Turn with me to Genesis chapter 3, a very familiar passage that the Lord will still be speaking to us from it this morning. Genesis chapter 3. And I will read the whole chapter. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden. Neither shall you touch it, lest you die. But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be open, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that a tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed the fig leaves together and made themselves loincloth. Verse 8, And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, where are you? And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. And he said, who told you that you are naked, have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? The man said, the woman you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree and I ate. Then the Lord God said to the woman, what is this that you have done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. The Lord said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all the beasts of the field. On your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. To the woman, he said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing. In pain, you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, and he shall rule over you. And to Adam he said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife, I have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you. You shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain, you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles, it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread. Till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return. The man calls his wife's name Eve. because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore, the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove the man, and at the east of the Garden of Eden, he placed a cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the Tree of Life. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for this morning. Thank you for the time of fellowship together. with one another and with your son and spirit in our presence. Cause us to understand that which you have for us today. Out of the familiarity of this passage, bring out the profound message you have for us to be able to feed our minds, our souls, and our hearts, that we may gain strength to live for you daily. Thank you, Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. So our theme for our sermon this morning is Remaining Faithful in Our Estate, with the subtopic of the four fundamental questions of life. Now, as we look at this passage, we know from the beginning that when God made Adam and Eve, he placed them in the garden. And actually, the word translated as garden could actually also be translated similar to what today we may call like a national park. It was not just a small backyard vegetable garden, but a very vast place. And it wasn't just little plants but trees. And so it was a great, beautiful place that God made for them. And work at that time was not supposed to be toysome. and only in the form that the problem of toysome labor came to work. So maintaining a state one's position becomes a very important thing as we read in this story. Now, as an example, let me read for you a story of what happened perhaps about 200 years ago here in the US. This reverend gentleman by the name Clovis Chappell, a 19th century minister who used to tell an interesting story about two battle boats. The two boats, powered by coal, left Memphis in Tennessee about the same time traveling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. And as they traveled side by side, sailors from one ship made some critical remarks and jokes about the snail pace of the other boat. Heated words were exchanged between the men on the two boats. Challenges were met, so the race began. The competition was hot and heavy as the two boats rolled down the deep south. Eventually, one boat began falling behind, And the problem was it didn't have enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not for the race. As the boat dropped back, an enterprising young man took some of the ship's cargo and tossed it into the boat's ovens. When his fellow sailors saw that the supplies burned as well as coal, they fueled their boat with the material they had been assigned to transport. Guess what? They ended up winning the race, but they burned their cargo. They never understood what their estate, their position, their calling at that time was. They left it for something else, a race that had no reward to win, a race that led to monumental loss for those who had sent them on the errand. And so it is, with all of us as humanity, when we fail to understand our calling, when we fail to know that which God has placed in our custody, as our first parents did, then the problem of leaving our estate to something else, as we could see from Adam and Eve, eventually they physically would have to leave Eden to enter into the world in general. Now, this passage raises a number of questions that are very fundamental in helping us maintain our position where God has called and placed us. And very strangely, but very importantly, the very first question was raised by an enemy. Paraphrasing the serpent's question, I put it this way. What has God said? What has God said? Whereas the serpent had raised the question with aim of perverting the word of God so as to confuse our first parents, we can legitimately ask that question to help us for ourselves clarify God's thought for us today. What has God said? And the serpent craftily asked the question so that it might look stupid, one may say. Did God say you shouldn't eat any fruit from any of the trees? Of course. Eve responded, God has been very generous. He gave us everything, only one tree. But again, Eve went a step further beyond what God said in asserting that God said we shouldn't even touch it. And you read the instruction in Genesis 2, you don't find that aspect of her quotation. You shouldn't even touch it. And there we begin to see that adding to God's word can also bring its complication. But it also does indicate that perhaps Adam and Eve had been desiring to eat the tree and never just had the courage. And that's why God's commandment seems so burdensome, that she felt as if even merely touching it was the problem, in whichever case she added to it. This question of asking ourselves what has God said is very important so that we will follow him carefully. Remember, even in the Bible, stories of people who failed to do what God said beyond Adam and Eve. A classical example is Saul, the king. Early in his reign, He had failed to follow what God said through his prophet, and that ruined his reign. And he became a bitter man for the rest of his life, pursuing a servant. In 1 Samuel, chapter 14, God has sent him on the errand of vanquishing the Amalekites who troubled Israel on their way out of Egypt. He said, wipe out the Amalekites. Buddhists. He did the very opposite. And when he was faced by God's servant, Samuel, it became an argument. You didn't do it. Yes, I did. You didn't do it. Yes, I did. Until it was pronounced, you've lost the kingdom. They began to plead. Verse 22, Samuel asked, do you think God has as much desire in sacrifices and burnt offerings as in obeying his voice? So understanding clearly what God said is important. Some of us here have children, and we may have seen examples of you send your daughter or your son, and they run away quickly. And then you notice at the moment they stop midway. And some will come back and say, Mom, what did you actually say? They never paid attention. And if they don't know exactly what you said, they can't do it. So the same is true with us. We need to know exactly what God has said. Then and only then will we be able to do it. Speaking to the Israelites in Isaiah chapter 66 verses 1 to 3, God highlighted again the issue of the distinction between sacrifice and obedience. He said, you know, do you think I am hungry? If I am, I won't tell you. All that is in the world, my hands made it. But this is the person to whom I will look, the one who is contrite of heart, who fears me and trembles at my word. In some ways, Paul would also echo this theme. of to obey is better than sacrifice. And to obey, we must first of all ascertain what has God said. The second question that was asked in this chapter was raised by God himself. Because after Adam and Eve followed the serpent to do that which they were not supposed to do, they realized they were worse off than before. The deception was, if you eat it, you will become like God. They failed to remember that they were already like God. That was the entire purpose of creating the human being. When every other thing God had pronounced, let it come forth, and it came forth. But when it came to human beings, God was deliberate. Let us make man in our image and in our likeness. And thus, they were made. Adam and Eve forgot about that. And so when they realized their shame, and when they heard the sound of God coming for fellowship as before, they ran away. And in verse 9, scripture says, but the Lord God called to the man and said, where are you? Where are you? And that's the call that still rings out to all humanity. Where are you? Some who out of disobedience have moved away, God is seeking them. But for those of us who have received his calling and have been renewed by the sacrifice of his son, it's still a question that we can ask ourselves, where am I in my walk with God? Where am I in my journey of faith? Am I still walking in the path that he wants me to walk? And it's not just a matter of sin, but a matter of growing in our sanctification. A matter of growing in our obedience, in our callings. Am I where he wants me to be? Where am I? And this is a question that has reoccurred even in the Bible again and again. Asking, sometimes God asking about other people. Sometimes directly asking people where they stood. For example, in Genesis chapter 4 verse 9, God asked Cain, where is your brother Abel? And we know how he responded. In Genesis chapter 16 verse 8, he asked Hagar, where are you coming from? Where are you going? The issue of our location, are you located where you should be? Definitely for Hagar, she was supposed to be in Abraham's house, serving. But she was off. And you know what brought that about, where she was being arrogant to her mistress. God also asked Elijah, 1 Kings chapter 19, why are you here? Why are you here? Still a similar question. Where are you? Why are you here? Again, someone almost abandoning his call. It's better for me to die than to face persecution, to paraphrase his thought at that time. Where am I? The third question, God followed up with Adam when he explained he was naked. And then God asked him, and then paraphrasing that, I said, To whose voice are you listening? Verse 11. Who told you that you were naked? Now, here we see two things. God had spoken in terms of the very first question. What has God said? But sometimes we may not be content with what God has said. We want to hear what other people say. And that's exactly what happened to Adam and Eve. They wanted to listen to another voice seeking a second opinion. God's voice should trump any second or third opinions. And so we need to look carefully for us to maintain our estate in God's economy. To which voices are we listening? Even today, just like the serpent, There are many voices that are speaking, speaking loudly too, perhaps making us feel as if we are not measuring up to what the world expects from the media, perhaps from our friends, sometimes from family members, like Job facing his family. But which voices are we listening to? And in the pronouncement of judgment, God would return to this with Adam and say, because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate that which I told you not to. Yes, voices that affirm God's word are those that encourage us in his path. But voices that go contrarily to God's word should not be listened to, no matter from the quarters, whatever quarters they come from. So what voices are we listening to? And we see examples of this in other places in scripture. In 1 Kings chapter 12, verses 1 to 15, where Rehoboam had become a king, and then the Israelites came, to him, lighten our burdens. And there were two voices, voice of reason and voice of poly. The elders that stood before his father gave him good counsel. He listened to voices of his contemporaries, perhaps who were even jealous of his position, and gave him the advice to make him fail. And he followed that. So to whose voice am I listening today? to whose voice are you listening today? Is it a voice that will help me or you maintain our calling and place with God, or is it a voice that takes us away from that special place? Then the last question is, what have you done? That's the question that God put to the woman. When Adam deflected the question, it's your fault, God, actually, because the woman you put here with me made me eat it. And then God asked the woman, what is this that you have done? In verse 13, what have you done? And interestingly in chapter 4 verse 10, the same question was asked of Cain. What is this that you have done? So God is interested for us to acknowledge what we have done, especially when it's something wrong, as Proverbs 28, 13 says, he who hides his sin will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes will obtain mercy. And so there is that place that when we ask, what has God said, and we look at what God has said, and we look at our lives, where am I? Am I where I should be? Whose voice have I listened to? And where has that led me? And I'm able to honestly ask myself, what have I done? And answer it well. Even if I was on the wrong track, I could then retrace my step back to where God wants me to be. And that's what we see in Peter. As we approach Easter, we may remember how as the cross was coming, In Luke's gospel, Jesus told Peter, in particular, that Satan had desired to sift you like wheat, you there being plural. But I have prayed for you, singular Peter, that when you are restored, you will strengthen your brethren. Being a Peter, after denying the Lord, was able to ask himself, what have I done? and give an honest answer that led him to repentance, seeking God's favor. And we can see how he became a great instrument at the early beginning of the church. So what does God say? In whatever situation we are, whatever things we find ourselves doing or planning or thinking of, it's important to ask, what has God said about this? And where am I? What voices am I listening to? Some of those voices, I have to just stop listening to them. And then what have I done? So as we reflect over this, the second half of the chapter, I'm not going to really spend some time there. But just to highlight a few things before we conclude, we see that all that the characters involved in this chapter had sought to do became ruined rather than gained. For example, the serpent at the beginning of the chapter was the wisest of all the beasts of the field. And yet, in departing from the initial state, it became the most cursed. So you'd be cursed above all the animals of the field. Same with a woman who, in the initial blessing of God, multiply and populate the earth. There was no indication of pain accompanying that. That was introduced because of departing from the initial estate that God had placed her in. And the theme of pain will follow Adam as well. In eating, that which he was not supposed to do, eating will now become his problem. Where God said, with pain, you will get food to eat. Thorns and thistles, the whole creation became cursed because of the desire for food. Sometimes the simplest things can become the biggest problems that will be created. Death that Satan had fooled them to think was not certain became certain now, as God pronounced, until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you will return. And yet the divine response gives us hope. Because God had engaged the human beings, Adam and Eve, directly, we see the element of grace we follow. Even in the curse of the serpent, there was that promise of the seed of the woman crushing the head of the serpent. But because God never engaged the serpent, there was never that redemptive grace for the serpent. And so wherever we are, we can return to God, because as a father, he's ever waiting to welcome us, as he did to this first couple here. So God has a special plan for each one of us, a plan for good, a plan for peace, an expected end, as Jeremiah says. But the temptation to wander away from that destiny that he has for us is great. But here, just like in the ancient church, there was the practice that in Latin was called the examine, where some of the pietistic people, at the end of the day, we examine their lives. I say, what have I done today? And be able to reflect over what they did to see if they were still walking with God. The questions raised in this chapter are a reminder. that each one of us need to reflect over our lives. What has God said? Where am I? What voices am I listening to? What am I doing? What have I done? And as we give honest answers to this, God, by his spirit, will guide us as we continue to seek to maintain our place in his calling for us. Shall we pray? Dear Lord, we thank you so much for this morning, your grace and favor that you've shown us. At a time we did not know you, we did not even seek you, you sought after us and showed mercy. Yet, Lord, we know, as the hymn writer says, we are prone to wander from the one who loved us. May that grace continue to lay hold of us, that we will be able to always give honest answers and seek honest answers to these fundamental questions of life, that we might continue to walk with you daily. Thank you, Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.