The Darkness Comprehended it Not
Notes
Transcript
To Him Who Sits on the Throne
To Him Who Sits on the Throne
Our theme verse today is Revelation 5:13.
13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
There is a covenant between God and His creation that binds us together for eternity.
In the Beginning
In the Beginning
Lets begin in John 1:1-4 that says:
John 1:1–4 (KJV 1900)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
God established the world and all that is in it.
In the beginning, God set the rules of nature and how they operate.
This includes the animals, plants and cycles of life.
seed time and harvest
day and night
seasons
Once God spoke these into existence, they were here to stay as God promised Noah in Genesis 8:22.
22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
God said they would continue “while the earth remains”.
God went on to confirm a covenant with Noah and every living creature in Genesis 9:16.
16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
The rainbow is the “token” of God’s everlasting covenant.
There was a great work God did in the beginning as we read in John 1:1-4 “IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
John then goes on to say in John 1:5
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Why didn’t His creation comprehend?
Why didn’t people receive Jesus when He came?
Lets go back to the garden, in Genesis 2:17 where God commanded Adam
17 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.
God had finished most of the work of creation and now was introducing Adam to every creature in Genesis 2:20
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
But there wasn’t one suitable for him.
So, then, God made woman but here, it doesn’t say she was “made in the image of God” as it says of both of them in Genesis 1:27.
Here in Genesis 2:23 it says “she was taken out of man”.
My next statement isn’t politically correct.
But there is something missing in a man that can only be filled by a woman.
And, a woman needs a man to bear children.
Adam described this in Genesis 2:23
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
So, here we are in the Garden, with Adam and Eve and all of Gods creation complete.
The Fall of Man and all of Creation
The Fall of Man and all of Creation
We don’t know how much time transpired between Genesis 2:25 and Genesis 3:1.
But as we begin Chapter 3 of Genesis, we find the serpent starting a conversation with Eve in Genesis 3:1-5.
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
This is almost what God said, the serpent adds one word, “not”.
God said in Genesis 2:16 “of every tree … freely eat”,
but in Genesis 2:17 of the one tree, “the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil”
She responds, with God’s command that we may eat in Genesis 3:2, but not the one tree in Genesis 3:3
The serpent then accuses God of having an intentionally hidden ulterior motive, The serpent accuses God of holding back some knowledge from her.
This is enough that she begins her own independent assessment in Genesis 3:6
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
the tree was good for food
the tree was pleasant to look at
the tree would make one wise (although, she had no idea what this knowledge of good and evil was)
Immediately, in Genesis 3:7, their eyes “were opened, and they knew they were naked”.
They had always been naked but never had any conscious sense that being naked was bad or wrong.
Now, they covered their nakedness even from one another.
The second thing that happened, was in Genesis 3:10, they were “afraid”.
Even though they had covered themselves with fig leaves, they hid themselves from the presence of God in Genesis 3:8. This fear separated them from God.
Before this, every creature had come before Adam in Gen 2:19-20.
Now Adam and Eve are afraid, naked, and separated from God.
Is there any other creature other than man that is ashamed of their nakedness?
All other creatures are content with the way God made them?
The Curse
The Curse
Then God told them what would result from their sin in Genesis 3:14-24.
Just as what God had created would continue, So also this effect of sin would carry on for all men and women from that point forward.
First, the battle between the serpent and the seed of woman was on. The serpent has been out to destroy mankind since then. But the devil cannot go beyond the limits set by God.
To Eve, God said in Genesis 3:15-16
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
There would be a redeemer from the woman that would “bruise the head” of the serpent in Genesis 3:15.
But women then would have sorrow in conception and childbirth.
And, the women's desire would be under the rule of her husband. This is the same phrase used of Cain in Genesis 4:7. Where it says
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
God was saying, you have the choice, you can do well, you can do what is right, but if you don’t, you will face whatever your husband chooses for you.
To Adam God said in Genesis 3:17
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
The ground now bore a curse, it would bear fruit, but also thorns and thistles, (weeds) and tending it would require sweat and effort.
We are talking about foundational truths that operate in God’s creation.
These don’t change.
Let me go back to the wife for a moment and say this another way because these few verses are the root of a great deal of marital trouble:
As a wife, you often will not like what your husband is doing or the way he is doing it, but it is his choice. Like it or not, and good or bad, you bear the weight of his decisions.
If you don’t like his decisions, you come out from under his authority and take on yourself the the additional curse that is on him as a man.
You will bring forth by the sweat of your brow. You will bear fruit with thorns and thistles also.
We read in John 1:5
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
The world was lost and cut off from God until Jesus came.
This relationship between Husband and wife is described in the New Testament
This relationship between Husband and wife is described in the New Testament
It is in the context of our relationship with Christ.
Of the wife it says
Of the wife it says
Beginning in Ephesians 5:22
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
There is no other option. Rebelling against your husband is the same as rebelling against Jesus Christ himself.
There is also a requirement for the husband in Ephesians 5:25-29 , so stay with me for a minute!
As a wife, Titus 2:5 says
5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
Your behaviour is a critical witness to the world and can confirm the power of God working in your life or it can destroy that power as people of the world look at you and not God’s word.
So what are you to do if your husband isn’t following after the things of God? 1 Peter 3:1–6 says
1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
You have have a key role in your husbands life and God made you to help him. This you can only do by exercising your own faith in God.
Let your husband “behold” your manner of life and reverence for God and the things of God.
4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: 6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
It is the new heart of love that God has given you that he will see and respond to if he will respond to anything.
Of the husbands it says
Of the husbands it says
In Ephesians 5:25–29 (KJV 1900)
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
You have a responsibility to love your wife, to give yourself for her, to meet her needs.
It goes on to say in Colossians 3:19
19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
Why would a husband become bitter? It isn’t always easy to be a provider, there is a curse on the ground.
As a man, you bring forth by the sweat of your brow.
You have a commitment to supply for your wife and children and there may not be much left over for your own needs.
By faith, you must trust God for all you need.
Then 1 Peter 3:7 goes further
7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
Your wife has access to God herself and if you are not in the right place, she will be crying out to God. Get your priorities right.