Have you ever found God to be boring? Or wondered, how do I really worship God in all of life, and is that even fun? If so, see how God is neither boring nor distant, and learn to see how God has gone all-in to give you joy by listening to this talk.
2016 NYC - Evening Rally Dec 29 by Joe Rigney
The sin of Adam and Eve is the topic of the third “All In” rally. Joe Rigney leads us through the responses that we have to sin, the stages of Adam and Eve’s sin, and then the response that God has to it.
The ways we respond to sin include hiding and blame. We run away to cover up what we have done, or else we deflect the blame to somebody else. You see this latter response, in particular, in the stages of Adam and Eve’s sin:
Stage 1: Passivity. Joe forces us to admit that Adam and Eve’s “fall into sin” was not an accident, but many smaller choices made by a defiant attitude toward God that led them to eat of the tree.
Stage 2: Choosing the Lesser Things. When Adam was given the choice of following the command that God had given him before Eve was made, he chooses to follow along with what his wife is offering. He loves the gift of woman that God has given him (the creature), and therefore puts the created above the Creator.
Stage 3: Abuse. When Adam blames Eve, he knows the consequence of the sin, which is death. On one hand, we see him saying, “God, she is such a good gift; I choose her over you, and on the other hand, he’s basically saying, “Don’t kill me, kill her!” You can see the distinct wickedness in this blame game that Adam plays.
The response that God has to their sin is curses and mercy. God’s curses include all three parties involved -- Adam, Eve, and the Serpent. Each curse points at the the thing that is most important to them. For Adam, it is working, building, and creating. For Eve, it is relationships. For the Serpent, one of Eve’s offspring will finally and forever bruise the Serpent’s head.
The mercy of God’s response to Adam and Eve’s sin is seen through his blessing of kids for them, the clothing of animal skins, and that one special offspring, who will bring ultimate redemption. Joe ends the message by pointing to that offspring as the atonement and giver of mercy and redemption from sin, by his blood.
2016 NYC - Morning Rally Dec 29 by Joe Rigney
The second rally of the “All In” conference starts out with the story of Adam and Eve at the end of Genesis 2, where God’s man is in God’s land, under God’s law, on God’s mission. This is turned upside down by the stigma of the only tree in the garden that God has deemed as a “no”.
The serpent uses this tree to tempt Adam and Eve to disobey God’s command. We learn from this passage that temptation can either exaggerate true features of the world or deny them. The serpent uses both truths and a lie to lead Adam and Eve into seizing a good thing on their own terms, outside of God’s timing and context, which we identify as a sin.
Joe applies this to our lives by asking the question, “Will God be the supreme object of our desires?” He concludes by saying that God must be the center of our solar system, and only then the planets (or gifts from Him) will orbit the correct way.
2016 NYC - Evening Rally Dec 28 by Joe Rigney
In the first rally of the “All In” Conference, Joe Rigney walks us through the first two chapters of the Bible, detailing the main character of the Story -- God. Genesis 1-2 describes to its readers the ways that God spoke creation into existence and intricately adorned his creation with details that point to his own character. We see in this narrative that God is both bigger than we can imagine, and closer than we can imagine. Just like an author of a book knows its main character, the Creator God also knows his creation intimately.
The story goes on to describe the Creator as one who is a God of “yes”. He places Adam and Eve in a garden of delights that are for their joy, and bids them eat of all but one tree. Every tree in the garden that is for eating are invitations of God to know and love God more. The end of these two chapters leaves us with the man and woman in their lovely garden, where God dwells and is seen through His good gifts.