{"id":5774,"date":"2015-02-12T13:41:01","date_gmt":"2015-02-12T17:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=5774"},"modified":"2015-02-23T14:34:37","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T18:34:37","slug":"the-second-sin-2815","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=5774","title":{"rendered":"The Second Sin (2\/8\/15)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What’s the Worst Sin we can commit???<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Pastor Jim’s sermon on Sunday February 8 2015 took a look at the “second sin.”\u00a0 We all are familiar with the account of Adam and Eve and the Apple; Original Sin.\u00a0 But what’s the Second Sin?\u00a0 What happens if we ignore the Second Sin?
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Click the following “Play” button to start the sermon, scroll down, and find out…
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The scripture was from Genesis 3:1-13<\/a>.\u00a0 Open the following box to read along…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Genesis 3:1-13<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”<\/p>\n

2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied.<\/p>\n

3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.'”<\/p>\n

4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. \u00a0 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”<\/p>\n

6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.<\/p>\n

7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.<\/p>\n

8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. \u00a0\u00a0 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”<\/p>\n

10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” \u00a0\u00a0 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”<\/p>\n

12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”\u00a0\u00a0 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”<\/p>\n

Holy Bible, New Living Translation \u00ae, copyright \u00a9 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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\u00a0We will be forgiven for original sin… but not until we deal with the “Second Sin.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What is the “Second Sin”?\u00a0 Maybe Cain killing Able?\u00a0 Maybe Adam lost his temper with a bee that he had just named?\u00a0 Maybe all of the bad stuff that was happening in Noah’s time?\u00a0 What is the Second Sin?\u00a0 Read on…<\/p>\n

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The Original Sin<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"sin-146121__180\"<\/a>God created Adam and put him in a perfect place.\u00a0 In fact, the word Eden means “perfect” or “paradise.”\u00a0 Think of a tropical paradise… that was Eden.\u00a0 God gave him everything he needed; food, water… even purpose.\u00a0 Adam and Eve had it all.\u00a0 The only limit imposed on Adam is that he wasn’t to eat from the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.<\/p>\n

God\u00a0gave\u00a0Adam love.\u00a0 And he also gave him a helpmate; Eve.\u00a0 Eve came along after God told Adam about the tree they weren’t supposed to eat from, so it was Adam who told Eve about the tree.<\/p>\n

But Satan entered this perfect world, and somehow got Eve’s attention.\u00a0 And like drops of water on a rock, Satan worked on Eve.\u00a0 He raised a question about God and tempted her about the one boundary God had placed on them.\u00a0 That tree.\u00a0 That Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.\u00a0 Why wouldn’t God let them eat from that tree?\u00a0 Satan put doubts into her and wears her down.\u00a0 He led her to distrust God.\u00a0 He led her to believe that she had a right to have this knowledge.\u00a0 She had a right to reject these limits.\u00a0 She had a right to be like God.\u00a0And so the drip drip drip of lies eventually led Eve to disobey God and eat the fruit from the tree.<\/p>\n

She was tempted; she was deceived.\u00a0 But along comes Adam.\u00a0 She offers the fruit to him and he immediately chooses to eat it.<\/p>\n

Why did God forbid them from eating that fruit?\u00a0 It was to protect them.\u00a0 As soon as they ate that fruit they realized that they were sinful.\u00a0 The realized that they were not equal to God.\u00a0 They realized that they were naked.\u00a0 Man was now responsible for their sin.\u00a0 And because sin deserves death, Adam and Eve suddenly became subject to eventual death.\u00a0 Paradise wasn’t perfect anymore; sin had entered.\u00a0 And so, Adam and Eve had to leave God’s presence.<\/p>\n

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The Second Sin<\/span><\/h3>\n

But before leaving the Garden, Adam and Eve committed the Second Sin.\u00a0 The first was the initial disobedience.\u00a0 But the second was the cover up.\u00a0 Adam ate the apple, but when he hears God, he hides.\u00a0 At the first sign of sin, he steps back from God.\u00a0 We’re not different from Adam and Eve; sin pulls us away from God.\u00a0 Satan gives us excuses to not go to church.\u00a0 To not do something that God wants us to do.\u00a0 To disobey… because we have our rights!<\/p>\n

But Jesus calls us to go forward.\u00a0 We can’t go forward if we’re constantly hiding from sin.\u00a0 The first sin can be forgiven.\u00a0 But the second one- the one of hiding from God-\u00a0 prevents us from receiving forgiveness.<\/p>\n

\"Flip<\/a>The second sin bids us to blame someone else.\u00a0 “That Woman YOU gave me.” “The serpent deceived me!”\u00a0 Or as Flip Wilson’s Geraldine<\/a><\/span> always said, “The devil made me do it!”\u00a0 That line won’t work when we face God in heaven.\u00a0 In fact, we can’t even account for every single sin; we can’t even remember what we had for lunch!\u00a0 We need the blood of Christ to cover us.\u00a0 But we can’t be covered by the blood of Christ if we’re trying to cover ourselves.\u00a0 Without confession and admitting to specific mistakes (sins), there cannot be forgiveness of sin.\u00a0 We can’t receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior if we don’t humble ourselves and admit, “Yes- I have sinned.”<\/p>\n

What if Adam had reacted like David when he was confronted with his sin?\u00a0 David had an affair with a soldier’s wife.\u00a0 Then, he had the husband put in the front line so he would be killed.\u00a0 But unlike Adam, David didn’t hide.\u00a0 He didn’t say “That Woman made me do it.”\u00a0 Instead, he humbled himself and sought forgiveness.<\/p>\n

Take a look at where David recorded his thoughts in Psalm 51:<\/p>\n

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Ps 51:1-7 (NLT)
\n1 Have mercy on me, O God,\u00a0 because of your unfailing love.<\/span>
\nBecause of your great compassion,\u00a0 blot out the stain of my sins.<\/span>
\n2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.<\/span>
\n3 For I recognize my rebellion;\u00a0 it haunts me day and night.<\/span>
\n4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;\u00a0 I have done what is evil in your sight.<\/span>
\nYou will be proved right in what you say,\u00a0 and your judgment against me is just. <\/span>
\n5 For I was born a sinner\u2014\u00a0 yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.<\/span>
\n6 But you desire honesty from the womb,\u00a0\u00a0 teaching me wisdom even there.<\/span><\/p>\n

7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;\u00a0 wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What if Adam hadn’t hid?\u00a0 What if he, like David, admitted that he had disobeyed and that he longed for God’s forgiveness?\u00a0 Imagine how the world might have been different.<\/p>\n

The second sin is the sin of excuses.\u00a0 The sin of blame.\u00a0 The sin of being unwilling to stand up and admit, “I did it!\u00a0 I need forgiveness.”<\/p>\n

We live in a culture where we constantly defend our rights.\u00a0 But our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20<\/a><\/span>).\u00a0 We follow God’s rules and laws.\u00a0 We’re in no place to make excuses and try to justify ourselves.\u00a0 Take a look at what King Saul did in 1 Samuel 15.\u00a0 Instead of obeying God by destroying Amelekites, he took the spoils of the battle for himself.\u00a0 That was bad enough.\u00a0 But look at what Saul said in verses 20-21:<\/p>\n

“But I did obey the Lord,” Saul insisted. “I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else. \u00a0\u00a0 Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not only does he say that he obeyed, when he didn’t.\u00a0 But just in case he really was wrong, he tried to cover himself by blaming his troops.\u00a0 And if that wasn’t bad enough, he referred to God as “the Lord YOUR God.”\u00a0 Samuel’s God… not his own???<\/p>\n

Pathetic.\u00a0 But don’t we sometimes do the same thing?\u00a0 If a professional baseball player drops a ball in the outfield, the fans will probably forgive him.\u00a0 That’s the first sin.\u00a0 But how long will he remain a starter if he made excuses like\u00a0 “the grass was wet”, or “the sun was in my eyes”, or “the wind was blowing”, etc. etc.\u00a0 How long would he remain on the team if he blamed his teammates?<\/p>\n

We need to be like David; not Saul. Like David, we need to throw ourselves on the mercy of the court.<\/p>\n

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“The fault dear Brutus is not in our stars.\u00a0 The fault is within ourselves.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Sin pulls us away from God.\u00a0 We can’t fix it ourselves.\u00a0 If we don’t reach the point where we confess, we’ll never find the freedom and victory that God wants us to have.<\/p>\n

O Lord, Free us for joyful obedience.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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\u00a0Quiz Time!<\/span><\/h3>\n

As you reflect on what you’ve just heard\/read, give this quiz a try.\u00a0 If you don’t understand an answer (or if you disagree with the “correct” answer, post a comment)…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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