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Sermon #5200

God and the Ideas of Man

A Sermon on Genesis 3:1

Originally preached Oct. 2, 1955

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Scripture

Genesis 3:1 ESV KJV
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’?” (ESV)

Sermon Description

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve find themselves in a fearful, worried state. In this sermon on Genesis 3:1 titled “God and the Ideas of Man,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones considered how they arrived to this state. Often times Christians can find ourselves fearful and worried like Adam and Eve. This is because they, like them, ask the question, “Did God really say?” Christians have absolutely no reason to believe that God is not kind, but they still question His goodness when they are told to obey Him. This is what happened to Adam and Eve; they allowed themselves to question the intentions of the Lord. Dr. Lloyd-Jones encourages Christians to believe what has always been true of God: He is infinitely good, infinitely just, and infinitely holy. Give up foolish reason when questioning the goodness of God. Instead of asking, “did God say?” proclaim, “I believe what God has said and I believe it!”

Sermon Breakdown

  1. The serpent's question "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" introduces doubt about God's word and power.
  2. The serpent asserts that God's prohibition is not true - "Ye shall not surely die". This is a dogmatic claim without evidence.
  3. Eve sees the forbidden fruit as "good for food", "pleasant to the eyes" and able to "make one wise". Human reason and desire replace God's word.
  4. Adam and Eve doubted God's power, goodness and morality despite all He had given them. This is a madness that is still repeated today.
  5. The consequences God warned of came to pass - death, pain, hard work, suffering. The serpent's claims were proven false.
  6. The only solution is to reverse the process - stop doubting and reasoning against God, believe His word, submit to Him. This brings blessing.

Old Testament

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.