Where Are You?

The message was brought by Rev. Eddie Foster on 4/7/24.

Genesis 3:9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden with almost unlimited freedom.  There was one exception–one cannot.  It’s found in 2:16-17:  And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:   But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. When we tell people not to do something, what do they want to do?  Do that very thing.  Adam and Eve disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit. They were deceived. After their sin, they recognized their nakedness. God came to them each evening in the cool of the day to fellowship. After they disobeyed, he still came.  They hid.  God knows exactly where they were. Aren’t you glad for the day he came to you!  Let’s notice a few things.

This was a personal question. “Where art thou?”  The Holy Spirit speaks individually to you today and I speak to you collectively.  God’s asking each of us “how’s your heart?”  Where will you spend eternity? This is your most important question in life.  God wanted Adam to acknowledge his sin. That’s hard to get people to do these days. We’ve all sinned.  And we all need a Savior.

Sin destroys.  Look back up at verses 16-17 above. God told them thou shalt surely die. This meant spiritual death. They became lost. In Genesis 3:21 God provided a covering of skins for them. Later on, he provided his Only Son on the cross.  It also meant physical death.  Prior to their disobedience Adam and Eve were immortal. They would have lived forever in the Garden. After their sin, they began to die. Death is a process; every person begins that when they take their first breath. Some die young; some old. But no one can get around death.  Sin destroys health. It all started because of Adam. What was destroyed in Genesis is restored in Revelation!  Sin came and words like cancer and flu and Covid are known.  One day the curse will be gone. Our mortal will put on immortality!  Sin also destroys fellowship.  They no longer wanted to fellowship with God.  It will do the same to us. Always seek forgiveness when you sin.  It also destroys peace of mind.  Because I’m saved I can sleep at night and not worry if I’ll wake up.  I’ll be in heaven if I don’t.  God gives us that peace of mind.  Sin destroys it.

The doctrine of the fall of man is throughout the Bible.  First Corinthians 15:22:  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.  Romans 5: 12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.  The main thrill of heaven will be seeing Jesus face to face.  But in heaven temptation will be removed. Satan will never bother us again.  The serpent told Adam and Eve they wouldn’t die as God had said.  He tempted them to eat through the lust of the flesh and the eye.  FIrst John 2:16 says  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  These things always bring about sin. Most Christians guard against the big things, but it’s the little things that will get us. Adam and Eve made a conscious decision to obey Satan and not God.

They hid from God.  Truth is, you cannot really hide from Him.  He knows where you are. Adam and Eve hid among the trees when God came looking.  Today people hide among various things.  The tree of atheism.  To deny reality doesn’t make it real.  One can look at creation and know there is a God.  Some hide behind the tree of religion.  There are over 4,000 religions in the world.  Religious affiliation isn’t it.  The question is ARE YOU SAVED?  Matthew 7 tells us this:  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.  They were hiding behind religion and weren’t truly saved. It still takes the blood of Christ to be saved.  Don’t get wrapped up too much in the minor differences among fundamental denominations.  All believe this:  you must believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ to be saved.  If you know you’re lost and ask Jesus to save you, HE WILL.  The experience is different for everyone. The common fact is that all must believe. By faith you accept it and Jesus will save.

One day we will all meet God.  You’ll meet Him in this life and decide what you’ll do with Christ.  Then you’ll meet God in the next life too.  Many things can bring a person to Christ.  Problems.  Illness.  The main thing is you must come to him this side of death.  What you do now won’t be changed in eternity. No one will be prayed out of hell.  Are you saved or lost?  There are no other possibilities.  There’s no in between.  No purgatory. You’re either a child of God or a child of the devil. You can’t be both.  The decision is yours and yours alone.  Where are you with God?