PRISM SERIES Lets Get naked Text: Genesis 3:1-10 Intro: Good morning and welcome to restoration life. Today we start a new Series I have entitled PRISM. A PRISM is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that have the ability to refract, bend or redirect Light. a. Our LiVes have a PRISM like angle to it. We have been created to allow God's light shine through us. We have been designed to shine. I think that when we re born, @the start of our existence, we are very transparent. (we are somewhat pure, but our sinful nature hasn't fully developed it's expression in us. Yet it lies within). But as you start to live life, that clarity, that purity and innocence in lost and everything begins to get a little foggy, distorted and dirty. b. I want you to understand 2 things: 1. God wants to do a work in you. Philippians 1:6 (NIV) being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. This means something different to different people at different stages of life. 1
For some here this morning, he wants to save you from a life of sin and being defeated by every temptation. For others he wants to heal your lives because of sin. He wants to bring deliverance and restoration to a damaged and broken relationship with God the father and the only way that s possible is through the finished work of Jesus on the cross and your willingness to yield to him as savior and King. so first he want to do a work in you... And 2ndly... 2. God wants to do a work through you. Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV) You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. There is a purpose for your life and that purpose is only realized by having an encounter with Jesus and a revelation of His will for your life. God does not only save us to heal us and bring us into his Kingdom family. In addition to that he trains us through the local body he calls his bride//the church and disciples here at restoration life to be released into our God given destiny. c. SO THE PURPOSE OF THIS MONTH IS TO POSITION YOURSELF AT A CERTAIN LEVEL OF TRANSPARENCY THROUGH YOUR REALTIONSHIP AND INTERACTION WITH CHRIST. Philippians 2:12-15 NLT 12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. 14 Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that no one can 2
criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. d. You and I are a vessel (a prism if you will) that God wants to shine through. That s what this month is all about. To clear some things out in you so you can live life in the way God intended us all to and so His light can shine through you!! e.the problem is that our lives are filled with stuff that keeps from being able to refract that beautiful light that God wants to shine through us. Stuff that causes us to hide the beauty of what God wants to accomplish in our lives. This all started at the very beginning of our existence and continues to be in our DNA as human beings. Lets read our text: Genesis 3:1-10 NIV 3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" 10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." LIFE APPLICATION: Today we continue to play this very same game with God, we hide behind the shame of our sin and make coverings to try and keep God and others from seeing us for who we really are. 3
In this series I want to be as transparent as I can be. And as hard as that is for me and for you, that is my goal in this series. To get rid of everything that hinders us as a Church, as families, businessmen, teenagers, singles and young adults. I can tell you right now this will not be easy, but it will be worth it. Ok so here we go, 1 st if we are going to live a transparent life and allow God to shine in us and through us we have to I. Remove the Fig Leaves 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 1. Adam and even had been given pretty clear-cut direction on what they could and could not do as keepers of the Garden of Eden. Unfortunately the temptation was far to great for them and they into the first act of disobedience we read about in the bible and the History of mankind. Man would I have hated to go down in history this way a. What I want you to notice is the very moment they are made aware of their mistake, their short coming, their sin, the very next step they took was To run and find God and tell him everything that happened. Um no. I know it was to build an altar and sacrifice something for their wrongdoing. Ummmm. NO. I know Pastor it was to say 10 Hail Mary s and 5 our fathers with a dash of ash and the sign of the cross and a dip in Holy Water. Uuuum...NO NO & NO. b. What they did next is HIDE! They made a covering for themselves. 4
They hid behind something they had fashioned or put together in hopes of not being exposed before their God and father. Hebrews 4:13 ESV And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. LIFE APPLICATION: We do this don t we? We make coverings for ourselves and hide behind those coverings hoping that we will be by passed by our father God walking and looking for fellowship with us in the new Garden of Life he has placed us in through Christ our Lord. We hide behind our failures and shame We hide behind anger and disappointments We hide behind carriers and excuses We ll even hide in our prosperities and celebrations My Point: If we are going to be that Prism that God can shine in and through, we re going to have to keep the fig leaves off and live naked before the LORD! THIS IS BEING TRANSPARENT. 2. We need to know that Nakedness was not merely physical in nature. a. Adam and Eve had taken measures to clothe their nakedness after their sin. Before sin, when they were both in a state of innocence, it seems they felt no need for clothing. This is parallel to a young child who experiences no shame in being unclothed, much to the chagrin of their parents. Adam and Eve's clothing appears to have been sufficient in relation to one another. However, as soon as God enters the picture, the insufficiency of their own efforts becomes apparent. b. It seems, then, that mankind's efforts to cover over their own sin may be sufficient among others who have sinned, but it is insufficient in the presence of God. 5
If Adam's nakedness had merely been physical, then physical clothing would have been sufficient to cover over his shame. The shame, however, was not merely physical and neither was his sin. It was also a spiritual act of defiance toward God. 1 John 1:6-10 (NIV) If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. 3. God's make provision a. It's interesting to note that later in the chapter, God makes clothing for Adam and Eve. We must wonder why the fig leaves were insufficient and why God considered other clothing to be superior. The nature of the clothing provided by God is that they were from the skins of an animal. Although this is not explicitly stated, it seems reasonable to conclude that this was the first substitutionary sacrifice. An animal had to die to provide the animal skins for that clothing. The death of the innocent animal was sufficient to cover the shame of sin, yet it was insufficient to atone for the guilt, since Adam and Eve were still banished from the garden. b. While the sacrifice of the innocent covered over the shame of sin, it would require the sacrifice of the Righteous One (Jesus) to atone for the guilt. 6
The physical clothing made by God is then a picture of the spiritual clothing that would be provided through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The New Testament speaks of a type of clothing that comes to followers of Christ: Galatians 3:26-27You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:1-2 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. So, Adam was not naked at that time in a physical sense, but he was still naked (exposed, in a state of shame) in a spiritual sense. In Closing: If I m going to allow God to do a work in me and through me, I have to ask myself how transparent am I with Him. The more transparent I become, The better My Prism will be able to shine His light to all who have yet to know him. Lets pray. 7