Series: Questions to Sinners from God
Title: Where Art Thou?
Text: Genesis 3: 9
Date: February 16, 2012
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
The first question ever asked a fallen sinner by God was this: Genesis 3: 9: And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
This is the first call of grace recorded in scripture. We see here the effectual call of God, the beginning of grace.
Have you heard the Voice of the LORD God call unto you, personally? Has the LORD God said to you, “Where art thou?”
It is my hope God do this in this place. I believe he is doing it for some here, and that he has (and continues to do so) for others, here. May God be pleased to put our name in place of Adam and make us answer him, Where art thou?
Proposition: Every sinner whom God saves will be saved through the Voice of the LORD, through the Truth of the gospel, which shall bring his child from the death of our sin into the Life of his Son—and he continues to save through his Word.
Divisions: 1) A few characteristics of this call of grace; 2) The good news of this call; 3) The gift produced by this call 4) The place where this call brings the believer to rest
I. A FEW CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD’S CALL OF GRACE (Genesis 3; 8-9)
First, it is THE VOICE OF GOD. THE VOICE is the Word which made flesh and dwelt among us—the Voice walking. God the Son come in human flesh is Christ THE VOICE of the LORD God.
John 1: 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. 5: And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15 ¶ John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
God in sovereign power promised and sends forth pastors after his own heart—just as he did John to announce the arrival of Christ.
1 Corinthians 1: 21: For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
But make no mistake it is THE VOICE of the LORD God by whom a man is called in irresistible grace. John said was sent to declare all flesh is grass and thy God reigneth! And John said make no mistake:
John 1:23 He said, I am the voice of ONE crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way OF THE LORD, as said the prophet Esaias.
Isaiah 52: 6: Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. 7: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! 8: Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with THE VOICE together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.
Secondly, this call of grace is particular--Adam—where are thou? It is true God a general call goes out—Adam heard his voice in the garden and hid--God sends his word to many who are not the elect of God. It is true they were the only two sinners in the world. But God comes to each of his elect as particularly as if you were the only sinner in the world—now he speaks to Adam personally! Christ the Voice, the Word, the Savior come in human flesh compared himself to a Shepherd--he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.” (Joh 10:3)
Thirdly, the call of God is effectual—irresistible—it gets the job done! In verse 8 Adam and Eve hid themselves from the presence of God. In verse 9 God called his name. Immediately Adam answered in verse 10—and Adam said. The Lord Jesus said,
John 5: 25: Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear THE VOICE of the SON OF GOD: and they that hear shall live.
Illustration: The television show—the Voice.
Fourthly, the Voice of God—the call of grace—brings the sinner to confess his sin to God. This is a call of grace and love, but it does not sound like that at first, not to the guilty!--(v9)—Adam, Where art thou?
Note: The all-knowing God does not call because he is unsure where Adam is, he calls to produce a confession in Adam. He makes a sinner confess where we are.
Where was Adam? (v10) Indeed, he had heard the voice of God—have you heard his Voice. Indeed, Adam was afraid—are you afraid? Indeed, he was naked—in sin—are you naked before God in sin? Indeed, he did hide himself—are you attempting to hide from the presence of God? You and I cannot hide ourselves, we can’t hide our sin, our sin has to be put away by God himself.
Psalm 139: 7: Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
God presses his child to confess the real issue. If we ever stand before a just Judge of heaven and earth, we will find that he will not stop at our excuses—these are the only words God hears—those last words at the end of v11-13. “I”—me personally; “Did eat”—I sinned and did this evil in thy sight! What is your plea? No contest, guilty!
II. THE GOOD NEWS OF THE CALL OF GRACE—THE MERCY OF GOD, THE GOSPEL DECLARED (Genesis 3: 14-15)
The good news of the gospel is that Christ Jesus came to save all elect children from their sins, to make us righteous by his obedience unto the death of the cross. We see Adam made to confess his sin to the Judge, now we see the Judge announce the Advocate in whom the sinner is complete.
Adam sinned and death passed upon all men because all have sinned—between the time Adam sinned and when God came calling Adam—we see that it is our sin that has separated us from God. Adam and Eve were told how they each would suffer in their body, how the ground was cursed for Adam’s sake, and they were driven out of the garden—all showing the condemnation that all men are under due to Adam’s transgression.
Romans 3: 23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
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:…17: For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)…19: For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
But when God called Adam personally, brought Adam to confess his sin, God declared what he declares in the hearts of those he calls, God did not say, Adam you are cursed—he announced another is cursed in Adam’s place—read verse 14. Satan—the serpent—is cursed. And God declares the promised Seed—the woman’s Seed who is Christ Jesus. God provided his own Son who bore the justice of God in place of his children. Satan bruished his heel, but he crushed the serpents head
Galatians 3: 13: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Hebrews 2: 14: Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
Illustration: Standing before a Judge who is also your Advocate.
III. THE GIFT GIVEN BY THIS CALL OF GRACE--FAITH (Genesis 3: 20)
Adam heard the word of God’s promise, righteousness is in Christ alone—the Seed of Woman. Adam believed God. The fruit of his faith was that Adam named Eve according to the promise--the mother of all THE LIVING—THE LIVING ONE—Christ the Resurrection and the Life.
· In whom all the elect of God were preserved from the fall
· The Surety in whom all the elect of God are justified and made the righteousness of God, by whom all his elect were justified on the cross.
· In whom all the elect of God are called to Life.
We see in Adam what see of Abraham:
Romans 4: 3: For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
IV. THE PLACE WHERE THE CALLL OF GRACE BRINGS HIS CHILD TO REST—THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST IMPUTED TO THE BELIEVER (Genesis 3: 21)
Adam was first stripped of his own righteousnesses—made to confess his sin. He was made to put all his trust in another—Christ Jesus the Righteous Seed of God in whom all the seed of God are complete. God slew another in place of his people—no blood in leaves. The Lord God made the coat. The Lord God clothed them.
Isaiah 61: 10: I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Application: Are you trying to hide yourself? Are you trying to hide the nakedness of your sin, shame, guilt, rebellion from God and your fellow man? Self-wisdom makes us deny God and our need of Christ—sinful man loves to have wisdom apart from Christ our Wisdom. Are you hiding in the fig leaves of your own self-righteous justification whereby we think we have made ourselves just with God—the soul that sinneth must die. Are we boasting in some self-sanctifying work whereby we imagine that we have given ourselves a new heart or that having begun in the spirit now we have made ourselves fit to be accepted of God by our own fleshly doings and lawkeeping? As long as a sinner keeps trying to self-redeem himself with these bribes to God and toward men, with this corruptible silver, trying to buy off God and men to speak smooth things and free us, apart from our bowing empty to Christ—we will never have the sufficiency God demand—Christ Jesus the Son of God. Is that where you are hiding? If so, I do hope that God will call your name personally and draw you into Christ the Light, lest you perish by your own hand.
OR
Are you truly hidden—hidden by God? If so, all glory goes to our gracious God.
Philippians 3: 8: Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9: And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Colossians 3: 1: If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2: Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3: For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4: When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
AMEN!