They became dead in sin. Okay. All right, so we’ve got to make that fine distinction between physical and spiritual death. Yes, sir. Well, immediately there’s this loss of communion, right? Yeah. Yeah, good. Good. Wholly defiled in all parts and faculties of soul and body. Ouch. Therefore, this is, it continues. Excuse me. This is Genesis chapter 3. What’s a cherubim? Angel. How many entrances were there to the garden? I think there was only one. Only one way in. So, how are they supposed to get in?
God makes a way. God makes a way, doesn’t he? 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. That’s the way back. through Jesus Christ. That was a side note.
OK. There’s only one way into the garden, and God is guarding it, right? They can’t get back in, not in their own strength. Now, and I want you to note that God did not place them outside and say, well, go do lots of good things. Come back, and I’ll see if I’ll let you back in. Now, the works for them are over. There’s no more working to get back into my favor. Not you guys. I’ll send my son to do that, but not you.
So, communion. In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock of their fat portions, and the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. Well, I thought they lost communion. I hear they’re bringing offerings to God.
There’s certainly some interaction going on. What’s the difference? Well, no, but Abel came and actually if you keep on reading here, Cain speaks with God. So there’s some interaction going on. What’s the break in communion? I don’t get it. Abel was saved. Abel was saved, yeah. So he’s in communion with God. That’s the restoration of the covenant of grace. Yeah. The misery of the estate into which Cain fell was a loss of communion. Yes, but it appears. OK, Grace. So there’s something else needed. Right. Something else needed.
Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden. There is no offering. There’s no sacrifice. But as Abel and Cain. Seek to approach God. They need something, right? They need to bring. Abel brings the firstborn of his flock. Cain brings an offering from the ground. They had to bring something with them, right, to appease God.
So there is this loss of communion, isn’t there? There is a loss of communion. And I appreciate the grace, yes, of course. So, so then what is it to be dead in sin? What does that mean? Bondage to sin. Okay. Bondage to sin. You don’t have a choice. Oh, I’m going to have to disagree. We always have a choice. We always have a choice. Yes, sir.
Inability to do good apart from God’s grace. So if I see somebody on the street who is thirsty, and I bring them a cup of cold water, isn’t that a good thing? Can’t I do that? By God’s coming grace, yes. I just made that decision. I just made a decision.
I deny God. I deny God, and I’m going to give this guy a cup of cold water. Yes, and I reject it I Do think it’s good I have determined in my own heart outside of the law of God that it’s a good thing to give this guy a cup of cold water Absolutely for my own glory for my own glory yes, but does that mean I’m dead in sin I’m a good guy Explain that to me. How am I dead in sin if I’m bringing a cup of cold water to this guy who needs it? I’m just talking about this one act. How is it that I’m dead in sin if I’m bringing a cup of cold water to this guy who needs it?
That doesn’t matter to me. It was a good act. It was good work. You can’t tell me it wasn’t. Is that what it means to be dead in sin? No. It’s not. Helpless to do what? Tell me what I’m thinking. You’re helpless to do anything with regard to your spiritual good. That’s what you can’t do. That’s what it means to be dead in sin. That you can’t do anything. with regard to your spiritual good.
So I can take the cup of cold water to this guy over here, okay? And I can say, I’m not dead in sin because I’m taking this cup of cold water to this guy. And you say, yeah, you’re right, but you don’t understand what it means to be dead in your sin. To be dead in your sin means you can’t do anything to your spiritual good. Yes, yes, they’re connected. Yes, yes.
And so when we talk about being dead in sin, right, became dead in sin, they’re speaking about, the divines are speaking about, and the scripture speaks about, you’re being unable to do anything to your spiritual good. That’s the very narrow aspect of what it means to be dead in sin, right? And so in Ephesians, Paul speaks of this, doesn’t he? Doesn’t he? Well, Moses spoke of it, right?
The Lord God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil. Continually, the Lord regretted that he had made man on earth and aggrieved him to his heart. So what does God do? Sends the flood.
Romans 1, for although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts. Darkened, claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of a moral God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. This is all with regard to spiritual things, isn’t it? Casting off God, replacing God with things of the world, worshiping them, spiritual.
This is what I’m talking about. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. So an Armenian will use this passage and say, you know, you can work your way into God’s favor. You can do acts of righteousness, right, which will promote your salvation, right? It’s Jesus plus your good works. You’ve got to do good things.
And they’ll point to this verse and say, well, you’re not really dead. You’re not really dead because you can do stuff. And so Paul isn’t saying that you’re completely dead because you’re able to do things. Right. And so Paul doesn’t mean here that you’re you’re you’re completely dead and can’t do anything, and therefore you’ve got to do everything. No, you can you can participate. You can be involved and you should be involved. Right. That’s the Armenian theology. It’s a works righteousness theology.
What’s wrong with that? How does this verse speak against that? Because Paul is speaking of spiritual death. You’re dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, right? You were following the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. In Adam, we cannot do anything to further our spiritual good. That’s the deadness. that Paul speaks of here. We can’t. It’s just impossible. I didn’t understand. Kind of.
Well, yeah, the point that we’re trying to make at this point is that as Adam and Eve fell from grace, they did die that day, but they died spiritually. They’re removed from the garden. They’re removed from the communion that they had with God at that time. And we see that not only are they physically removed, And thus, the communion is broken. In order to have any communion with God, there needs to be something in addition to the sinner. The sinner can’t have immediate communion with God.
And so we see Adam and Eve bringing their offerings that, in a sense, that meteor, that intercessor that goes before them so that they’ll be accepted, right? The blood that Abel brings, so to speak, and the failure to come in faith by Cain. They needed something. And so that communion was broken because they were dead in sin, right?
And so as we speak of being dead in sin, we’re speaking of spiritual deadness. We’re speaking of the complete inability to do anything to your spiritual good. Yes? It’s the whole world is just negative. Well, now I’m speaking of the hearts of Adam and Eve and that which we haven’t talked about it today.
Lord willing, we’ll talk about it next week. But what is the effect? What effect does this have, if any, on you? OK, we’ll talk about that next week. Does this affect you? Okay. Good. All right. So you won’t be surprised if I say that next week. All right. Questions? But the Armenian would say, but you’re really not because you can actually do stuff. Okay. So I’m just trying to give you the Armenian view. And the Armenian view is, you’re not completely, you’re not really dead. Because you can do stuff. Right? And so if you can do stuff, that means you can do good things. That means you are still able to earn God’s favor. And that just goes off the rails. Completely off the rails. Yes, sir?
Those are my words, but I think I don’t think the Armenian would disagree with me I Don’t think so Because it’s the Armenian view is is a works righteousness view and what is works righteousness works righteousness is seeking to earn the favor of God. I Yes, yes, yes. It’s all about men. Every other religion is about men and what men should do. Christianity is about what Jesus has done. Let’s pray.
Father, we thank you for this lesson, Father, this teaching. It breaks our hearts, Lord, that we see that our first father and mother fell in this way. And yet, Father, we know this is to your glory. And so we pray, Lord, help us to grasp this, help us to understand this, and help us to apply this, Holy Spirit, apply this to our heart even today.
Now we ask that you prepare us for worship, strengthen our hearts, Lord God, humble our hearts before you. Help us to come in praise and adoration. And Father, we look forward to the supper as well. Prepare us, examine our hearts as we come before you to feast upon Christ. We ask this in his name. Amen.