Acceptance | Find Your Way Home Week 2

What do people think of me? We can find ourselves asking this question over and over when the world tells us we need to look or act this certain way. We become so uncomfortable that we hide and try to blend in with everything else. How do we stop hiding and accept who God made us to be? Join us today as Hannah teaches what it means to be truly accepted

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    - Have you ever lost something
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    and you looked all over for it,
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    but you couldn't find it, and you're looking and looking
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    only to find out that you're looking for it
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    in all the wrong places?
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    I bet we've all looked for all sorts of things,
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    small things like our phone or our keys,
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    but maybe even bigger things
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    like our purpose, identity, or acceptance.
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    And we wonder will we ever find it?
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    I believe I have the answer to that question,
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    and it's from the beginning of time.
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    Yeah, the wild talking snake beginning of time.
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    I believe it holds the key to us finding
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    what we've lost.
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    It holds the key to us finding our way home
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    to the acceptance we're all looking for.
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    - The world is a broken place
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    full of despair, heartache, fighting.
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    We're back at 7:30 with the sights and sounds of war,
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    something unfathomable, Russian helicopters
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    attacking targets in Ukraine this morning.
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    Ukrainian forces firing back.
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    This is the most significant fighting in Europe
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    since World War II.
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    - On display as the world watches war unfold in Ukraine.
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    God's design for us wasn't brokenness.
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    Today we'll see how brokenness is redeemed
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    by God's love for us and how we are accepted by Him.
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    First, with the story of Jane.
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    She walked on to the stage of America's Got Talent
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    last year and wowed the judges with her song: It's okay.
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    - I'm so happy to be here.
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    - Well, we're happy you are.
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    [music]
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    - Yes, her voice was stunning,
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    but even more stunning was her piece.
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    She knew that despite cancer spreading through her body
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    and her two percent chance of survival, it's okay.
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    She wrote:
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    But one thing I know for sure is this:
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    Jane passed away this week.
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    So how is it okay when it's not okay?
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    To find out, we have to go
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    back to the beginning of the story in Genesis.
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    Hey, I'm Hannah, and this is Crossroads.
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    Now we've all heard of the creation story
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    in some form or another.
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    And before I go any further,
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    let's honestly just call out the elephant in the room,
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    or in this case, in the garden.
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    If we're honest, we all are wondering
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    did that really happen?
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    Am I really to believe that Genesis 1 is a literal story?
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    Was it figurative? Was it symbolic?
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    Or is it just a bunch of baloney?
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    See, there's God, a man, a woman,
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    fruit, trees, talking snakes.
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    What's actually going on here?
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    My wheels are turning because
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    I've wrestled with these questions.
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    Did this really happen?
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    And the best answer I have is this:
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    whether it happened exactly as it was written or not,
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    I believe that it's in the Bible because
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    God wanted us to read this story,
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    to share an aspect of Himself with us.
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    Now, when I was asked to teach, I was really excited.
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    I'm like, "That's exciting. Use that opportunity."
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    But then I found out I was going to have to teach
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    Genesis 2-3, and I was like, "Dang it,
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    you've got to be kidding me because
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    this is such a complicated part of the Bible
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    and it has a ton of baggage that comes with it."
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    But then I start to read it again.
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    And I believe the God show me something fresh
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    that I really needed to hear.
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    You know, people ask you when you're young,
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    like, what you want to be when you grow up.
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    And I think more than anything,
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    I knew that I wanted to be liked and loved and accepted.
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    And so as someone who's always sought
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    and strived for acceptance,
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    God used this wild creation story
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    to show me something different.
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    And I want to share it with you.
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    So for now, let's not actually debate the nuances
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    of whether this happened,
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    but join me for a journey home to acceptance.
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    And it all starts at the beginning.
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    See, in the Wiz, not the Wizard of Oz.
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    No, I'm talking about the Wiz,
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    the one that has all the good singers
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    like Diana Ross and Michael Jackson,
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    and like Lena Horne.
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    I'm getting carried away just thinking about it.
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    See, in The Wiz at the end of the movie,
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    Dorothy is singing about home.
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    And she says, "When I think of home,
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    I think of a place where there's love overflowing."
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    That's like this.
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    And she's singing beautifully, a beautiful serenade
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    of how wonderful home is
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    and how she longs to be back there.
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    And she's longing to go back to her happy place.
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    And she's painting, I mean, this wonderful,
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    glorious picture of happiness, of hope,
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    of love and of acceptance.
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    Well, you see, just like that happy place,
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    the happy picture that Dorothy painted,
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    there was a place like that.
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    Only it wasn't Kansas, it was a garden.
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    A wonderful, beautiful, gorgeous garden.
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    And it was love overflowing.
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    And I imagine it looked a lot like this: Eden.
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    Almost mythical, all glorious.
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    See, much like the home that Dorothy is singing about,
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    it's the epitome of happiness and wholeness.
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    See it's in this garden that all the good stuff started.
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    And we see a little bit later that is also
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    where all the not so good stuff started.
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    It's in this garden that the familiar characters,
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    Adam and Eve,
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    are quite literally living their best life.
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    I mean, have you seen it? How could you not?
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    They're entirely comfortable.
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    They're in perfect community.
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    They're fully operating in their purpose,
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    comfortable with each other and with themselves,
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    and they fully know who they are.
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    They were made in the image of God,
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    and they know that they are accepted.
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    See, well, I mentioned earlier that when I grew up,
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    I wanted to be accepted.
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    And I'm not sure I would have exactly called it that,
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    but I know that is true.
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    So true that one time this search for acceptance,
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    it ended in disaster.
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    See, growing up, my mom likes to say
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    I came out of the womb cleaning.
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    And while that's not actually entirely true,
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    because one, it's not possible.
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    She's right in that I am a natural helper, like,
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    so if something needs to be cleaned, I clean it.
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    And so when I helped people, I noticed
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    that they were proud of you and they accepted you.
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    And so I did it all the time.
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    And so, of course, growing up,
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    I wanted to be accepted by my mom because,
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    like, who doesn't?
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    So I would help out in the kitchen a lot.
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    And I can remember I was young.
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    I was helping my mom cook
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    and we were making mac and cheese.
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    Now I'm not talking about that nasty box stove crap,
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    crap, Kraft, Kraft crap, the same thing.
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    We're talking about, like, baked soul food kind,
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    the kind that, like, has love and tenderness in it.
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    It's good, I'm getting excited.
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    I'm getting excited thinking about it.
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    See, the macaroni goes into the oven
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    and I couldn't wait for it to get out.
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    So let me set this up for you.
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    For the most part, I had free reign in the kitchen
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    and liberty to do as much as I want it to help.
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    But there was only one rule: don't touch the oven.
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    Well, the timer goes off, beep, beep, beep.
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    And I told myself that
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    I'm not exactly touching the oven.
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    I'm touching the mac and cheese.
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    And so I go into the oven, by the way,
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    with no oven mitts and I get the mac and cheese out
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    and I close the oven.
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    And it's then that I realized that I'm holding
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    something that is 400 degrees and it's hot.
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    So, I screamed, of course, dropped it to the floor.
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    Now my poor, burnt hands, not the tragedy of the story,
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    being scolded by my mom, not the tragedy of the story.
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    The real tragedy is that nobody got to eat
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    mac and cheese because it was on the floor
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    and it had glass in it. Dang it.
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    Anyway, maybe your search for acceptance,
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    it doesn't quite look like mine.
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    It's not an epic mac and cheese fail
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    But maybe your search looks a lot like endless posting
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    or swiping right, getting yet another unwanted degree,
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    extra work, going to meetings that you know
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    you don't actually need to be at,
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    performing at the gym,
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    dating that person that you don't even like,
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    and it's all for acceptance.
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    Maybe you're like me and you're always
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    looking for acceptance and you think that
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    you're going to find it in the next big thing,
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    but you keep just getting burned.
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    That was me too.
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    But looking at the story of Genesis with fresh eyes,
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    I found a different approach,
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    one that doesn't require third degree burns.
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    See, in the beginning, the Bible says God created a lot,
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    a lot that He thought was good.
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    And when He looked out over the Earth that He created,
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    while there was not yet a garden,
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    He'd had a plan for how to water it.
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    You can see a little bit more about that
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    by reading all of Genesis 2,
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    and you can do that by joining us in the Bible Challenge,
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    shameless plug.
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    You see in this timeline God had a plan
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    for watering the garden, but not yet something
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    or rather someone suitable to work in that garden.
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    And so He formed man.
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    He formed a human who would partner with Him
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    to work Eden and to tend to it.
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    And He made this human in His image.
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    And in exchange for this work,
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    he'd be able to eat pretty much, like, you know,
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    whatever he wanted in the garden with, like,
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    little to no boundaries.
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    He'd be able to indulge in, like,
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    these little yellow things and the green things.
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    And it would have been no big deal.
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    He could do whatever he wanted, except eat from one tree.
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    So as he's working, God, who's always creating,
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    who's always perfecting, He looked out and He saw that
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    the man needed someone suitable to correspond to him.
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    And the Bible says this in Genesis 2:18:
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    Then the Lord God said,
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    See, it's in that moment that we realize
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    what the garden really holds.
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    See, God saw man exactly for who He created him to be,
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    and he accepted him for it.
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    He didn't try to change him.
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    He didn't try to make an animal correspond to him,
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    but rather He created someone to correspond with him.
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    See, I believe that we all
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    actually do want to know who we are,
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    and more than that,
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    we just want to be accepted for who we are.
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    So the man is in the garden,
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    not able to find one that corresponds to him.
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    And so you probably know this part of the story.
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    God creates another human and the man calls her woman.
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    And he is wowed,
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    I mean, like eyes popping out of his head wowed.
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    So wowed that when God brings this woman to him,
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    he calls her wife.
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    And he takes it a step further because this wife,
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    his wife, is helpful and everything is lovely.
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    And there's lovely harmony between man
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    and between God and also between the wife.
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    See, in God's order,
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    the three of them are in perfect unity.
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    And the Bible says that they were both naked
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    and they felt no shame.
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    Now there's a tendency for folks to kind of, like,
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    sexualize this moment and for folks to be
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    so overwhelmed with the idea of nakedness
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    that they won't even teach it in Sunday school.
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    Just kidding.
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    We miss an important part of scripture
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    if we only focus on that because
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    the nakedness isn't about the sex.
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    It's not about being sexy,
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    although I've heard that it is helpful for sex.
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    Whatever.
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    This moment shows us that the man and the woman
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    were accepted, they're completely open
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    with all of their cards on the table,
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    and they felt no shame.
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    Can you imagine that? Never feeling shame?
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    I genuinely don't think that I can.
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    Can you imagine never feeling like you needed
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    to strive just enough so that everyone,
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    anyone could never, ever shame you ever again?
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    And anyway, acceptance is actually a big deal.
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    No, I'm not talking about validation
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    where our reason for being is closely tied
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    to somebody else's opinion or approval of us.
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    I'm not talking about that.
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    I'm talking about the very basic human need
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    and the wiring that we have to be unashamed.
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    See, to lack shame is to be accepted.
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    See, well, the man and his wife, they were accepted
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    and they were happy, very.
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    And part of that reason is because
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    they were living within the boundaries
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    that God had given them.
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    They were tending and working.
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    I don't really know how to tend,
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    but I imagine it looks something like this.
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    And they're eating freely from all the trees,
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    except for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
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    I want to camp out here for just a second.
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    First, the way that that part of the Bible
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    is translated is sort of seems like
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    God was hiding something good from man and woman.
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    And it's translated in such a way that it makes you
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    think maybe He's keeping something from them,
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    withholding evidence, even.
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    But if you look at the original text,
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    there's a very small detail that changes
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    the seemingly negative power play
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    to one that shows just how much
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    God actually cared for His creation.
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    The original text actually translate such that
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    the Knowledge of Good and Evil actually reads
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    a little bit more like the decision of good and evil.
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    In God's order, He carried the burden of that decision.
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    He had to be the one to decide what was good
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    versus what was evil.
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    He knew that that burden
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    would be too heavy for humanity,
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    and we might not actually do a good job at it,
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    as evidenced by the many injustices
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    in our world right now.
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    And second, this was not God's first time
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    making boundaries.
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    There's boundaries for heaven and for Earth,
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    for light and for darkness, for sea and for land,
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    and finally, for the Tree of Knowledge and for man.
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    See just as there are physical boundaries,
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    like the ones I'm standing in right now,
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    there are boundaries for humans living in God's world.
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    - Hey, hope you're enjoying this message.
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    I am. You're doing a good job so far.
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    - Thanks.
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    - Really quick, I want to talk to you about tithing
  • 00:16:02
    and show you how you can do it in the Crossroads app.
  • 00:16:04
    It's super simple.
  • 00:16:05
    You open your Crossroads App,
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    in the bottom right hand corner you click your profile,
  • 00:16:09
    in the top right you click the gear
  • 00:16:11
    and give is right there.
  • 00:16:13
    And we use those funds to make things like this happen,
  • 00:16:16
    just telling people about the story of God
  • 00:16:18
    in a language that they can understand.
  • 00:16:19
    We also use those funds to partner with people
  • 00:16:22
    all across the world to make change.
  • 00:16:25
    Here's just one of our partners.
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    - Hey, Crossroads, I'm Clive Wetherill
  • 00:16:31
    from Build the Future South Africa,
  • 00:16:33
    one of your Reachout partners here in KwaZulu-Natal.
  • 00:16:37
    Because of your faithful giving,
  • 00:16:39
    we'd just like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
  • 00:16:42
    The funds allows us to set up these preschools
  • 00:16:45
    in the area and also build into the community.
  • 00:16:48
    Just thank you once again from the bottom of our hearts.
  • 00:16:53
    - That type of giving that allows us to do things
  • 00:16:55
    like this and to partner with people all over the world
  • 00:16:58
    to change the world.
  • 00:16:59
    Now let's get back to the story.
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    - Actually, I just want to warn you
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    to look out for snakes in this garden.
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    They're very bad. So, just so you know.
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    - I've heard that before.
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    - Second, this wasn't God's first time
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    making boundaries.
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    See their boundaries for heaven and for Earth,
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    for light and for darkness, for sea and for land,
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    and finally for man,
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    and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
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    Just as there are physical boundaries for creation,
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    there are boundaries for humans living in God's world
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    and there are repercussions
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    when you cross that boundary.
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    The freedom that man and his wife had
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    is representative of our own freedom.
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    We have a choice in how we live and obtain
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    what we may consider to be the good life.
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    The obedience to the one boundary that God set
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    is what guaranteed all the other endless freedoms.
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    But this boundary,
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    it's also connected to a deadly decree.
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    As God promised the man and his wife that
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    if they eat of the tree, they will die.
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    And this, this is the first we hear of death.
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    See, to this point, we've only actually heard of life
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    and acceptance and freedom, and it sounds amazing,
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    and it is amazing.
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    But this little consequence reminds us
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    we're living in God's world, not our own.
  • 00:18:29
    And so enter the Serpent.
  • 00:18:31
    Imagine weaving through the garden.
  • 00:18:33
    Many relate this serpent to the devil or Satan.
  • 00:18:36
    And although the author doesn't actually mention it here,
  • 00:18:40
    we know that it's representative of the devil,
  • 00:18:43
    because at the end of the Bible,
  • 00:18:45
    there's called the ancient serpent,
  • 00:18:47
    which is in Revelation 12:9.
  • 00:18:49
    They're talking about the devil.
  • 00:18:50
    So this evil serpent,
  • 00:18:52
    he's not just here slithering around.
  • 00:18:53
    He starts talking. Crazy.
  • 00:18:55
    I think he intentionally starts talking to Eve on purpose.
  • 00:19:00
    And he's saying that that boundary that God set,
  • 00:19:03
    that thing that they shouldn't touch the tree,
  • 00:19:05
    that's merely a hoax.
  • 00:19:06
    It's a facade designed to keep them
  • 00:19:08
    from truly knowing the truth.
  • 00:19:11
    And so the wife, she starts to talk back.
  • 00:19:13
    She lets him know that God did say that
  • 00:19:15
    they should not eat from the tree.
  • 00:19:17
    But she also says that they should not even touch
  • 00:19:20
    the tree or they will die for sure.
  • 00:19:22
    Well, if you actually read that fast, you miss it.
  • 00:19:25
    She changed what God said.
  • 00:19:28
    She said, "You must not eat from the tree
  • 00:19:30
    from the garden that is in the middle of the garden.
  • 00:19:33
    And you must not touch it, or you will die."
  • 00:19:37
    Did you see the difference?
  • 00:19:39
    Did you see that she iterated on God's demand
  • 00:19:42
    and she made it into something
  • 00:19:44
    that was likely almost impossible?
  • 00:19:47
    God didn't say that.
  • 00:19:49
    He didn't say don't touch the tree,
  • 00:19:51
    because honestly, that's kind of ridiculous.
  • 00:19:53
    How do you expect me to tend to it?
  • 00:19:55
    Remember, I don't know what tending is,
  • 00:19:56
    but I definitely -- you can't tend to something
  • 00:19:59
    that you don't touch. Come on.
  • 00:20:02
    See, it's this little deviation
  • 00:20:05
    that lets us see ourselves in the story,
  • 00:20:07
    or at least I see myself.
  • 00:20:09
    Because when we have unrealistic demands,
  • 00:20:12
    it sure is a lot easier to break rules.
  • 00:20:15
    And I bet many of us can identify with the wife
  • 00:20:18
    in this moment, maybe even humanize her
  • 00:20:21
    because it's really, really easy to disobey,
  • 00:20:24
    to get out of alignment with God,
  • 00:20:27
    especially when we think it's on things
  • 00:20:30
    that don't make any sense.
  • 00:20:32
    And so the wife does eat.
  • 00:20:33
    I think it was a mulberry.
  • 00:20:34
    Some people think it was an apple,
  • 00:20:36
    but she eats and she invites the man to eat as well.
  • 00:20:40
    And they're chomping away.
  • 00:20:41
    And it's immediate that their eyes are opened
  • 00:20:46
    and they see themselves naked.
  • 00:20:50
    Immediately, that feeling of harmony,
  • 00:20:53
    that acceptance is gone.
  • 00:20:55
    That order that God has set, that beauty is tarnished
  • 00:20:59
    and they know it.
  • 00:21:00
    That shame, that unashamed feeling it's vanished
  • 00:21:05
    before they can even savor its last moments.
  • 00:21:08
    They somehow no longer feel that feeling of acceptance.
  • 00:21:14
    So their life is in their own hands now.
  • 00:21:16
    And you know what, they plan to do something about it.
  • 00:21:19
    So they create a substandard level of acceptance.
  • 00:21:24
    They do whatever it takes to feel okay
  • 00:21:27
    in this new naked space that they're living in.
  • 00:21:30
    And so they sew together some fig leaves,
  • 00:21:32
    some that I imagine look a little bit like this.
  • 00:21:35
    The ones I'm holding here.
  • 00:21:37
    And, you know, people like to think
  • 00:21:38
    that maybe they covered themselves in the parts
  • 00:21:40
    that we like deem private,
  • 00:21:42
    a little bit something like that.
  • 00:21:44
    But honestly, I think that they used these leaves
  • 00:21:47
    to cover everything, their entire body,
  • 00:21:51
    including their face, because that's what shame does.
  • 00:21:54
    They tried with everything they had
  • 00:21:57
    to just fade into the background of the garden,
  • 00:22:01
    to disappear into hiding
  • 00:22:02
    so they would not have to face their Father.
  • 00:22:05
    You see, we humans actually,
  • 00:22:07
    we've been doing this for years.
  • 00:22:09
    We've been searching for a way to cover up our shame.
  • 00:22:13
    And we've been looking for an artificial way
  • 00:22:15
    to be comfortable with ourselves, with our world,
  • 00:22:18
    and with each other.
  • 00:22:19
    And we've been looking for ways to get accepted.
  • 00:22:23
    Some of us might work 80 hours
  • 00:22:25
    and neglect our families to do it.
  • 00:22:27
    Some of us might veg out on television
  • 00:22:30
    instead of actually facing life.
  • 00:22:32
    Some of us might over or even under eat just to cope.
  • 00:22:37
    And some of us might just pretend
  • 00:22:40
    that everything is okay, even though there is
  • 00:22:42
    this deep gnawing pain in our soul
  • 00:22:46
    from our own striving.
  • 00:22:48
    And we know that it's not, and it never will be enough.
  • 00:22:53
    See, the Bible says this:
  • 00:23:39
    See, its just like a guy to blame a woman, am I right?
  • 00:23:42
    No, I'm just kidding.
  • 00:23:43
    But what the man did, he deflected.
  • 00:23:46
    And what the wife did, she deflected.
  • 00:23:48
    She's like basically a scene from Into the Woods,
  • 00:23:51
    except it's like into the garden
  • 00:23:52
    where they're all yelling at each other saying,
  • 00:23:54
    "No, it's your fault. No, it's your fault."
  • 00:23:56
    And he's saying it's her fault,
  • 00:23:57
    and she's saying it's the serpent fault.
  • 00:23:59
    Nobody's ready to take the blame,
  • 00:24:00
    and everyone is looking for a place to place the blame.
  • 00:24:07
    After God's order is broken and messed up,
  • 00:24:09
    all types of division come.
  • 00:24:12
    And I told you, this is why I think
  • 00:24:14
    the Serpent intentionally chose
  • 00:24:15
    to speak to the woman first,
  • 00:24:17
    not just because women are bosses
  • 00:24:19
    and we like get things done. Can I get an amen? We do.
  • 00:24:22
    But no, he did it because he knew
  • 00:24:24
    it would cause more division and strife later on.
  • 00:24:29
    And in fact, there are still people who believe
  • 00:24:32
    that women are inferior because of this moment,
  • 00:24:35
    because she sinned first.
  • 00:24:38
    And we see that division further play out
  • 00:24:40
    in the way that the man names his wife.
  • 00:24:43
    See, before this sinful moment, she was just wife.
  • 00:24:46
    She was near and it was a dear term.
  • 00:24:49
    And it's through this ritual act of naming
  • 00:24:52
    that we see the division come to life
  • 00:24:54
    because when you name something,
  • 00:24:56
    you declare dominion and responsibility over it.
  • 00:24:59
    And that once balanced scale, it's tipped horribly.
  • 00:25:05
    So he calls her Eve.
  • 00:25:07
    See, God, He can't stand it.
  • 00:25:11
    He cannot stand to live in a world
  • 00:25:13
    where man and woman no longer correspond.
  • 00:25:16
    They're no longer equal, where they have to decide,
  • 00:25:19
    and often wrongly,
  • 00:25:20
    for ourselves what's good or what's evil.
  • 00:25:24
    See, there's a reason that I chose to read
  • 00:25:26
    the version of scripture that I did because
  • 00:25:29
    that word correspond literally means to have similarity,
  • 00:25:34
    to match, to agree perfectly.
  • 00:25:38
    It's perfection. It's gone.
  • 00:25:41
    They don't match anymore.
  • 00:25:43
    See, Eve sinned in temptation and Adam blamed Eve
  • 00:25:47
    and now God's order, it's no longer set,
  • 00:25:50
    His boundary is no longer upheld.
  • 00:25:51
    And if you remember, crossing His boundary,
  • 00:25:55
    it meant death.
  • 00:25:58
    And some people, they try to spiritualized this moment
  • 00:26:01
    and they're like,
  • 00:26:02
    "Oh, God totally meant a spiritual death."
  • 00:26:05
    But I really don't think He did.
  • 00:26:07
    See His loving order was set in such a way
  • 00:26:11
    that He would never, ever have to utter the words,
  • 00:26:14
    "Where are you?" He would just know
  • 00:26:16
    because that's how connected they were.
  • 00:26:18
    And since we're made in His image, I got to imagine,
  • 00:26:21
    I know that when my plans change, I get mad.
  • 00:26:24
    So I expected to fully see a death.
  • 00:26:27
    There should have been a physical death, the end,
  • 00:26:30
    Genesis 1 and 2, the Bible, it's over.
  • 00:26:32
    We're done because they're dead.
  • 00:26:34
    But instead, you realize that the garden,
  • 00:26:37
    see, it's home, not just to acceptance, but Grace.
  • 00:26:43
    God does something that only He can do.
  • 00:26:47
    His mercy, He gives them mercy,
  • 00:26:50
    and then He gives them grace.
  • 00:26:52
    See, although there was a violation
  • 00:26:54
    and thus consequences that He must implement,
  • 00:26:56
    like this darkness, He doesn't choose death.
  • 00:27:01
    Instead, He sorrowfully cares for them.
  • 00:27:06
    The shame that Adam and Eve felt,
  • 00:27:09
    that was never going to be solved with fig leaves.
  • 00:27:11
    The shame that I feel, that maybe you feel,
  • 00:27:16
    that's never, ever going to be solved
  • 00:27:18
    by our own doing or our own undoing.
  • 00:27:22
    There's never, ever going to be enough
  • 00:27:24
    metaphorical fig leaves to cover up our shame.
  • 00:27:29
    But God's way is better.
  • 00:27:31
    He takes those sorry fig leaves, and for the first time,
  • 00:27:34
    He kills to make animal skins to wear.
  • 00:27:38
    And this is the first leather jacket.
  • 00:27:40
    You know, I call it the Genesis OG.
  • 00:27:43
    And it's through sheer heartache, I imagine,
  • 00:27:47
    that He's dressing them, knowing that
  • 00:27:50
    He's got to send them away from garden.
  • 00:27:53
    And He knows that even His animal skins
  • 00:27:56
    won't last forever.
  • 00:27:57
    He knows that humanity will never stop looking
  • 00:28:01
    for a place to lay the blame.
  • 00:28:03
    They'll never stop trying to cover up the nakedness.
  • 00:28:07
    So He sets the plan in motion to fix this shame forever,
  • 00:28:11
    a plan to make sure that everyone finds their way
  • 00:28:13
    home to true acceptance.
  • 00:28:15
    And that plan is Jesus. Jesus, the great rescuer.
  • 00:28:20
    And you know what? That's good news.
  • 00:28:23
    Because that unacceptance that maybe I feel at times
  • 00:28:26
    and that you feel at times,
  • 00:28:27
    that striving that maybe we both been doing,
  • 00:28:30
    when you realize that through Jesus
  • 00:28:33
    it no longer has to be that way,
  • 00:28:35
    you get a taste of the original garden freedom.
  • 00:28:40
    Knowing that Jesus went to the Cross
  • 00:28:43
    to die a death that He did not deserve,
  • 00:28:45
    and in doing so He took all of our sin.
  • 00:28:48
    He took all of the blame, all of the shame
  • 00:28:51
    and He hung naked in a shameful way on the Cross
  • 00:28:56
    so that we would never have to
  • 00:28:58
    and we would never, ever have to look
  • 00:29:00
    for artificial fig leaves again.
  • 00:29:03
    The Bible let us know that He rose on the third day
  • 00:29:07
    as the defeater of death, but not just death, right?
  • 00:29:10
    He defeated shame.
  • 00:29:12
    He defeated pain, anxiety, depression, stress, fear.
  • 00:29:16
    He defeated all of it.
  • 00:29:19
    And so you're like, "Man, Hannah, that's really cute.
  • 00:29:22
    I actually love that for you.
  • 00:29:24
    But what does that mean for us?"
  • 00:29:27
    And I got to be honest with you.
  • 00:29:30
    Knowing all that I know, it's actually still really easy
  • 00:29:34
    for me to pick up my fig leaves.
  • 00:29:37
    It's really easy for me to try to put on
  • 00:29:40
    a perfect Instagram post so that everyone
  • 00:29:42
    can like it and love it.
  • 00:29:44
    And that's how I know I'm accepted.
  • 00:29:47
    It's really, really easy for me to outwork my coworkers,
  • 00:29:50
    to stay the latest, to arrive as earliest,
  • 00:29:52
    just looking for somebody to pat me on the back
  • 00:29:55
    and say, "Hannah, good job."
  • 00:29:58
    See, I know it's actually hard,
  • 00:30:00
    and it's not as simple as I'm making it sound.
  • 00:30:02
    So, if you're there, if you're like,
  • 00:30:04
    "Hannah, this is too simple."
  • 00:30:06
    I'm with you.
  • 00:30:08
    But I want you to ask yourself:
  • 00:30:12
    What are you covering yourself up in?
  • 00:30:15
    What's your fig leaf?
  • 00:30:16
    What's that artificial thing that you've chosen
  • 00:30:19
    to hide that acceptance,
  • 00:30:21
    that unacceptance that you feel,
  • 00:30:23
    to hide that shame that you feel? What is it?
  • 00:30:26
    You have to call it out, because the reality is,
  • 00:30:29
    ya'll, we need a covering.
  • 00:30:31
    I need a covering,
  • 00:30:33
    and not this artificial fig leaf mess. Not that.
  • 00:30:36
    Because I will always try to cover up myself.
  • 00:30:40
    I'm always going to be looking for something
  • 00:30:42
    to make me feel the love that Jesus offers so freely,
  • 00:30:45
    but by myself.
  • 00:30:48
    See, but here's the good news:
  • 00:30:50
    when we accept Jesus, that is exactly what happens.
  • 00:30:54
    He covers it for us and we no longer have to hide.
  • 00:30:57
    We don't have to strive
  • 00:30:59
    because we're fully covered by the Cross.
  • 00:31:01
    And it's this perfect covering.
  • 00:31:04
    I could run, I'm so excited.
  • 00:31:06
    And it won't fade. It doesn't go away.
  • 00:31:09
    And it's through Jesus that we find,
  • 00:31:12
    we find our way home to acceptance.
  • 00:31:15
    See, because He already loves us.
  • 00:31:18
    He already loves you.
  • 00:31:21
    He already accepts you.
  • 00:31:23
    And you don't have to put on any fig leaves
  • 00:31:25
    to get His attention.
  • 00:31:27
    There's nothing that we have to do,
  • 00:31:29
    but choose to accept Him.
  • 00:31:33
    And if you want to do that right now,
  • 00:31:36
    you can pray with me right now.
  • 00:31:37
    We can do that together.
  • 00:31:39
    Because Romans 10:9 says that
  • 00:31:40
    if we confess with our mouths,
  • 00:31:42
    if we believe in our heart that Jesus is Lord
  • 00:31:45
    and that He died and He rose on the third day,
  • 00:31:48
    then we are saved.
  • 00:31:50
    And that just means that we can come back
  • 00:31:53
    into perfect harmony, into perfect community
  • 00:31:56
    that they had in the Garden of Eden.
  • 00:31:58
    We can have that with God.
  • 00:32:00
    We can come back to true acceptance.
  • 00:32:03
    Hey, if you want to pray that prayer,
  • 00:32:05
    you can repeat after me.
  • 00:32:07
    Lord Jesus, it's me, your kid.
  • 00:32:12
    I've been looking for acceptance everywhere,
  • 00:32:16
    and nothing quite seems to work.
  • 00:32:20
    I confess my sins, that I've done things my own way.
  • 00:32:27
    But I want to go Your way now.
  • 00:32:30
    I believe that Jesus died
  • 00:32:33
    and rose again on the third day,
  • 00:32:36
    through God the Father.
  • 00:32:40
    And I ask that You would come into my life
  • 00:32:42
    and be the Lord of my life.
  • 00:32:47
    In Jesus's name, Amen.
  • 00:32:49
    We're about to go in a song
  • 00:32:51
    that is talking about the goodness of God.
  • 00:32:55
    And I think the reason that I know I can sing that song
  • 00:32:58
    and call it good is because I know
  • 00:33:00
    what Jesus did for me on that Cross.
  • 00:33:02
    I know what He's doing for me daily
  • 00:33:04
    by taking away my artificial fig leaves.
  • 00:33:07
    There is a redemption that Jesus had for me,
  • 00:33:10
    that He has for you.
  • 00:33:11
    And if you just prayed that prayer, you're receiving it,
  • 00:33:13
    maybe you need a little bit more time to think about
  • 00:33:16
    if you want to pray that prayer.
  • 00:33:18
    You can do that right now as we sing
  • 00:33:21
    and reflect on the goodness of God.
  • 00:35:48
    - Do you know where you're going?
  • 00:35:50
    To get different results in life,
  • 00:35:53
    you're going to have to do some different things.
  • 00:35:56
    And if you're up for adventure this year,
  • 00:35:59
    do the Bible Challenge with me.
  • 00:36:01
    Read every day, get inspired,
  • 00:36:04
    and see what others are saying.
  • 00:36:07
    I believe the Bible is more than a book
  • 00:36:10
    that's meant to sit on a shelf and just collect dust.
  • 00:36:13
    It's meant to take you somewhere in life.
  • 00:36:16
    What about you? Where are you going?
  • 00:36:19
    Download the Crossroads App
  • 00:36:21
    and do the Bible Challenge today.
  • 00:36:26
    - First, great job. - Thank you.
  • 00:36:28
    - That was a fresh take on the story. Awesome.
  • 00:36:30
    - Thanks.
  • 00:36:31
    - Second, you mentioned the Bible Challenge.
  • 00:36:33
    - I did.
  • 00:36:34
    - And people can actually do it with us.
  • 00:36:35
    Our whole community is doing it,
  • 00:36:37
    Hannah and I are doing it. It's super easy.
  • 00:36:39
    All you got to do is download the Crossroads app
  • 00:36:41
    for free, you can read and journal right in here.
  • 00:36:43
    I've got three days down for the week.
  • 00:36:45
    My goal is four, so I'm almost there.
  • 00:36:47
    - Almost there. - Jump in with us.
  • 00:36:48
    - I think I'm right there too. You know what?
  • 00:36:50
    If you want to find out more information,
  • 00:36:52
    you can go to Crossroads.net/BibleChallenge.
  • 00:36:53
    When you get there,
  • 00:36:54
    it's not only going to tell you about that free app,
  • 00:36:56
    it's going to tell you about
  • 00:36:58
    this sweet Genesis guidebook.
  • 00:37:00
    And honestly, there's some stuff in here
  • 00:37:02
    that I just didn't have time to go into in my message.
  • 00:37:05
    And it talks about all things Bible.
  • 00:37:07
    So, you want to get this guide book
  • 00:37:08
    and we'll mail it to you for free. So check it out.
  • 00:37:11
    - That's it. See you next week.
  • 00:37:13
    - Tests take us higher.
  • 00:37:16
    To find out how, we need to go back
  • 00:37:18
    to the beginning of the story in Genesis.
  • 00:37:21
    God knows that He can trust you based on what you do.
  • 00:37:26
    God knows that you're ready for more
  • 00:37:29
    based on how you obey.
  • 00:37:30
    God knows what you're up for
  • 00:37:33
    based on how you follow through.

Process, journal or discuss the themes of this article - here's a few questions to get the ball rolling...

Welcome to the Weekend-Follow This is the group part of the Bible Challenge, so your questions are based on specific Bible passages from the weekend message. Each week, your group will discover what God might be saying to you, and how you can respond through a group discussion.

  1. If someone tells you they have good news and bad news, which do you prefer to hear first? Why?

  2. What stood out to you most from the message?

  3. Read Genesis 3:1-6. What parts of the serpent’s deception are the most appealing?

  4. It all started to go wrong when Adam and Eve began to question God’s words because of what the serpent said. Where do you find yourself questioning God in your own life?

  5. If God created everything to be good, what does this tell us about his character? How could that knowlege impact our response when we’re in tempting moments like Adam and Eve?

  6. As we see in the Fall, we naturally lean towards distrust and independence from God. How could you lean more into a relationship with Him this week?

  7. After each person shares, encourage them in prayer. You can say something like, “God, Thank you for your grace and your forgiveness. Help (insert person’s name) remember his/her true identity as your child, fearfully and wonderfully made, and worthy of your love.”

More from the Weekend

Check these out if you’re on a roll and want to go a little deeper!

  • Where in your life have you been trying to find “the good” apart from God?
  • Often when we see the broken parts of us, we feel shame. One way to start overcoming shame is to call it out, and then receive forgiveness. Read Isaiah 54:4. Is there any place where you recognize shame in your life either in your past or even in this moment?
  • Read Genesis 3:12-13. Where do you find yourself blaming others rather than taking responsibility?
  • How can you lean into hope in the midst of living in a fallen world?

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(This stuff helps us figure out how many fruitcakes to make come December)

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Feb 28, 2022 37 mins 42 sec

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