Eden, Temptation, and Redemption: Choosing to Belong to Christ

But when you choose to belong with Christ, here's what what promises is in the in the bible. It means that there no longer is shame. You're not attached to that sin anymore, so there's no reason to be ashamed of it. And you get to spend eternity with God in his plan, in his perfect presence, where there is no death, where there is no pain, spending eternity doing what you were made to do, which is to love God and for him to love you. It literally undoes the decision to eat the apple. [00:52:32] (40 seconds)  #BelongInChrist

Just as Adam and Eve had a choice when deciding to eat the apple, belonging to Christ is a choice. It's a choice that you guys can make here today. You can decide to belong to Christ. Here's what's great. We aren't stuck with the decision that Adam and Eve made. We have a choice to belong to Christ. What does it mean to belong to Christ? It means believing in Jesus, believing that he's real, that he really is the son of God, that he really died on the cross as payment for our sins, and payment for Adam and Eve disobeying and eating the apple and devoting our lives to him. That's what it means to belong to Christ. [00:51:06] (51 seconds)  #ChooseChristToday

Like, realize that. All you have to do is make the choice to belong to God. Think of how big of a moment in history it was when Eve decided to eat that apple. Like, shaped all of history. It's a huge, huge moment in history. But just know it's an equally big part of a moment in history when you decide to effectively take that apple out of your mouth and belong to Jesus. If you're ready to belong to Jesus, then then this is your moment. In a bit, we're gonna talk about what that means. We're gonna we're gonna pray. [00:53:12] (37 seconds)  #DecideForJesus

And don't forget the last part of that verse. Suddenly, they felt shame. If you've ever needed proof that shame doesn't come from God, there it is. Shame came after they made that decision, after they made their choice. Shame does not come from the lord. It comes from the enemy. God had a perfect plan. It was our plan to eat the apple. It continues to be our plan, to lie, to steal, to to lust, to abuse substance. God's plan is always better than our plan. [00:45:16] (35 seconds)  #ShameIsNotFromGod

Kids would ask this question and and here's what that I would share with them because because the the the thing that they wrestle with and the thing that we wrestle with is they almost felt like, well, is God taunting us? Is that there to be a tease or or or is God just putting it out there to see if we would do the right thing? Here's why it was there. Love doesn't mean anything unless there's an opportunity to fail. [00:32:58] (28 seconds)  #GodGivesChoice

if I keep drinking the way that I'm drinking, does that bring me closer to God or further away from God? Do I need to make a choice to dry out? Or maybe I need to make a choice to get sober. Maybe this is a problem. Or or does the way my algorithm looks, is this something that brings me closer to God or further away from God? Do I need to make it so that things on my phone reflect the relationship that I should have with my God? If I yell at my family because it gets the reaction I want quicker, Is that a choice that's bringing me closer to God or further away from God? We all have choices to make. [00:39:56] (45 seconds)  #ChoicesMatterDaily

Here's the thing. That's what we do with sin. We try to see how close we can get to the fan. And then maybe we get bit by the fan, and then fifteen minutes later, we go back and like, okay. Well, this time will be different. God's perfect plan didn't include, like, us trying to decide how close we can get to the fan. Like, his plan for our life isn't for us to just flirt with sin, see how close we can get to it. God's plan has always been for us to be in his perfect presence for eternity. God's plan is always better than our plan. [00:48:03] (39 seconds)  #DontFlirtWithSin

Thank god that's not the end of the story. Thank god this is only the first book of the bible. Thank god there's another 65 books helping correct us, helping us find out what the rest of god's plan is. God had a solution. Here's the thing. When when when Adam and Eve decided to eat the apple, they didn't just, like, take their relationship from God. Like, it wasn't didn't just affect them. Like, God got robbed from the relationship with us as well. And so God adjusted his plan. He had a solution, and it was Jesus' death and resurrection. [00:49:52] (45 seconds)  #JesusIsTheSolution

God's plan for humanity, you gotta realize, his plan's perfect. His plan's better than our plan. His plan for humanity didn't involve any pain, didn't involve any suffering. It it didn't even involve hard work. Like, the fruit and the food just grew from the ground. He didn't have to work the soil. Like, that was God's plan. And don't forget the last part of that verse. Suddenly, they felt shame. If you've ever needed proof that shame doesn't come from God, there it is. [00:44:53] (32 seconds)  #GodsOriginalPlan

God had a specific plan, though, when he created humanity. He put us here to exist with him. Plain and simple. That was the plan. You read in other parts of Genesis where it talks where, like, Adam had this job to name the animals, but god's specific plan was for us to be in existence, in communion, and in friendship with him. [00:31:16] (27 seconds)  #MadeToBeWithGod

From the beginning of time, Eve had a choice, Adam had a choice, and then we're faced with choices all the time today. Small choices, what I wear today, small choices, how do I raise my kids, the likes these little things compared to, like, you know, screwing up all of humanity. We have all these choices that we make today, but there's a choice that you can also still make today to follow Jesus. [00:35:18] (27 seconds)  #SmallChoicesBigImpact

Do you guys know how kids learn that stoves are hot? There's some kids that learn because you say, that's a hot stove. Don't touch it. You're gonna burn yourself. And then there's kids that put their hand on their stove and learn it's hot. Like, Adam and Eve were the kids that put their hand on the stove. Okay. They touched the stove and learned it's hot. They had consequences. Remember, god had a perfect plan to be in the presence of humanity, unseparated by sin. That was god's plan. [00:41:15] (30 seconds)  #LearnByConsequences

Like, it's hard for kids to pick up that concept. The the here's the thing. I think it's it's hard as an adult too. Adults forget there's consequences. That's why there's jail. That's why pastors get speeding tickets. Like, we forget that there's consequences. One of my favorite phrases, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Consequences are a thing. [00:42:31] (23 seconds)  #PlayStupidWinPrizes

Now there's lots of choices we have to make. And I wanna ask, like, what what doubt and what lies are feeding the illusion that you're only gonna have gratification and none of the consequences for the choices that we make? These choices that we make, they affect who we become. In fact, that's a filter that you can put over your life. You can ask about choices that you make. Ask yourself, [00:39:27] (29 seconds)  #FilterYourChoices

They get kicked out of the garden. Now there is separation between God and his creation. There is separation between God and humanity. Now realize before this, like, physical death wasn't even a thing or any kind of suffering, any kind of pain, certainly not shame. All these weren't even a thing. In fact, if you keep on reading in the scripture, it says, like, these other consequences. All of a sudden, there was there's pain in childbirth. All of a sudden, he told Adam, you're gonna have to work hard now. You're gonna have to work the land in order to eat food. [00:49:13] (39 seconds)  #ExiledFromTheGarden

It means that we choose that every day, following God's instruction. Whether that means choosing to fight for your marriage or if that means choosing to be patient and kind, if that means choosing to not be tainted with greed, choosing to love those around you even when they hate you, belonging to Christ is a choice. Think about it this way. When Adam and Eve ate the apple, shame was introduced, death became a thing, and we were kicked out of the garden. We were kicked out of the presence of God. [00:51:57] (36 seconds)  #DailyChoiceToBelong

So in this scripture, God creates humanity, and he creates a home for humanity in his presence with all the food that they need and everything. God had a specific plan. God had a very specific plan. Think about all the order that there is to the world too. Right? Like, it's it's so like, our our Earth has to be so perfect in order for us to, like, live and exist here. Like, god is this god of order. God is this god of planning. [00:30:42] (34 seconds)  #GodOfOrder

Like, kids have such an easier time with these huge big questions. Like, often kids, like, half the time they raise their hand, they would tell me about their dog or cat. The other half the time, they would just send like a laser beam, huge question and be like, so how was God created? How did God get there? Questions that adults wrestle with and struggle with. And then and then you say, well, in the Bible, it says God was uncreated. He's always been there. And they're like, cool. Okay. [00:28:24] (27 seconds)  #KidsAskBigQuestions

Here's a perfect example. I I have a little brother. He's not so little now. He's he's 17 now. But I remember when he was, like, 10 or 11, we went fishing. Me, my dad, and him. We went over to Lake Chelan. We love fishing Kokanee over there. And and when you go fishing, you you have to bring snacks. Like, it's it's a part of the experience. You have to make sure and all those snacks are all sweet. Right? [00:36:24] (21 seconds)  #SnacksMakeTheTrip

But we were fishing, and one of the snacks that we brought was this box of I think they were called Dibs bars. They were like granola bars that were covered in chocolate. Am I you guys know what those things are? Right? Yeah. So one of those boxes was there. My little brother, he kinda seemed like the whole day he always had one of those in his hand. And we thought legitimately, like, oh, he's just been working on the same one or two all day. [00:36:46] (26 seconds)  #SnackTemptation