Fall of Man, Where Art Thou?, Adam and Eve, The Serpent, Genesis 3 Commentary, Genesis 3, Shame, Guilt, Fear, Gospel Preaching, Revival, Holy Ghost

The first question in the Garden is actually the last question for all eternity for every single one reading this journal at this very time. Sooner or later, no matter how carefully we hid ourselves from God, everyman and woman will have to come from their hiding place and meet Him face to face. ALL will have to make a full declaration of exactly where one stands in light of His presence. The great Apostle declares that day will be one where no secrets will be left unrevealed and all unconfessed sin will be addressed in the most serious of ways. EVERY knee will bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is LORD.

By Chris McDonald

TEXT: Genesis 3:9..."Where art thou?"

The first question that God ever asked of man is recorded in Genesis 3:9, “where are thou?” God asked this first question of Adam on the evening of that awful day of the first sin. The voice of God in it majesty rolled down the avenues of the Garden of Eden. Until that day, the voice of God had been the sweetest music to Adam. He knew no greater joy than that of glad communion with the Creator and his heavenly Father. But now, because of sin, things changed and all was different from that moment to this moment today. The voice of God now filled Adam with fear and as a result Adam hid himself from a holy God. Man has been hiding from God ever since.

To state it another way, this is the history of every son of Adam from that day until now. Every sinner is trying to hide from the presence and the all-seeing eye of God. That accounts for the agnosticism, te atheism, the skepticism, the cynicism and unbelief of all today. It is sinful man trying to hide from a holy God.

Let me tell this. Men will give you many reasons why they are skeptics, agnostics or atheists. But in the majority of case, the real reason if this - sinful men hope to hide themselves from the discomfort of God’s presence by denying that He exists. That also accounts for much of the neglect of the Bible. People say they do not read the Word of God because they have so much else to read or because they are not interested in the Bible. Some declare that it is a dull and stupid book to them. But the true cause of man’s neglect of Bible study is this; this Bible brings God near to us as no other book does, and men are uneasy when they become conscious of the presence of God. Therefore, they neglect the book that brings God near.

The fact is however that when God created man, God put something in the heart of each one of us that thirsts only for Him. NO matter what man tries to fill that thirst with, it always leaves man wanting more and more and more. NOTHING can fill the heart of man except God and on the same thought no man has ever succeeded in hiding from God. God said to Adam, “Where art thou,” not because God did not know where Adam was but because Adam had to come from his hiding place as all men must do to face God and make full confession of his sin.

Philip. 2:9-11

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: [10] That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; [11] And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

God puts the question of the text to every Christian and to everyone who is not a Christian - “Where art thou?” Where do you stand concerning spiritual and eternal things? Where do you stand concerning God, heaven, righteousness, Christ and eternity? “Where art thou,?” - the first question God asked and the last He will ask of all mankind!

Man is A Sinner Plain and Simple

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Many people are too proud to face the fact that they are morally and spiritually bankrupt. So millions grit their teeth and plunge into eternity without thought or question. It’s not people don’t know that the human condition is warped and wrong, they simply refuse to acknowledge the fact they are sinners and in need of redemption. That is why the message of the Cross has become so repulsive to the modern church. Preachers who call themselves ministers of the gospel preach a gospel that repudiates the Cross and declares men as having “psychological” problems or just environmental ones, i.e. if man’s environment changes then man will change. Man’s problem is not that he is not educated or well off financially. Man’s problem is he is a sinner and man needs God. Man needs to come out of his hiding place before it is eternally too late and face the fact that without repentance and the shedding of blood, eternity will be forever in a place call hell where torments are eternal and ever lasting.

The problem with modern man and the modern message of the church is both are self-centered on man’s temporal state and not his eternal one. It seems today that every man wants to know where he stands physically. He wants to know the condition of his lungs, heart, stomach, and nerves. He may be worse off than he thins he is. He may think his heart is sound when it is defective. No matter the medical prognostication, man wants to know his condition, because then he will not subject it to the strain that he otherwise would. Many lie in a premature grave who might be doing good work on earth because they were not willing to find out what their real condition was and act accordingly.

When it comes to sailing, every man at sea wishes to know where his vessel is, its exact latitude and longitude. The fact is however, that no matter how important knowing where one is when sailing in the natural, the more important fact is we are all sailing across a perilous sea toward an eternal port. Every truly intelligent man and woman will desire to know just where they are - their exact spiritual latitude and their exact spiritual longitude.

It is not a question to trifle with. It’s amazing how the nation at the present is so concerned with change as we are getting ready to elect a new President in 2008. There is talk about how important it will be the new President is will be able to “help the economy,” and put money in people’s pocket. They treat this question with great importance but this great question of eternity is treated by most as a joke or punch line. Yet I can assure the writer that the individual who trifles with this question is a fool. Those are not the words of this writer but the Lord Jesus Himself:

Luke 12:19-21

And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. [20] But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? [21] So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Mankind must face this eternal question - the last question of “where art thou,” before it is too late. The first question ever asked will be the last question and the last question neighbor is the most important. Think of this.

God has spent nearly 6,000 years giving fallen man the chance to answer this question! No man can deceive God. It will do one no good to deceive anybody else, and it is the height of follow to deceive yourselves. The biggegst fool on earth is the man who fools himself. Be honest. If one is lost, one has to admit it before they are saved. If one is on the road to hell, one must acknowledge that before they can get on the road to heaven. If one is an enemy of God, one must face the facts. If one is a child of the devil, realize it. The problem with millions, ESEPCIALLY THOSE IN THE PROFESSInG CHURCH, is that millions think they are saved, when in fact they are lost.

In addition to the question being faced honestly, it must be faced thoroughly. Many people are honest and serious to a certain point, but they don’t go to the bottom of things. They are superficial. They give these tremendous questions a few moments’ tought, and then their weak minds grow weary. They say, “I guess I am all right; I will take my chances.” Others are bound by drugs and other deep sin but feel “this will just work itself out.” The fact is friend it WON’T work itself out! Sin’s solution is the Cross and the way one embraces the Cross of Christ is through repentance! The blood of Jesus Christ covers all sin and can set the captive free. Yet, when it comes to coming to grips with the depths of sin in one’s life few want to do so.

Friend, what I write to you about is something no one, NONE, can afford to guess on with questions like this. “WHERE ART THOU,” is the question the Holy Ghost is asking today. WHERE are you friend? Where are you with God? What is the state of your soul? Are you hiding from God or are your sins under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ?

One cannot just “hope” they are saved. Eternity is based on the truth that one KNOWS they are saved! One must KNOW they are a child of God. One must KNOW that when they die they will go to heaven. One must KNOW where they stand with God.

The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things

Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

When determining eternity one cannot hold to the fact that others have faults and they themselves do not. We need to face the fact that the one standing in the need of prayer is US, not our neighbor! Our neighbor may need prayer but the one standing before God to give account of our own personal lives will not be our neighbor!! The last question that is asked of us in this life must be answered in prayer.

We must pray like David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try men, and now my thought: and see if there by any wicked way in me.”

Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: [24] And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

That is why Holy Ghost conviction is so important in the preaching of the gospel! It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict the world of sin, of judgment and of righteousness. It is the Holy Spirit who shows us ourselves as He sees us as we will never know ourselves. It is the Holy Ghost who looks inside each one of us and sees the TRUTH, which alone can set the sinner free.

The Holy Ghost can only convict of sin when He is given free reign in the church. The sad fact is that the modern church preaches so little of the modern gospel that the Holy Ghost will not anoint it. Thus, sinners sit in church after church void of any idea they are lost and undone without God. How much blood will be on the ands of modern preacher of the gospel who refuse to preach the true gospel, i.e. the message of the Cross? The Holy Ghost anoints ONE message and one message alone and that is the message of the Cross of Christ.

How many professing Christians have lived most of their life in church only to find out they are not truly born again? How many go to church Sunday after Sunday yet have never met the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. Friend, what I speak of is not about church attendance; singing in the choir; it’s not even the baptism in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues. I speak in tongues more than you all as Paul says, but friend I’m not saved because I speak in tongues! I’m saved because my FAITH is in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and because of His sacrifice my sins have been paced under the crimson flow.

Many profess Christ but have never been saved. And friend, the first question is forever going to be the last question for all - without exception. The chart and compass is the Bible. If you steer your course according to the Book, you will steer safely. If you steer according to your own feelings, according to the speculation of the petty philosopher or the theologian, according to anything but the clear declaration of the Word of God, you steer your course to shipwreck!

The most valuable item you possess is not your home, car, or bank book. Your most valuable possession is your soul. The Bible tells us in Genesis 2:7, "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." To become the richest man in all the world would be of no profit if you would, in the process, lose your soul. The Lord Jesus warns us, "a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." (Luke 12:15) When your life is over, your possessions will be left behind. Your body will go to the grave. But your soul shall pass on into Eternity.

The Bible tells us of a man who did not make proper provision for his soul. He was planning only for this life. He was very successful. His prosperity forced him to expand his properties and warehouses. The man said to himself, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry." (Luke 12:19) But as he lay one night upon his bed the voice of God said to him, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee:" (Luke 12:20).

A man or woman is a fool, if, in the process of living this short life, he or she does not make provision for eternity. The Bible teaches that you are a sinner and because of your sin your soul is bound for hell. God warns, "the soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4) The reason Christ left heaven and came to earth was to save our soul from eternal damnation. Christ died on the cross to deliver our soul from hell. We are taught in the Word of God that the Lord Jesus, though perfect, spotless, and sinless, died in our place for us. The Bible says that, "he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." (Hebrews 2:9) "For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:17)

Hebrews 2:9

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

John 3:17

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Ezekiel 18:4

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

God loves you and wants you to spend eternity with Him in heaven. He does not want you to go to hell. But, unless you repent of your sin and believe on His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that is exactly where you will go! Only Christ can forgive you, cleanse your soul from sin, and bring you safely inside the gates of heaven, forever in the presence of God.

The Fall of Man And It’s Effects

Man is more lost than he ever wants to admit! Man’s fallen condition as we have alluded to earlier goes beyond man’s skin color or his psychological condition! the whole of this melancholy business, the fall and its effects. When Satan first tempted man to sin, he did it in the form of a serpent!

From the New Testament we learn that Satan associated himself with the creature which we term the serpent, and the original the nachash, in order to seduce and ruin mankind;

2 Cor. 11:3

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Rev. 20:2

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

That this creature was the most suitable to his purpose, as being the most subtle, the most intelligent and cunning of all beasts of the field, endued with the gift of speech and reason, and consequently one in which he could best conceal himself, Satan knew that while man depended on God, he could not be ruined! The same is true today. Satan cannot do anything to the true child of God outside the providence of God!

He therefore endeavored and succeeded to seduce them from this dependence as he does today. He worked on the propensity of the mind to desire an increase of knowledge, with which God, for the most gracious purposes, had endued it. In order to succeed, Satan insinuates that God, through motives of envy, had given the prohibition that man does not need nor deserve greater knowledge. The truth be told, God knew what sinful wicked man would do with increased knowledge and thus He put boundaries upon man’s ability to use this gift. Man “thinks’ he knows more than God, but those are the mumblings and murmurings of a fool.

As Adam Clarke, the great English theologian stated, “He assured them that they should resemble God himself, and consequently be self-sufficient, and totally independent of him; they listened, and fixing their eye only on the promised good, neglecting the positive command, and determining to become wise and independent at all events, they took of the fruit and did eat.” But what Satan did not tell Adam and Eve THEN that led to God’s first question, Satan does not tell man today that will lead to man’s final question!

Look at the effects of the fall:

1. Their eyes were opened, and they saw they were naked. They saw what they never saw before, that they were stripped of their excellence; that they had lost their innocence; and that they had fallen into a state of fear, remorse and guilt. Guilt friend is killing the human race. Has it not been thought of by the modern church that the reason our “Christian” psychologists are having to be put on church staffs is that people are drowning in unresolved guilt over UNCONFESSED sin!?????????????? Does it not come into the mind of man that when human kind refuses to repent and know God through the power of the Cross, a guilty conscience always results! This speaks to us of the second effect of the fall:

2. Though their eyes were opened to see their nakedness, yet their mind was clouded, and their judgment confused. They seem to have lost all just notions of honor and dishonor, of what was shameful and what was praise-worthy. It was dishonorable and shameful to break the commandment of God; but it was neither to go naked, when clothing was not necessary. The same is true today. In man’s warped state, man cannot rightfully discern that which is evil and that which is good! Man calls evil good and good evil and without a moral compass man will wind up in total oblivion!

3. They seem in a moment, not only to have lost sound judgment, but also reflection: a short time before Adam was so wise that he could name all the creatures brought before him, according to their respective natures and qualities; now he does not know the first principle concerning the Divine nature, that it knows all things, and that it is omnipresent, therefore he endeavors to hide himself among the trees from the eye of the all-seeing God!

How astonishing is this! When the creatures were brought to him he could name them, because he could discern their respective natures and properties; when Eve was brought to him he could immediately tell what she was, who she was, and for what end made, though he was in a deep sleep when God formed her; and this seems to be particularly noted, merely to show the depth of his wisdom, and the perfection of his discernment.

Compare his present with his past state, his state before the transgression with his state after it; and say, is this the same creature? The creature of whom God said, as he said of all his works, He is very good - just what he should be, a living image of the living God; but now lower than the beasts of the field?

This account could never have been credited had not the indisputable proofs and evidences of it been continued by uninterrupted succession to the present time. All the descendants of this first guilty pair resemble their degenerate ancestors, and copy their conduct. The original mode of transgression is still continued, and the original sin in consequence.

Let me put it this way. Every human being is endeavoring to obtain knowledge by unlawful means, even while the lawful means and every available help are at hand. Secondly, millions endeavor to be independent, and to live without God in the world; hence prayer, the language of dependence on God's providence and grace, is neglected, and even detested by most. Entire political groups spurn the knowledge of God and do all things possible to remove God from the nation’s consciousness.

Thirdly, being destitute of the true knowledge of God they seek privacy for their crimes, not considering that the eye of God is upon them, being only solicitous to hide them from the eye of man.

God spoke to Adam in the same voice he had used to converse with the first family every day at the very same time. The Hebrew term, µwyh jwrl leruach haiyo, means “the decline of the day,” referring to the same time of day God met with Adam and Eve on a regular basis. It was in the evening breeze every night that our first parents employed in the more solemn acts of their religious worship, at which God was ever present.

Yet after the fall, the time for this solemn worship is again come, and God is in his place; but Adam and Eve have sinned, and therefore, instead of being found in the place of worship, are hidden among the trees! And in the coolness of the day, God asks the first question, “WHERE ART THOU!” Friend, He has been asking that question of man for 6,000 years and it will be the last question ALL men will answer to God one day in eternity. It’s best to answer that question TODAY, for TODAY, not tomorrow is the day of salvation!

Adam declared he was “scared,” and had “hid” himself in the bushes. Let me tell you this. SHAME, because of the ingratitude marked in the rebellion, and because that in aiming to be like God Adam and Eve were now sunk into a state of the greatest wretchedness, is gripping the hearts of MILLIONS today! That shame can only be eradicated through the power of the Cross of Christ.

Secondly, Adam was fearful because they had been deceived by Satan, and were exposed to that death and punishment from which he had promised them an exemption. How worthy is it of remark that this cause continues to produce the very same effects! Shame and fear were the first fruits of sin, and fruits which it has invariably produced, from the first transgression and has produced the same result to this very moment in human history!

The third effect of sin’s nature is BLAME. Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent who in effect had blamed GOD at the beginning for this dilemma man found himself in. Millions hold on to this spirit today, blaming parents, teachers, preachers, churches, loved ones, jobs, brothers, sisters and a myriad of others as to why they are what they are. Neighbor, freedom has never come to ANY man who is filled with a spirit of blame. JESUS CHRIST sets SINNERS free who REPENT and CONFESS they are sinners and refuse to blame anyone else but themselves for their own sin! True repentance does not blame anyone else but takes full responsibility for our acts!

While the eyes of their body were opened to see their degraded state, the eyes of their understanding were closed, so that they could not see the sinfulness of sin; and at the same time their hearts were hardened through its deceitfulness. And friend, unless we’re willing to answer the first question and in essence the last question of all eternity, the results will be the same today.

The Good News

The good news is that you can be saved today. You can be free from the guilt, the shame, the fear, the blame of sin simply by acknowledging you are a sinner; repenting of those sins; and placing faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the CENTER of ALL things and the central figure of the gospel! We need to return to the simply preaching of the gospel today like never before!

As I close today, I ask you today, are you saved? Are you hiding from God; running from God; rebelling against God? Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power, are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? I ask you today solemnly, have you answered the most important question of all eternity - “WHERE ART THOU?” When we’re saved we can answer that question without fear of eternity because though we are naked as Adam, God killed two animals, shed their blood, and placed coats of skin over the naked parents of all eternity. Those animals were a type of Christ, our Redeemer, who through His blood, COVERS our nakedness and cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness!

Rev. 3:17-22

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: [18] I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. [19] As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. [20] Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. [21] To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. [22] He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

1 John 1:7-9

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.

It’s getting late neighbor and it’s harvest time. The first question is the last question and the last question MUST be answered today. I pray your answer to this question is CHRIST and HIM CRUCIFIED! That is the only answer and hope for fallen humanity. He loves you today and beckons you come to Him before it is too late! Praise God.

Questions, Comments: cmc4jesus@aol.com