GENESIS: Sin Is A Roadblock
Have you ever come to a roadblock? A tree has fallen across the road and you can’t get through. You have to wait until someone can clear the tree away before you can go on. Or maybe you have to turn around and go back, unable to get to where you wanted to go.
In today’s episode we are going to be looking at how our sins are like a roadblock between us and God.
Bible Passage: Isaiah 59:2
“Your sins are the roadblock between you and your God.”
When you act in a way that is peaceful and kind and lovely to others, you end up making friends and people want to be around you. God wants us to live like this, and to be friends with him and with others. There are 10 recent episodes on love!
When you don’t act like that, you are disobeying God and that’s called sin.
When I was younger I used to annoy my older sister and slap her really hard.
Now, I lose my patience and say mean things to my family and I know God doesn’t like that.
Have you ever disobeyed God? What did you do?
What do you think?
WHO AM I?
I am made out of dirt
I may or may not have a belly button
I have one less rib than I started life with
I was never a baby and I didn’t have a childhood
I named all the animals in the world
I didn’t find any suitable to be my helper
I lived in a beautiful garden for a very very long time
My time in the garden was absolutely perfect - delicious fruits, wonderful wife and God - it was full of love and happiness
WHO AM I?
I am Adam
Bible Passage: Genesis 3:1-13, 22-24
The snake was sneakier than any of the other wild animals that the Lord God had made. One day it came to the woman and asked, “Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”
The woman answered, “God said we could eat fruit from any tree in the garden, except the one in the middle. He told us not to eat fruit from that tree or even to touch it. If we do, we will die.”
No, you won't!” the snake replied. “God understands what will happen on the day you eat fruit from that tree. You will see what you have done, and you will know the difference between right and wrong, just as God does.”
The woman stared at the fruit. It looked beautiful and tasty. She wanted the wisdom that it would give her, and she ate some of the fruit. Her husband was there with her, so she gave some to him, and he ate it too. 7 At once they saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
Late in the afternoon, when the breeze began to blow, the man and woman heard the Lord God walking in the garden. So they hid behind some trees.
The Lord God called out to the man and asked, “Where are you?”
The man answered, “I was naked, and when I heard you walking through the garden, I was frightened and hid!”
“How did you know you were naked?” God asked. “Did you eat any fruit from that tree in the middle of the garden?”
“It was the woman you put here with me,” the man said. “She gave me some of the fruit, and I ate it.”
The Lord God then asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The snake tricked me,” she answered, “and I ate some of that fruit.”
Then God cursed the snake, he told Eve she would suffer when giving birth to children and Adam would have to work hard to provide food.
"Then the Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for the man and his wife.
The Lord said, “They now know the difference between right and wrong, just as we do. But they must not be allowed to eat fruit from the tree that lets them live forever.” So the Lord God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, where they would have to work the ground from which the man had been made.Then God put winged creatures at the entrance to the garden and a flaming, flashing sword to guard the way to the life-giving tree.
Sounds very mythical doesn’t it!
Adam and Eve’s actions of taking the fruit from the wrong tree is the roadblock they have for being able to be with God and stay in the garden.
Story Time!
Friends of mine were camping at a caravan park on the south coast at Bendalong, when the bushfires came along, in January 2020. There is only one road into Bendalong and the fires were burning the trees in the whole area, even along the road, so those at Bendalong were trapped - there was no way in or out.
They had to wait until the fires were under control before being able to drive out of Bendalong to get to where they wanted to go - in this case, home to safety.
Our sins are like the fire, a roadblock, stopping us from getting to God. Just like my friends had to wait until the fire was under control, we need to get our sins under control. We need our sins forgiven by God and to do that we need Jesus to take the sins away.
Bible Passage: Ephesians 1:7
Christ sacrificed his life's blood to set us free, which means our sins are now forgiven.
This means that the roadblock has been removed. Jesus is like a massive crane, removing whatever is on the road so that we can drive through and get to God!
Jesus is like a massive fire brigade, putting out the fires so that we can get to God.
Question Time!
What sins do you think are causing the biggest roadblock for you in your life, stopping you from getting to God
How can you deal with that roadblock?
Pray now and ask God to deal with it (apologise) and thank Jesus for dying on the cross.
