This morning, in our consideration of our confession of faith, the Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 17, which teaches of the recovery of fallen man, you'll find that article on page 77 in the back of the Psalter hymnal, page 77, Article 17 of the Belgic Confession. In connection with that, we want to read together Genesis chapter 3, the first 19 verses. Genesis 3, and then turning over to Romans 5, beginning at verse 12. Genesis 3 and Romans 5. Hear now the Word of God as we find it recorded first in Genesis chapter 3. Now the serpent was more crappy than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? The woman said to the serpent, We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die. You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, Where are you? He answered, I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid. And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? The man said, The woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it. Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. So the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals. You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. To the woman he said, I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing. With pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you. And to Adam he said, Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, you must not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. Through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you will return. Turning over to Romans chapter 5, beginning at verse 12 through 21. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men because all sinned, for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass, for if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many? Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin. The judgment followed one's sin and brought condemnation. But the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the obedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase, but where sin increased, grace increased all the more. So that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Beloved in Christ, someone always has to make the first move. There's always a first move. That's true, for example, whether we're talking about an invention, someone has an idea and begins to act on that idea. It's true, for example, when it comes to programs. We can talk about the programs of the church. Cadets, gems, Bible studies, young peoples. When those things were started, someone had to make the first move. Someone made the first move, which resulted in the beginning of Calvin Christian School as well. There was a first move that resulted in the beginning of the Christ United Reformed Church in Santee. But as well, it's true with conflict, isn't it? We think of wartime and battles. Someone makes the first move. Or boys and girls. If you get in a fight with someone, usually it's because one of you made the first move. Whether that was doing something or saying something against the other. It's true as well with relationships. For example, between a husband and a wife. I'm sure that my wife would agree that it was because of a first move on my part. Not hers, but my part way back in college. That our relationship began. And we can go on and on. But most important, this is true about salvation. Someone had to make the first move. And that someone is our covenant creator and God. Beloved, true Christianity, we might say, is the religion of grace. And that's what we're talking about with regard to the first move in salvation. The amazing grace of God. We might say God's amazing grace was planned from eternity as election teaches us as we have considered. And it was accomplished and is applied in time and history. Now, Article 17 of the Belgic Confession immerses us in the amazing grace of that first move of God in time toward, again, as it says, the recovery of fallen man. Follow along if you have the Psalter hymnal open. We believe that our most gracious God in His admirable wisdom and goodness, seeing that man had thus thrown himself into physical and spiritual death and made himself wholly miserable, was pleased to seek and comfort Him when He, trembling, fled from His presence, Promising Him that He would give His Son, who would be born of a woman, to bruise the head of the serpent and to make Him blessed. And Romans 5, verse 8 says, we did not read that earlier, but it says, But God demonstrates His own love for us in this. While we were still sinners. Christ died for us. While we were still sinners. Not while we were doing all these good things. Not while we were still worth it and profitable to God, but while we were still sinners. This is what is so amazing about the grace of God. And this is what is so amazing about the first move of God toward our salvation. That this first move was made against the backdrop of the sin of our first parents. And this, of course, points to the need for this first move. And I suspect, I suspect that most, if not all of us here are familiar with the story of the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, which we read in Genesis chapter 3. Even the boys and girls at a young age learn, whether at home or in Sunday school, they learn about Adam and Eve. They learn about the serpent tempting Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They learn of Eve taking and eating that forbidden fruit and then giving some to Adam, and he took an aid. God had established a covenant with Adam in which he demanded obedience. Genesis 2, verse 15 begins, The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is commonly called the covenant of works. Do this and live. But verse 17 continues, For when you eat of it, you will surely die. Now we know beyond a doubt that Adam's fall had devastating consequences. We see that in the narrative. In an instant, the eyes of our first parents were opened in a way in which they had never been opened before. We don't understand how exactly, but in a way they had not been opened before. Sin filled their whole being, their heart, their soul, their mind. They became totally depraved. Everything about them became saturated with sin. But not just them, the entire human race. As we have said before in our consideration of the Belgic Confession, to quote the saying, in Adam's fall, we sin all. And that's what Paul talks about in Romans 5. He explains very simply how sin came into the world, and he contrasts that with the coming of salvation. He explains that Christ is the last Adam who brings life, where the first Adam brought death. In a sense, in Romans 5, Paul retells the story, kind of a commentary, if you will, on Genesis 3. Of course, then filling in the blanks with regard to God's promise. It's a story of paradise lost and paradise regained or restored. But the point that I want us to notice is that without the reality of the story of the fall of mankind into sin in Genesis, the whole message of salvation wouldn't make sense the results of the fall were extreme god had entered into a relationship with man by virtue of creating him and by entering into a covenant with him but that relationship and all relationships were severely messed up because of the fall into sin for example the relationship between man and woman husband and wife became twisted. There was a sort of a role reversal. Instead of leading the woman who was to be his suitable helper, Adam yielded to Eve's lead and took from her the forbidden fruit. As well, God said to Eve, your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you. I believe that means that woman would desire to dominate, to be in control of and to rule over her husband, but instead she would be subject to him. The relationship between parents and children has been affected by the fall. Those of you who are parents and those of you who are children, you know this by experience. We know this. But most of all, the relationship between the Creator and the creature. Instantly there was a fear for God, an afraid kind of fear that wasn't there before, as we now see as Adam and Eve try to hide from God. And beloved, try to think of this from God's point of view. When he saw his original creation, he said it was very good. It was not lacking anything. And then he saw how the man that he had made to be the head of his family and his helpmate, Eve, how they fell into sin. And the question then is, what will God do? What will God do as He deals with sin? He must do something. He must deal with sin. Otherwise, He is not God. He said they would surely die. What will God do? Well, after sin came, what was the need? As we said a moment ago, the results of the fall into sin were extreme. We might say that when the serpent said that they would be like God, knowing good and evil, we might say that Adam and Eve didn't take the time to read the fine print. In Genesis chapter 3 alone, we see guilt and a loss of innocence. We see the human nature, including man's will, has become polluted and corrupt. We notice that there is accusing and there is blame shifting to everyone but oneself. It's clear that life changes from paradise and pleasantness to unhappiness, disease, pain, toil, unpleasantness, and all kinds of human calamities. And ultimately, the wages of sin, which is death, is experienced in body and soul, both now and forever. That's the fine print. And all of this points to the finest of print, we might say. To the worst part. Alienation from God. Instead of enjoying a relationship of peace and harmony, sin brought enmity and disharmony between God and man. Unbelief and ungodliness places us outside of God's favor. In sin, man has made himself miserable. You see, man's misery is not simply because of his life situation. It's not simply because of what I'm going through at any particular moment. It's not, first of all, because he doesn't enjoy his job or because he doesn't make enough money or because of poor health or because he's not getting along with his wife. It's not because of those things, first of all, that man is miserable. It wasn't really because he was naked that Adam was afraid, but because of sin, which caused Adam and Eve to see their nakedness differently than from their created perspective. Sin deeply disturbed the original harmony of creation and the result was that both man's heart and home, this earth and living on this earth, would no longer be what they once were. not to mention eternity and this disharmony is seen in Adam fleeing from God but what did God see what did God see Adam's heart created to be in tune with God now at enmity with and hatred against God he became dead in trespasses and sins as Paul says in Ephesians 2 verse 1 so that there was total rebellion against God. And don't forget, beloved, that included you and me. That included you and me. Again, Paul says, Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men because all sinned. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one. We were included. But the beauty here is that when God made the first move, we were included in that too. As we have said before, many think that it's not fair that Adam represented the whole human race. But it's not a matter of fair, beloved. It's a matter of fact. Just as it is a fact that Jesus Christ represents all those who would believe on Him. If it's not fair that Adam represented us, then it is not fair that Christ represents us. But praise God, it's a matter of fact that Christ has represented us as well as believers. Beloved, the need for the first move is that we needed God to make that first move because we, that is man, couldn't. Adam violated the test command to do this and live and prove that he didn't want to walk with God. He cut himself off from God's presence and chose death, physically, spiritually, ultimately, eternally. It was the offended God who must make the first move toward the offending creature. Well, what then was the nature of that first move? The nature is reflected in that beautiful question in the garden. When, as Genesis 3, verse 9, it says, The Lord God called to the man, Where are you? Where are you? Now, boys and girls, we know that God knew where they were. He knew exactly which tree they were hiding under. He knew exactly what they had done. This question wasn't because of some sort of ignorance that God didn't know. But it was for their benefit. It was for our benefit. In sin, again, Adam and Eve were powerless, and there was no way they could make a move toward God or salvation. They were not willing to. They didn't want to. They were not able to. They couldn't. They were spiritually dead. If any move was to be made, it couldn't come from them, but it had to come from God. Well, what were God's options? That may sound strange. Let's think of it in that way. What were God's options? He could have come in holy anger and put an end to all that He had made right then and there. If God had chosen to wipe out the human race in Adam and Eve and chosen to save no one, not a single person, no one could have argued against that. No one could cry out, that's unfair, and have a leg to stand on. Because that's exactly what sin deserved. But he didn't do that. Indeed, God's wrath was there. That's evident from Genesis 3 as he curses the serpent and as we know speaks of Satan's destruction. And God's wrath is seen in his sentence upon Eve and Adam and the ground. But ultimately, the first move was a move of grace and love. Where are you? That's a question beginning the process of reconciliation to draw them back. And of course, that question then forced Adam to think about where he was in his relationship with God and to creation. And with regard to the righteousness that God had given to him at creation. Yes, indeed, God would bring Adam face to face with his sin. Verse 11, he, God, said, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? And he repeats that again in his curse, doesn't he? Makes it very clear. You have eaten from the tree of that which I commanded you not to eat from. You see, only when one is brought face to face with the reality of their sin will they then understand by the illumination of the Spirit their need for a Savior and salvation. In love, God came, as the article says, article 17, to seek and comfort Adam when he, trembling, fled from God's presence. You see, in that state of disharmony, it was God who turned back to look for us. And to search for us. And to comfort us. It was God who turned back. Not Adam and Eve. They were hiding. Dr. P.Y. DeYoung in his commentary on the Belgian Confession called The Church's Witness to the World gives this unique but beautiful definition of grace. When he says, Grace is God in the act of giving Himself to man, acting upon and within them to restore them to fellowship with Himself. The act of God giving Himself to men, acting upon them and within them to restore them to fellowship with Himself. Beloved, the nature of God's first move, a move that He was not obligated to make, is that it was gracious. It was a gracious move toward reconciliation and salvation of god's people even when adam and eve tried to blame anyone except themselves passing the buck even then god was merciful and gracious again god dealt with adam and eve and the serpent according to their responsibilities yet for adam and eve god's grace is seen in that he made garments of skin for them to cover their nakedness wasn't his purpose to destroy them but to comfort and to protect them, which indeed must have been comforting after receiving the news. The news included in this first move. Genesis 3.15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel. Beloved, this has been called the mother promise. The mother promise from which flows all of God's promises recorded in Scripture, even God's promises given in baptism. This promise is the great message of the Bible that God has come to the rescue of fallen man. And this was not simply God's announcement that salvation would be a possibility. But really His declaration that salvation would be a reality through the seed of the woman. So much of our news today is sad, bad, disheartening. So much of our news today is slanted to get you and me to hear what others want us to hear or to believe what they want us to believe, whether it's the truth or not. We even find that much of our news is unsubstantiated, even unverified, motivated by spite and hatred. But this news is undisguised. This news is fact. It's truly good news. It is the Gospel. And we know that this points forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, the One in whom all of God's elect are made alive. Beloved, what a wonderful promise. See, after making an alliance and a friendship with Satan through sin, an alliance and friendship that man can't break off by himself, God says, I will do it. I will break up that friendship. I will put enmity in its place. And throughout God's history of Revelation, we see those two lines, the line of Satan and the line of the woman's seed, Christ. We see Satan trying to destroy the line leading to Christ. For example, Cain kills Abel. But the lines continue. The line of the woman through Seth. The line of the serpent through Cain. Later on, the lines collide with Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, David and Goliath. Through Pharaoh, Satan tries to snuff out the line of Christ by killing all the male babies, yet God preserves Moses. When it appears, the line will be cut off because of captivity. Isaiah speaks the words of prophecy, speaking of the birth of the child to the virgin. Unto us a child will be born, a son will be given. Satan again tries to cut off that line through Herod, putting to death the baby boys in Bethlehem, two years old and younger. Yet, the Christ child is safe. We see it throughout Scripture, the Old Testament. Ultimately, the two lines collide on the cross where God's wrath against sin is poured out and where all hope seemed to be lost and Satan thought he was victorious. But the truth, as we sing, is he arose. He arose. Alleluia, Christ arose. You see, this is all included in the news of that first move. And the beauty of this is that this news came on the heels of Adam's fall. God didn't waste time in giving this news. That's why Article 17 can rightly speak of God's admirable wisdom and goodness. When man broke the covenant of relationship, God did not remove the threat. He didn't take away the sentence, judgment, but He placed the mediator between Himself and mankind for the salvation of many. Man failed to do this and live. He failed to be perfectly obedient, and therefore God in His wisdom and goodness established His covenant of grace with His elect through His Son, which in essence says, I have done this for you so that you might live. Through His covenant of grace, our Heavenly Father looks tenderly in the eyes of His people and says, it is finished for you. Our comfort and the comfort that we teach our children and promise to teach our children in baptism, responding to God's promise, is that Jesus Christ has suffered the curse of our sin so we don't have to. And He perfectly fulfilled all of the laws of man's in our place because we weren't able to. And He has reconciled us with the Father and earned for us that relationship of fellowship with God for all eternity. And all of this because God made the first move. In His admirable wisdom, God planned and provided a remedy for our sin. And in His admirable goodness, He accomplished it through His own Son apart from any merit of ours. And beloved, the wisdom of the cross baffles the wisdom of man as to man, the cross and crucifixion of Christ is nothing but foolishness. And the goodness of God in securing our salvation and giving it to us as a free gift, that confuses the self-saving efforts of man. Beloved, the news given already to our first parents was that God Himself would undo for us and in us through His Son that which sin brought on us. And therefore, in Christ, ours is perfect innocence and complete righteousness in the sight of God called justification. In Christ, we enjoy that the pollution and the guilt of sin is removed and being removed. It's called sanctification. In Christ, we have been given the desire, the new desire to love God above all and our neighbor as ourselves. In Christ, ours is peace, joy, Wholesome pleasure and unspeakable happiness. And above all, in Christ, ours is reconciliation with God. Leading to abundant life both now and forever. And even though the news of this first move was accomplished so long ago, beloved, it is still being applied today. The good news of Jesus Christ and His saving love continues to go forth today. That all who hear, including you and me, might be reminded that God was under no obligation. Yet He made the first move for us and our salvation. Even as Eve took and ate, we are called to take and eat as we did at the Lord's table last week, but not in order to try to be like God, but to remember and believe that our Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself that we might be forgiven for trying to be like God. This news can only be received and believed by faith which too is a blessed gift of God's grace given only to those to whom he has given new life. God has not only eternally elected some to save, he eternally accomplished that salvation and he continues to apply it to his elect throughout history. He still makes the first move. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not because you made that first move toward god but he made the move toward you his holy spirit stirs one's heart to hear and believe that good news of jesus christ which we are called as well to bring to the ends of the earth beloved we cannot hide from god we cannot hide from god those who reject jesus christ will try to hide one day by calling out for the mountains to cover them and unless one repents of their sin and believes in Christ alone and trusts only in Him for salvation, they will suffer the movement of God's eternal wrath and hot displeasure. But as those who have received His amazing grace, just as we cannot hide from Him, we are not to try to hide our faith from the world. It should be as a bright light, beloved, shining forth for all to see. Makes us nervous? Yes. Yes. But it is to shine bright. The psalmist says in Psalm 17, verse 8, Keep me as the apple of your eye. Hide me in the shadow of your wings. May we not hide from God, but hide in Him. May we not be ashamed that others know that we are the apple of God's gracious eye. May we with humility rejoice in such a great salvation which is ours by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And may we be so grateful to God for making the first and only move on our behalf that when someone, when anyone asks us to give a reason for the hope that is in us, that our ready answer would be amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind. But now I see. We all know that young boys and girls cannot keep a good secret very long. They just got to tell that good news. Children of God, may we not hide that secret, but may we tell forth the good news of God's saving grace because it's true, beloved, all because God made the first move. We owe it all to Him. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, indeed we come before You amazed. We know that we ought not be amazed, yet we are as we think about Your grace, Your mercy, Your peace. Your love poured out upon Your people through Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Father, we were despicable. We were not worth anything to speak of. Yet You are the one of Your own good pleasure has chosen to save a people for Yourself, a church, to be Your adopted children in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Indeed, O Lord, amazing grace. We once were lost, but now by that grace we are found by You forever and ever. In that comfort we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.