Godly Marriage Pt 2

It's good to see you all. If you'll go ahead and stand with me, we'll pray and we'll get started. Father, we thank you for the day. Father, we thank you for another opportunity to be here, to worship you, to praise you, God, and to spend some time in your Word. God, we ask your blessing upon this time and just, Lord, just prepare our hearts to receive from you this morning, God, the Word that you would have us to hear and help us to lift a

joyful noise to you this morning. And Father, we do want to take a moment, Lord, and just lift up Israel this morning, God, and just want to pray for your continued blessing and protection upon them, Lord, as they're fighting a war right now, Lord. But God, as your Word says, we already know the outcome. We know that in the end, you win. So, Lord, just help us to rest in your victory.

Help them to rest in your victory. And we love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. And we'll continue on.

Lord, God, we just thank you, God, for all the ways that you take care of us, Lord. And God, help us just to bless your name, God, no matter what season that we're in, God. I know sometimes it's easy to praise you, God, and bless you, Lord, when things are going well. But even when things are not, Lord, when we're in a dry season or just when things are just never going right, help us to bless your name, God.

Hope is built on nothingness, in Jesus' blood and righteousness. We do not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. One more time. Nothingness and righteousness, the sweetest frame, trust in Jesus. Lord, God, we just thank you for the day. God, we thank you again just for another opportunity to lift praise to you, Lord, God. And we just want to come today and just say thank you, Lord, God, just for what you've

done for us, Lord. Thank you for the deep love that you have for us, Lord, God.

Thank you for what you've done for us on the cross.

Lord, God, we just thank you. Just thank you for your son, Jesus, and for what he's done for us on the cross, Lord, God. Blood he's shed. God, we thank you. Just to give us new life. Thank you. Thank you, Lord, Jesus. A full-on dimension.

Well, God, how amazing is it that you would take my sin upon you, God? Take the price that I rightfully deserve on a cross and take that upon yourself, Lord, to make a wretch like me your treasure. Lord, God, we just thank you. I pray that. As Pastor Ryan comes today, Lord, I just pray that your Holy Spirit, God, would just overflow him with your gift of teaching.

Give him the words to speak. Lord, give us ears to hear and hearts to receive that which you've prepared for us, Lord, God. The word that you've prepared for us. We love you, Father. We praise you and we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's have some fellowship. We'll be here this morning. If you would begin locating your seats.

Grab your bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you've joined us this morning. Glad that you braved early service. A few things to take note of in your bulletin. Over on the left-hand side are the places to get plugged into throughout the week. So please take note of those. Over in the middle section, we'll talk about Operation Christmas Child in just a minute because I've got people coming up to announce about that.

But a couple of other things to take note of. First of all, November the 1st, which is not this coming Wednesday, but the next Wednesday, we're going to be doing a family worship. So there won't be any youth group or kids group, just nursery that night because we're going to be gathering in the sanctuary for a night of worship. We did this a few months ago, and boy, it was a great time.

So we thought we should make this a more often thing. So we're going to do that again on November the 1st. But as far as this Wednesday, this upcoming Wednesday, the 25th, there will be no Wednesday night service. Go enjoy our kalala. Go be a light in the community. While you watch the light, I didn't even mean that to be a pun. It just happened that way. So go be a light in the community.

Watch, take part in our kalala and have a good time. We still need people to help out with the live nativity, please. It's going to be fun. There's a sign-up sheet out there. There's lots of different parts to be played, whether it's helping to build some of the or work on some of the costumes and set or to be Mary or Joseph or a wise man. Listen, for some of you fellows, the only time in your life you're going to be a wise man.

Okay, so take advantage of it. Sign up for it now. Okay. So. It's the only time your wife will ever call you that. So anyway, you can sign up to be one of those kinds of things. But that's in the lobby. So please join in with that. Also, we do have a Guatemala mission strip coming up. I think there's a handful of spots still available. Correct. She's shaking her head.

Yes. And so if you are interested, the lady in the white jacket in the very back row, you can talk to her. She's waving at you right now. Hi, Janet. Good to see you. So those are the things that are going on. But we have some Operation Christmas Child. Did we get the video going? Do we? Well, I got a thumbs up. Do you want to talk first and then the video? Okay.

Ross is going to come up and share with us. He's not Ross in a box this time. He's just Ross. He's just Ross. Good morning, everybody. Anybody know how many weeks are left to fill your box? Three weeks, right? They're due in three weeks. So that's going to come up really fast. So remember, when you pack those boxes, let's make sure we put as much stuff as we can in them.

You're going to see in the video how it really, really blesses these children. And for those of you who haven't seen it before, Operation Christmas Child is one of our ministries here at Calvary where we pack shoeboxes. And they go out through Operation Christmas Child. They go to children all over the world. So remember to fill them with everything but air, right?

We want to get them packed. And then the most important thing that you can do for your shoebox is? Pray over the box. Pray that the child. The child that gets it will, it's amazing when I see these stories of these children who get these shoeboxes and they get what they were needing. And it's like God answered their prayers, right? And it's really amazing how people who needed shoes and of all the shoeboxes they get,

we see a lot of shoeboxes, Jan and I, and those of us who go down into the Dallas and pack them, we get to see a lot of shoeboxes, right? And how many of them have shoes in them? You know, they don't all have shoes. And just for a child to pray. And the child. The child says, the one thing I needed was shoes. And they get a box with shoes. Imagine how they feel that God has taken care of them.

So, but we also need to make sure that you put your $10 in there because that $10 covers a lot. Think about the operation that takes these things to Guatemala or to Africa, right? They have a semi-truck, picks them up in Wichita, Kansas, where we take them to Wichita and they get delivered up there. Then a semi-tractor trailer picks them up, hauls them to Dallas, and then they get delivered to the other seven processing centers that maybe it's in Denver or I don't remember where the others are at.

But you imagine the cost involved in shipping those boxes around. Then they have to get on a ship or on an airplane and be taken to a foreign country. That all happens for $10 a box, right? So that's what that $10 covers. So make sure you put your $10 in. And if you want to donate more than that, you can certainly do that. You can put in more than $10. And they would prefer that we do it online.

But you can do it by putting it in the box. You can put cash in the box, but they prefer that it's a credit card or a debit card online. And then I think that's the other thing it covers, too, is that children all get the gospel, right? They get a copy. It's not the Bible, but they get a small pamphlet that introduces them to Jesus in their language as it's translated.

So that also, that $10 covers that. So there's a lot that that goes into. And then today, Joe is going to talk about what's going to happen at 1.30. Thanks, Ross. So yeah, an idea that we had this year to try to pack some additional boxes and also give families an opportunity to disciple their kids in ministry and sharing the gospel and service. We're going to do an Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing party today.

What that is, we're going to have all of our kids. We're going to have all the supplies needed, all the toys, all the boxes, all the hygiene items, everything that you need to pack a box. All we're asking is a $20 donation per family to help cover that $10. We have some additional money set aside so you can pack as many boxes as your family has time to pack.

But that $20 just kind of helps out with the shipping costs. The packing party is going to be at hours. So if you would like to join us today from 1.30 to about 4 p.m., we'll probably wrap things up. Please sign your family up. There's a paper in the entryway just so I can shoot you a message with our address and make sure that nothing gets dropped through the cracks.

We're asking ages kindergarten through eighth grade. If you're outside of that age or a parent, obviously. If you're outside of that age range and you still want to be involved and help, there's a different place that you can write your name down on the sign-up sheet out there. We have plenty of areas to get involved and just help out with this. So if you have any questions, write down your name.

I'll get with you after service. But that is today at 1.30 at our residence. Thank you. Be sure and sign up at the back. And the address is back there on the form, right? People don't know where you're at. So you can get the address when you sign up. And then, is the video ready? Go ahead. My name is Bryce Pablo. I'm from Philippines in a small town called Sanchez Mira.

And I was four years old. I received a shoe box. When I opened my box, I was so happy because I saw toy cars, stuffed toys, toothbrush, and some books. My dog's name is... My puppy follows me wherever I go. My mother encouraged me to go to church to learn more about God. When I was seven years old, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Amazed with what God is doing, I saw the transformation of my son.

Whenever he comes home, I see him reading the Bible. I see him reading the Bible. I share the gospel to my parents and also to my brothers. And they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, too. Because of that shoe box, God used me. And now I am discipling other children like me. We do not know God before. Our life was just full of traditions. I'm so grateful for the one who packed the shoe box.

That changed our lives. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. family. All right. Thanks guys. So again, wonderful way to get involved in ministry. So, okay. Those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced for our responsive reading this morning, we're going to be in Psalm 142.

Psalm 142. We'll be looking at the new American standards for this part of the service. So if you don't have a copy of the new American standard, there should be one in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 142, if you would please stand, if you are able to, in the honor of the reading of God's word, I will read the odd verses. If you will follow along with

Pastor Allen and the even verses. Psalm 142, a mascal of David, when he was in the cave, a prayer. I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord. I make supplication with my voice to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before him. I declare my trouble before him. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my path. In the way where I walk, they have hidden a trap for me. Look to the right and see, for there is no one who regards me.

There is no escape for me. No one cares for my soul. I cried out to you, O Lord. I said, you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. And read verse 142. Bring my soul out of prison, so that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will

surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me. And Father, I thank you that you are our one place of refuge. And Lord, we run to you. Father, as we prepare to spend time in your word this morning, we want to lift up the nation of Israel to you. And Lord, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Father, I want to lift up to you each heart that's here this morning. And I pray that

you would minister by your Holy Spirit to each person as you see them. And I pray that you would see fit whatever it is that we need today. In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, and if you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3. So, we have been in the book of Ephesians. Technically, we are ready for verses 22 through

33 of Ephesians. But verses 22 through 33 of Ephesians chapter 5 deal with, the roles of husbands and wives in a godly sort of way. And so, what I've done is starting last week, I decided we would do a three-part series on marriage. And that's what we're smack dab in the middle of right now. So, last week, we looked at Genesis chapter 2. We took it all the way back

to the beginning and saw God's plan for marriage. That God had a plan. It was his idea. And he laid out all of those principles of what marriage is supposed to look like. I'm not going to regurgitate those for you today. If you were unable to listen to that, I'm not going to regurgitate that study. I would encourage you to go to either our website, calvarychapelarccity.org,

or to our YouTube page. You can search Calvary Chapel Arc City on YouTube, or you can search Calvary Chapel Arc City on Facebook. That study is available on all three of those platforms. Go back and listen to that, and it'll kind of catch you up just a little bit. Today, we come to part two, though, in godly marriage. In godly marriage part two, I have entitled, Problems in Marriage, the Root and the Redemption.

Problems in Marriage, the Root and the Redemption. God laid out his plan for what marriage was supposed to look like. However, there is no such thing as a perfect marriage. And the reason why there's no such thing as a perfect marriage is what we read about in Genesis chapter three. Because we find that within marriages, there's a lot of issues, right? You know as well as I do

that within the world of marriage, there's just things that come up. There's problems, right? There are unmet expectations. There are unrealistic expectations. There are power struggles. Sometimes there's infidelity. There's issues over finances. Sometimes there's disputes over parenting styles. Lots of different things that come up within marriage. And so, as we look at all of the issues in marriage, I'm reminded of two things.

The first thing I'm reminded of is that all problems in marriage have a singular root. We can bring them back to one singular thing, which is what we're going to talk about today in Genesis chapter three. But all of the problems in marriage also have a singular root. And so, a singular place of redemption, which is also what we look at in Genesis chapter three.

So, I'm going to read for us the first about 21 verses of Genesis chapter three. So, please follow along and listen as I read these. It says, Now, the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Indeed, has God said, You shall not eat from any tree of the garden? The woman said to the serpent, From the tree of the garden, you shall not eat from any tree of the garden.

The woman said to the serpent, From the tree of the garden, you shall not eat from any tree of the garden. The fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. But from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat from it, or touch it, or you will die. The serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat from

it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate. And she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? He said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself. He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree

which I commanded you not to eat? The man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me from the fruit of the tree, and I ate. The Lord God said to the woman, What is this you've done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. The Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle. More than every beast of the field. On your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days

of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. To the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In pain you shall bring forth children. Yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will bring forth children. And he will bring forth children

over you. Then he said to Adam, Because you've listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree that I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat from it, cursed is the ground because of you. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life, both thorns and thistles that shall grow for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you will eat bread till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken. For dust you are,

and to dust you shall return. Now the man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them. Now, as we look at this story, I'm going to do the best I can to remain incredibly disciplined, because the number of sermons you can pull out of Genesis chapter 3 is almost limitless. I tried to

write about five others while I was studying this, but I had to keep saying, No, my focus is marriage I will do that. So once again, I want to make some observations, and then I want to talk about the main heart, which is the root and the redemption. So I want to talk about the story of the fall of man, and I want to make some observations for us. So the first observations that I want to make have to do with the temptation. There's a handful of things that I want to point

out to you about the temptation of Eve by the serpent. The first observation of the temptation that I have for you is this. We have a crafty enemy. We have a crafty enemy that we face, and we need to understand something about this crafty enemy. He hates us, and he hates marriage, and he is doing everything he can to destroy marriages, and he is doing everything that he can to destroy people, because man is

created in the image of God, and in the image of God, he created marriage to be the perfect picture of God's relationship with man, and the perfect picture of the God of man. So I want to make some observations for us. Therefore, this crafty enemy that we have, Satan, the deceiver of the brethren, hates us and hates our marital relationships, and so he's looking for every way that he can to destroy it. The second observation that I make has to do with the very first temptation. Did you notice

the first thing that the serpent said to Eve? He said, did God say? You see, the very first thing that he did is he caused her to question God's Word. Why did he question God's Word? Why did he cause her to question God's word because the authority in the life of Adam and Eve was the very word of God. Well, the only word of God that they had at that point in time was the command

that God gave to Adam when he said, you may eat of every tree in the garden, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the day that you eat of that tree, you will die. And the very first thing that Satan does is he says, did God really say, is God's word really true? And may I also say that in the questioning of the truth of God's word, he also caused her to question the goodness of God. Because if he can't get her to question the validity of the word, he will cause

her to question the goodness of the word. Because God is surely trying to keep you from something good. And so he caused her to question the word of God. The third thing that I took note of is that he diminished the consequences of sin. Did you take note of that? He said, you will not surely die. Why do I point that out? Because that's the exact same thing that he does to us

all the time. When we are tempted with sin, the reason why it's so tempting, not only because it's tempting, but it's tempting because he wants to diminish the consequences. Oh, listen, you're making way too big of a deal out of this. The entire world tells us that, right? You're making way too big of a deal out of this sin. And so he diminishes the consequences of sin.

The fourth thing that I notice about the temptation is that she was led away by her desires. She was led away by her desires. Did you notice that it says it was desirable to eat? See, she craved that. So she was led astray by her desires. I point that out because in the book of James, it says, where does sin come from? Does it not come when we are led away by our desires? And that's exactly what happened to Eve in the temptation.

And then the last thing that I notice about the temptation is that it was a desire to be her own God. Because did you notice what Satan told her? And the day that you eat of it, you will be like God. And can I just go ahead and say that in all of the temptations that we face in the world today, nothing has changed. We will always question God's word. We will always diminish the consequences of sin. We will always be led astray by our

desires. And we all just want to be like God. We will always question God's word. We will always be our own God. That's why the first question that people will ask you when they question the word of God is they will say, you know, my God would never do that. And all you can say is that's right, because you've created a God in your own image. You have made yourself God. And so of

course he can't do that because you're not God. You've just created one in your own image. And so we see the temptation that took place. Now, the second thing that I made some observations, about is the sin, the sin that took place. The first thing that I noticed about the sin is that Adam failed to lead his wife. I want to point something out to you, and I'll point it out

probably later on as well. Eve was never, according to scripture, Eve was never given the command. Eve was never personally by God given the command, you shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The only one that was given the command is Adam. And as a matter of fact, when the consequences were handed out, that's reiterated because God

said, you ate of the tree that I told you not to eat from. So what was Adam's job supposed to be? It was to lead his wife in a spiritual way. He was supposed to lead his wife into the truth, to lead his wife away from sin and towards God. And there was a failure of leadership. You see, in the structure of the Hebrew language, when it says that she took and ate and then

handed it to Adam and he ate, we're getting the understanding that she didn't have to go far because he was right there the whole time. At any point in time, Adam could have stepped in and said, this is not happening. We know what we're supposed to do. Let's walk away. But he didn't. There was a failure of leadership. We're also told in the book of first Timothy that, and we are reminded that Eve was

deceived. Adam sinned willfully. So that's the first thing I take note of about the sin. The second thing that I take note of about the sin is that it brought shame. How do I know that it brought shame? Because they did two things. You notice it? And this comes into play with the very last verse of chapter two. The very last verse of chapter two says that they were naked and not, a really important word there, ashamed. But after they

ate of the fruit, what was the first thing that they took note of? Well, it says when they took, when they ate of the fruit, it says in verse seven, the eyes of both of them were open and they knew that they were naked. So what was the first thing they did to cover their shame? They sewed fig leaves together. They made loin coverings. Now I've shared this before. I'm going to keep sharing it because I

think it's hilarious. And maybe this was the part of the fall. I don't know. From what I understand, fig leaves are the itchiest leaf known to man. They're, they're real scratchy and itchy and they put them things up on their loins. You know what I'm saying? Listen, there's a reason men aren't allowed to pick out their clothes and they're not allowed to pick out their wife's

clothes because the very first time man did it, he screwed up really, really bad. From that point on, men have never been able to pick out their clothes ever since, right? Made themselves coverings of fig leaves. Why? Because they were ashamed. What was the second thing they did? Well, it says they hid himself. They hid themselves. God showed up like he did

every single afternoon to walk with them in the cool of the day and they hid themselves. Why? Because sin brings shame. The third thing I notice about sin is that the sin caused them to blame everybody else. I love it. It's so great. God shows up. And he says, uh, verse 10, or excuse me, verse nine, the Lord God called to the man. He said, where are you? He said, oh, I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. So

I hid myself. He said, who told you you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree, which I commanded you not to eat? Now the right thing to do at this point in time would have been to say, yes, it did. But that's not what he says. What does he say? It's her fault, right? Now listen, men, I know this happened. Right? I know that when things aren't going well, what's the first thing you do?

It's her fault, right? I blame her. And so, and I'm not gonna let you ladies out on this one either, because what does Eve say? The devil made me do it, right? That's exactly what she says. She says, I was deceived by the, by the serpent. The serpent made me do it. She blame shifted too. And you know what happens right now in life, in the world? I'll deal with marriage in a minute.

Do you know what happens in the world right now? We're all blaming everyone and everything else for all of the problems, because we don't want to deal with the one thing that really is the problem and that's sin. And so they, they blame shifted. They're, they're blaming each other for things. And so we've seen the temptation. We've seen the sin. The third thing I want to

talk to you about is the consequences, because with sin comes consequences. And we need to understand this. Satan will always want us to diminish the consequences of sin in the moment. But sin always has consequences. Even as believers in Jesus Christ, we need to understand, even though we're forgiven, there are natural consequences that go with sin. And we need to keep that in

the forefront of our mind, because hopefully that will keep us from sin. And so he lays out the consequences. The first one that he talks to is the serpent. Notice what he said. The Lord God said to the serpent, I won't get into the whole thing about the serpent. There's a ton of things we can talk about. The one thing I'm going to say is this. If God curses a serpent, I curse a serpent.

They're evil creatures. I don't like them. And I have snake-a-phobia. So, but it goes on to say, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. So what were the consequences for the serpent? Well, first of all, the actual physical serpent is now cursed to always crawl

on its belly. I don't know how it crawled around before, but now it's always going to crawl around on their belly. And there's always going to be that fear of a snake in most normal people, right? So, but the second thing that's true goes into ultimately Satan and humanity, because there will always be enmity between you and the woman. And so the second thing that's true goes into ultimately

Satan and humanity, because there will always be enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed, meaning the demonic, and her seed, meaning not only the Messiah, but all those who would belong to the seed of the Messiah. And then the third thing that is a consequence for the serpent is ultimate defeat. Because notice what it says. He shall bruise you on the head, speaking of a mortal wound. You shall bruise him on the heel, speaking of a non-mortal wound. And we'll deal

with that when we get to the next one. So, but the second thing that's true goes into ultimately Satan and humanity, because there will always be that fear of a snake in most normal people, right? So, but the second thing that's true goes into ultimately get to the redemption portion later. The second set of consequences that are given out are given to the woman. And to the woman, first of all, it says, you will have, and I appreciate the new King

James in this, it says you will have sorrow in childbirth, because I think that carries more the idea of the pain that's spoken of in the new American standard. The idea is there's sorrow in childbirth. In other words, the pain will be so great that it will make you question whether you want to do it again. And for those of you ladies that have been in the church for a long time, had more than one kid, you know, it's probably a real true story. He says there will be sorrow in

childbirth, but then he goes on to say, but your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you. Now, what that creates for us is the understanding that there will always be a power struggle between men and women. Because when you look at that word desire, it's an interesting word in the Hebrew, because that word desire is used elsewhere in scriptures. As a matter of fact, later on in the book of Genesis, you see, there's going to be two brothers that come along and their names are Cain and Abel, and Cain's going to hate his brother Abel. And God's going to confront Cain and he's going to say, sin's desire

is for you, but you should rule over it. Same Hebrew word. And the idea behind the word desire is the desire to rule over, the desire to take over. And so what he tells the woman here is, your desire will be to rule over your husband, but he will rule over you. Therefore, there will always be a power struggle between men and women. I mean, I'm not saying that's a real thing, but

that's a real thing, right? I mean, this is reality that we deal with. And it came from the fall. And then he comes to the man. And in some ways, I think he's harder on Adam even. He says, because you've listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat saying, or saying you shall not eat from it. Cursed is the ground,

because of you. The ground is now cursed. Because of man's sin, we see the curse of the ground today. In other words, it doesn't naturally bring forth good things. It has to be tended to bring forth good things. What does it naturally bring forth? It naturally brings forth thorns and thistles. It naturally brings forth crabgrass and dandelions, right? Those are the natural things

that it brings forth. Because now man will have to toil in the sweat of his brow. Work will become a difficult thing. Work is not the curse. Work is a gift from God. Work being difficult is the curse. And can I say that for men, work is often one of the greatest curses in their life, the difficulty of it. Because usually one of two things happens with men when they take work to its extreme, when the curse of

the difficulty of work overtakes them. Either one, they become workaholics. Have you ever noticed that? That there's some men that they're not happy unless they're working. And sometimes, for the neglect of everything else in life, and they become these workaholics, and it's the only thing that they do. And I've done funeral services before for families, and it's the father. And I

say, tell me some of his hobbies. And they're like, his hobby was work. It's all he ever did. And they become workaholics. But then the other end of work, the difficulty of work being a curse is that some men just become lazy, and they don't do it. Or they complain about it every time they do. And so this difficulty of work becomes the curse for man. But not only that, death. Notice what

it says. Verse 19, by the sweat of your face, you will eat bread till you return to the ground, because from it you are taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return. So that's the story of the fall. And those are some of my observations about the story. And if we just leave it at that, it can be kind of a sad thing. But we will talk about redemption

at the end, I promise. So what does that have to do with marriage? How does that apply to a marital study? Well, as I mentioned before, we're dealing with marriage on the end of the root and the redemption of marriage. The root problem and the redemption of that problem. And so what I want to do now is I want to look, first of all, at the root. What is the root?

What is the root of all of the problems that we have in marriage based upon what we just read in Genesis chapter 3? Well, the root of every problem in every marriage comes down to one little three letter word, sin. We make it way more complex than it needs to be, right? Like we go to all this trouble to find all of these books and all these things. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with

reading books on marriage. You should absolutely do everything that you can to pour into your marriage. But when it comes right down to it, don't reinvent the wheel. If you're having a problem in your marriage, there's one thing at the root and one thing only, and that is sin. And unless we're willing to admit that sin is at the root of the problems in our marriage,

the problems will never be solved. I do want to point something out. I have identified five things that come directly from this root that I think identify some of the main issues that we have with problems in our marriage, but they still find their root in sin. Number one, I think I had to put these together. Number one, I think I had to put these together. Number two, I think I had to

put these up here. Number one, failure to trust and obey God's word. Failure to trust and obey God's word. I would venture to say that if you are struggling in your marriage right now, if your marriage has some major issues, you need to first of all ask yourself, have we stopped trusting and obeying God's word? Have I, like Eve, been caused to question, did God really say? Did God really say? You know what's interesting about the authority of the

word of God, because the word of God has massive authority. Do you know that throughout the word of God, it says, thus saith the Lord, or thus says the Lord, in some form or fashion. You know why? Because it's God's word to man. It also, in over 800 places, just said, the word of the Lord, you know why? Because the word of God is God's word to man. And if you're having issues in your

marriage, perhaps the first thing that you need to do is you need to take a little bit of time of self-evaluation and say, in what ways has God's word stopped taking center place in our lives? In what word has God's word, in what way has God's word stopped taking the center place in my life? And in what way has God's word stopped taking center place in the life of my marriage? Because I would venture to say that if you started dealing with the root of sin, a lot of it started, with a failure to trust and obey God's word. The second thing about this root

is that oftentimes there is a lack of spiritual leadership, a lack of spiritual leadership. Now, again, fellas, I'm going to talk to you for just a minute here, okay? Because I will always be harder on men about this than I will be about women. I'll deal with the power struggle in just a minute. But for right now, I want to deal with a lot of this. I want to deal with a lot of this.

I want to deal with us as men, because I really think along with that part of the curse of work being hard, I think part of that is that we have a tendency now to shirk responsibility as men. Our tendency is to put the responsibility off on everybody else because it's hard. I need us to know something. It's hard to be a spiritual leader. It's very hard to be a spiritual leader

because sometimes when you're a spiritual leader, you have to tell your wife no. And if you're like me, I don't like to tell my wife no, not only because I don't want to deal with it, but because I don't want to deal with the argument, because sometimes I don't want to deal with the argument, but because I want to make her happy. I like when my wife is happy. I like to give her everything that she wants. But if I'm going to be a spiritual leader, sometimes I have to say no. I have to say

this is not what God's word says is the right thing to do. This is not what God's word says is the proper thing to do. And I have to make a stand and say, this is what God's word says, and this is what we're going to do. Trust me, I've had to do it, I second guessed myself the entire time, but I stood firm on what I felt like God's word said we were supposed to do. And it's a hard thing to do. And men, if you don't take the role of

spiritual leadership in your household, you shirk the responsibility for now. But when you stand before God, you know what he's going to do? He's going to say, why weren't you the leader in your house? Why didn't you follow me? Why did you do the things I commanded you not to do? Why did you listen to your wife instead of me? I know this is dangerous stuff for me to say. I know these are

things that can get me in trouble, but it's what God's word says. God's word says that he has called us as men to be the spiritual leaders. You know why? Because he's given us the responsibility. It doesn't mean that we're better. I will guarantee that in some of your marriages, your wife is the more spiritual one of the two of you. Your wife is oftentimes more in tune with

the Holy Spirit than you are, but she's not been given the job you have. And too many men say, ask my wife. She knows all the spiritual stuff. And when your wife has a question about the Bible, you say, ask the pastor. He knows all the spiritual stuff. Ask your friend. She knows all the spiritual stuff when what she really wants is for you to figure it out and lead her. Because the root of the problem

of sin in the marriages in our world today oftentimes start with the fact that men will not take the lead. And they will not say, here's the word of God. This is what it says. This is what we're doing. And it's a hard thing to do. But men, the reward is great. Because the responsibility is great. And so, underneath that root of sin, first of all, we have the failure to trust and obey God's word.

Second of all, we have the lack of spiritual leadership. Number three, the power struggle. You see, oftentimes with sin at the root of it, there's a power struggle in your marriage. I would venture to say that there are some relationships in here this morning or watching online right now where there is a power struggle. And I would venture to say that there are some relationships in here this morning or watching online right now where there is a power struggle.

There's a power struggle between the two of you. Each of you wants to be in charge. And quite frankly, there can only be one person leading. Because if there's multiple people leading, you're probably going two different directions. And there's always that power struggle between the two of you. So now's where I'm going to talk to you ladies. And I'll deal with this again next

week. You need to let your husbands lead. You need to let your husbands lead. Because it's a hard thing to do. Is a I've not been in this situation as a wife. Well, there was that one time. No, that's not true at all. I've not ever been in this situation as a wife, but I've been in this situation as an employee where I think I have a better idea. But ultimately I have to step back and say,

but you're the one in charge and you're the one responsible. So I may not agree, but I'll follow. And we need to ladies, you need to let your husbands lead. Because it's a hard thing for them to do. And the best thing that you can do is let them lead. We'll deal with this again a little bit more next week. But that power struggle is always there. Number four, putting our own desires first. I'll lambast both of you with this one,

okay? Men and women both. We all put our own desires first, right? At the heart of the sin in your marriage is that you want what you want no matter what. And I will do what I want to do. I will want what I want to want, and you will either get on board or I'm out. And that desire for what we want is at the heart of the, it's at the root of the sin of so many marriages right now. I know. I talk to people all the time, and I see these marriages.

And when the people talk to me, I go, the biggest problem is you just want what you want, and you're being selfish. People don't like hearing that. Do you know that? They don't like hearing that they're being selfish, but sometimes that's what's going on. And they don't like hearing that they're being selfish. And number five, at the root of the sin of so many marriages, listen, is a failure

to take responsibility for actions. A failure to take responsibility for actions. There are so many broken marriages that could be healed quickly if one person would simply take responsibility for where they went wrong. There are so many marriages that could be healed if one person would take responsibility for forgiving the other person. We have to take responsibility for

our actions because redemption can't come until we do that. And at the root of so many issues in marriages right now is that one person just keeps wanting to say, but it's your fault. You see, if you did this better, if you were better in this way, if you met my expectations, if you were the person I thought you were when I married you, you named the thing, then we wouldn't be having this problem. And they want to blame everybody else. They want to blame everybody else for the issue.

They want to blame everything else for the issue. And the more that we blame other people, the less we deal with our own issues. And so brothers and sisters, there's a root. And the root problem in every marriage that has issues right now is sin. And it plays itself out, I think, in those five main ways. But now I'm going to bring a little bit of hope into some things.

Because for every broken marriage, and I want us to know this, for every broken marriage, for every struggling marriage, for every marriage that feels like, I don't know if we're going to make it through next week. I don't know if we're going to make it through next year. I don't know if I see a future for me and my husband. I don't know if I see a future for me and my wife. I want you to know there is redemption. And the redemption

is found in Jesus. You see, the gospel is not just for individual Ahora. salvation. The gospel has far-reaching implications, and the gospel of Jesus Christ not only redeems individuals, the gospel of Jesus Christ redeems marriages. So let's talk about the redemption real quick. So first of all, let's look at the promise of redemption that's given to us in Genesis chapter 3. Did you take note of it? Look back at verse 15. I will put enmity between you

and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. This is what's called the proto-evangelica. The first promise of the gospel is given to us in Genesis chapter 3, because the seed of the woman, what those of you that have taken that one special class that you have to take as freshmen in high school, you know that that's impossible. So what is he talking about when he's talking about the seed of the woman?

He's talking about the virgin birth. He's talking about the virgin birth, because what's going to take place from here on is that sin will now pass to all of humanity. We're told that in Romans chapter 5. And that sin will flow from the man to all of humanity. But there will be one who is born of a virgin, and he will be born sinless. And that sinless man will live a perfect life for 33 years.

And after he lives that perfect life for 33 years, the enemy will think, I finally have a way to put him to death. And he will have him crucified on a cross. He will bruise him on the heel. But you see, ultimately, that seed of the woman, the one who is born of a virgin, will rise from the dead. And though he was bruised on the heel, he will crush the head of the serpent, ultimately guaranteeing victory

over the enemy, a victory that we will finally see realized when he comes back to take us home to be with himself. You see, there is a promise of redemption, not only a promise to destroy the enemy, but also to destroy the world. And that's what we're talking about. And that's what we're talking about. And that's what we're talking about. And that's what we're talking about. But listen,

a promise to disarm sin. In other words, to rob sin of its power. Because the root of the problem that you're having in your life is sin. And the only thing that can rob that problem of the power that it has is Jesus and everything that he's done for us. That's the promise of redemption. But the second thing that we see is the picture of redemption. Look over at verse 21.

Beautiful picture of redemption. It says, God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them. What was the thing that they realized when they sinned? They realized that they were naked. That was the consequence of their sin. Their shame was exposed. What did they do for themselves? They tried to make coverings for themselves, and they did a really bad job of it. They tried to cover themselves with their own

righteousness. And many of you in your marriages right now, you're having issues. And when you're having issues, you're trying to cover yourself in your own righteousness. You're like, I can just do this myself. I'll be okay. I'll just read another self-help book. I'll just read Oprah Winfrey again. I'll just see what anybody else has to say about it, and I'll just cover my own sin.

And right now, all you're doing is making yourself really itchy, and you're doing a really bad job of it, and God's going, where are you? Because he's already made a covering. But you see, in order for that covering to be made, in order for him to cover them with the skins of the animals, what had to happen to the animal? He had to be slain. See, in Genesis chapter 3, we see the very

first substitutionary death. The sin of one being placed upon another in substitute. And he said, God made coverings for them. And I love this, and I don't think I've ever noticed this before until I studied it this time. And I've taught Genesis a lot of times. I've never noticed this before, but I want you to notice the active verb that's used there. The Lord God made garments for Adam

and his wife and clothed them. Now, I point that out because I think it's kind of interesting. It doesn't say God made coverings for Adam and his wife, and Adam and his wife put them on. What does it say? It says God made them, and God clothed them, showing that the work of redemption would always be God's work. He would have the active role in redemption. All they had to do was receive it. They had to allow God to cover

their sin. And so we have this beautiful picture of them being clothed with the skins that God has made. And I can't help but make the jump to being clothed with the righteousness of God, a picture of what was to come, being clothed in the righteousness of Christ. You say, Ryan, what does this have to do with me? Well, that brings me to my last part. We'll call this

marital. Redemption. Marital redemption. Because brothers and sisters, I think that there's probably some marriages that need redeemed. I think that there's a good chance that there's some marriages that need to see this work of redemption done in their lives. And so how does this begin to work in my marriage? Number one, first of all, there must be individual redemption. There must be individual

redemption. Listen close. Your marriage can't be right until you are right. And this reaches to everybody that's in this room, married or unmarried. All of your other relationships in life will never be right until you're right with Jesus. There has to be individual redemption. And it starts with repentance and forgiveness by Christ. If you're here this morning and you're having issues in your life, you need to quit blaming

everybody else. You need to quit looking at everybody else. You need to quit figuring out what everybody else has done wrong. And you need to start saying, what have I done wrong? Because there can't be redemption. You need to quit looking at everybody else. You need to quit saying, what have I done wrong? What is the root of sin that is in my life? Because until I do that,

I will never be right anywhere else. Because I have to get right with him first. Otherwise, I will always be trying to cover my sin with everybody else. And so it starts with individual redemption. Ask God to reveal to you the sin that's in your life so that you can go to him and confess the sin that's in your life. You can repent of the sin that's in your life. You can

and he can cover you once again with the blood of Jesus Christ. We're told in 1 John that if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then the blood of Jesus Christ continually cleanses us from all sin. But if you want your marriage to be right, start with you. Individual redemption. Number two, I call this couples redemption. That means now the two of you need to come together. You need to come together and talk about where your marriage

has strayed away from what God has done for you. And if you want to be right, start with you. You need to come together and talk about where your marriage has strayed away from what God has done for you. That's not intended for it to be. And you need to go to God together and confess your sins to him. You need to go to God together and say, Lord, we have screwed up. Lord, we have made mistakes.

Lord, we have failed. And we want to repent of where we have strayed from you. Brothers and sisters, there is power in a couple that can come together. And as a couple admit and confess, we have sinned. Because you know what God does at that point in time? He covers you with his righteousness. Because the redemption that redeems you, the blood of Jesus Christ that

redeems you, is the blood of Jesus Christ that redeems your marriage. The blood of Jesus Christ that redeems your marriage. And then number three, forgive one another. Forgive one another. Forgive one another. We said that there's a root. There's a root in every problem, in every marriage, and that root is sin. And as that root is exposed, there will be the tendency to not want to forgive.

Lord, you don't know what they've done to me. Well, do you know what they did to Jesus? Do you know what you did to Jesus? Now, I'm not saying there's not points in time where the sin is so great that there has to be the separation. I understand that. I think it's an extreme case, but I do understand that. But no matter what happens, you still have to forgive.

You have to forgive each other. You know why? Because we're commanded to forgive each other. As a matter of fact, Jesus went so far as to say, if you will not forgive another, your Father in heaven will not forgive you. That's how important forgiveness is. Brothers and sisters, there is redemption in the name of Jesus for marriage. There is redemption for the marriage,

that have found themselves so lost in sin and so far away. I can't give you the names of some of the people that I know, but brothers and sisters, I personally have worked with marriages that I found myself going, don't know if that one's going to make it. And I have watched as Jesus Christ has healed individuals, and I have watched as Jesus Christ has healed marriages, and they're now stronger than I could have ever imagined. You know why? Because they dealt with the root

through the redemption. Where are you this morning? Where is your marriage this morning? Are you in need of some individual repentance and redemption in your life? Maybe you're here this morning, and you've never even come to Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You just live in this life of sin, and you've never once come to Him and said, Lord, I'm a sinner, and I'm in need of a Savior. Lord, I know that I've been diminishing the

consequences of sin, but brothers and sisters, we need to understand this. The consequences of sin are real, and they are eternal separation from God. And if the consequences of sin are real, and the consequences aren't dealt with with the redemption of Jesus Christ, you will face the consequences on your own. And you need to come to Jesus. If you're here this morning as an

individual, and you've been living your life in sin, you're born again, you know Jesus, but you've been living your life in sin, then today's the day to come to Jesus and repent, and see Him individually in your life work that redemption that only He can work. But brothers and sisters, I know there's hurting marriages. I know there's marriages that need, you know, redemption right now. And right now, I want you to offer that marriage to Jesus and say, Lord, only you can heal. Only you can restore, because you are the one source of redemption

in the life of my marriage. See what God is able to do. Amen? Let's all stand.

As the worship team comes up, I just want to ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes. I don't know where everybody is this morning in your life, where you're at with your marriage, where you're at in your life individually. But I know with the amount of people I deal with on an almost daily basis, that there are a lot of people that are hurting right now. And so, just bow your heads and close your eyes, because I want to ask you to do something, because I want to pray for those that are hurting. Whether it's your marriage, whether it's your life, whether it's some other

relationship, if you need the redemption of Jesus, if you need the blood of Jesus, to make that relationship, that marriage, or your life brand new today, I just want you to put your hand up. I want to pray for you. I want to pray for those that are hurting this morning, those that are broken this morning. And so, Lord, I lift up these that have their hands up right now.

Lord, you know where restoration needs to be made. You know where they need redemption. You know where they need the blood of Jesus Christ to cover them. And so, Lord, whether it's a marriage, whether it's a marriage, whether it's a marriage, whether it's a marriage, whether it's a marriage, their own life, whether it's another relationship, Lord, I pray that your blood would begin to do the work that only you can do through the blood of your son. Lord, that you would begin to do the

work of redemption as they confess their own sins. Lord, as they forgive the sins of others. And Lord, as they see your gospel at work in their lives. Lord, would they return to your word, accept responsibility where responsibility needs to be accepted. And Lord, see the work of Jesus. Father, I pray for each one of us as it is so easy in our world today to stray from the truth of your word. Lord, that you would bring us back. And Father,

do the work that only you can do. Father, be with us as we go out from here. And may your word continue to sink deeply into our hearts. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. Father, we thank you for the word that you gave us this morning, Lord. God, we thank you for the work that you're doing in our lives and in our marriages, Lord God. We just want to express gratitude to you this morning.

God, we just want to express our gratitude, our thanks to you this morning, Lord God, for what you've done for us on the cross, Lord. And God, just for the new life that we have in you. God, we thank you. And we praise you. Pray these things in your precious and holy name. Amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you.