WHEN LIBERTY WAS LOST

Genesis 3:1-10 

Though the great majority of people who moved from Europe to this continent in the 1600’s did so fleeing religious oppression and hoping for the freedom to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, each of them came to this new land to charter a government authorized by England 

          

and each of them prided themselves in being English free men. 

The fact was, they were not so free as they imagined:
Each colony except Rhode Island and Pennsylvania forced the inhabitants to worship God according to the dictates of their own charter and there was very much persecution of those dwelling in those colonies who worshiped some way other than the charter allowed. 

                                                                              

Baptists were persecuted from Massachusetts all the way down to South Carolina. 

Baptists were never free men on this continent until after the signing of the Bill of Rights. 

But the majority of the inhabitants of the colonies considered themselves English free men. 

And the English prided themselves on being free men. 

                                                                                                                                    

You have to consider that those in the American colonies fought to be thought of on equal footing as their brothers and sisters in England. 

They were citizens of England, but they were like step children or half brothers and sisters. 

They were English free men, just on a lower scale. 

And they longed to be respected by 

England. 

• They loved England 
• They were proud to be English
• They revered everything that was English 

But like a boy who reveres his father and would do anything to make him proud, only to discover there is nothing they can do to make his father proud, the English free men in America could, in the eyes of the national Englishman, never measure up to true British standards. 

• They loved their king
• They loved their Parliament
• They loved their system of government 

Because, as they understood it, they always had the right to take any 

                          

grievances they might have with their government directly to the Parliament (or to the King, depending upon the circumstances). 

Then comes a series of taxes placed upon the American produced goods; taxes the Americans felt were unfairly charged upon them 

• England was at war with France and it was costing them a fortune. 
• Plus, England had had to bring troops to America to fight off the Indians during the French and Indian war, and that had been no small expense – so, in England’s mind, the Americans ought to pay for it. 

                                                    

Everything is probably OK at this point. 

The Americans were unhappy about the taxes and they sent diplomats to England to do exactly what they have always believed was their right to do, address their grievances and have them fairly considered. 

That isn’t what happened. 

They were, in their opinions, snubbed as second-class citizens before the English Parliament. 

                                                                                                  

At this point they do what they have also believed was their right to do as English free men, they protested. 

The protest turned ugly and shots were fired – people died. 

So they took the next step of an English free man – they raised a 

militia. 

It was at this point the lights began to turn on and the thought came to their minds, “Our liberty has been lost.” 

                                                                           

To which the British responded by sending troops to confiscate their arms in Concord. 

Right about now, March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry stood and delivered his famous “Give me liberty or give me death speech, the last part of which said, 

“They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by 

irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. 

Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of 

Boston! The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come. 

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”1 

Adam and Eve were perfectly free in the Garden of Eden but their liberty was lost. 

Let me give you several observations from the passage where Adam and Even lost their liberty. 

1http://www.history.org/almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm 

              

I. THEIR LIBERTY WAS 

LOST WHEN THEY 

DISOBEYED GOD 

Genesis 2:16-17 

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

Adam and Eve were perfectly free inside the Garden. 

True, the garden would have had perimeters.
I do not know how large the Garden of Eden was. Nobody does. 

I read a short piece from Ken Ham of Answers In Genesis where he says that nobody really knows even where the Garden of Eden was. 

The earth was so different before the Flood that it is impossible to say. 

If we don’t know where it was, we surely don’t know how big it was. 

• It could have been huge.
• It could have covered half the earth 

(I don’t know that, I am simply exaggerating to make a point.) 

The point is that no matter how large the Garden of Eden was, there was an end to the Garden; a border, which, once crossed, placed them outside of paradise. 

Then there was this one limitation God gave them – a command – one thing they could not eat. 

They were absolutely free
So long as they stayed inside the Garden and so long as they did not eat that one fruit. 

But they disobeyed God and found themselves banned from the Garden of Eden. 

A person could argue that now they were free 

• They knew the difference between good and evil 
• They ate the one thing they couldn’t eat and 
• They were now outside of God’s restrictions 

They were absolutely free of God’s rule, and they were miserable. 

They were their own masters, and they hated it. 

I see people in bondage all around me: 

• Bondage to sin 
• Bondage to fears 
• Bondage to emotions 
• Bondage to guilt 

And in every case the thing that binds them is their refusal to obey God. 

Secondly 

II. THEIR LIBERTY 

WAS LOST AS THE 

RESULT OF AN ENEMY 

Genesis 3:1-5 

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 

But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

• There are a lot of unexplained situations right here, aren’t there? 
• How did the serpent speak?
• In what ways was it more subtil than 
• other beasts (did they talk too?)
• Where was Adam when this whole 
• conversation was going on?
• Why did he eat the fruit knowing it was wrong? 

There is one thing about the passage that strike me more than any other – 

The serpent, who is later revealed as the Devil2 was an enemy to their liberty. 

Here’s your takeaway: 

• Anyone 
• Anything 
• Anyplace 

2 Revelation 20:2 

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 

  

That tempts you to pull away from God is not your friend – he is an enemy. 

• He may say nice things
• He may appear to be on your side
• He may give you what you think are 
• reasonable things to think about 

But if he, or it, tends to draw you away from God, count he or it an enemy! 

You can’t afford to be kind to an enemy. 

• You don’t have to hate him
• You don’t have to hold a grudge against him 
• You don’t have to think evil things about him 

But you can’t ever trust an enemy. 

Christmas just got over.
My wife likes to turn the car radio onto a station that plays Christmas music of all sorts. 

One of the songs is about Snoopy and the Bloody Red Baron.
It’s Christmas Eve when they meet in the skies 

The Red Baron gets the better on Snoopy and he’s going down for sure 

But for whatever reason, maybe it was the Christmas bells ringing below; the Red Baron chooses not to shoot Snoopy down. He forces him to land behind enemy lines where he brings Snoopy a drink and they toast to Christmas. 

Snoopy then flies away, knowing the two would meet in the air another day – the next time one of the two would die. 

Whatever or whomever tries to pull you away from the close and personal walk with God is an enemy. 

• Count him as such and 
• Treat him as such. 

Third 

III. THEIR LIBERTY 

WAS LOST AS A 

RESULT OF THEIR 

OWN ACTIONS 

Genesis 3:6 

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 

If you are familiar with the passage you know that there is a whole lot of blaming that goes on pretty soon. 

• Adam blames Eve
• Eve blames the serpent and
• The serpent just crawls on his belly 

But the fact of the matter is that: 

• Eve listened to the serpent’s temptations ïEve looked at the fruit and decided to eat it
• Adam took the fruit from Eve and chose to eat it too 

When Bohannan was very young he got into trouble and I gave him a spanking for it. 

Afterward he was pretty upset. He told me he hated the devil for making him do that. 

My answer was that the devil did not make him do anything. He got in trouble all on his own. 

The Devil will tempt us to disobey God but he can’t make us – especially if we are Christians – 

when we sin, we do that of our own choosing. 

IV. THE 

CONSEQUENCES OF 

LOST LIBERTY WAS 

GREATER THAN THEY 

WANTED TO PAY 

Genesis 3:14-19 

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 

And I will put enmity between thee and the 

woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 

Genesis 3:22-24 

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 

Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. 

The most unhappy people I know are those who are out of fellowship with God. Whether they are: 

• Unsaved and living without hope of eternal life or 
• Saved and living in opposition to the revealed will of God 

No one is happy without the liberty found in Jesus Christ, 

Finally 

V. LIBERTY IS 

REGAINED IN THE 

GRACIOUS PROMISE 

OF GOD 

Genesis 3:15 

And I will put enmity between thee and the 

woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 

This is one of the greatest verses in the Bible, but maybe one of the least esteemed. 

It is the very first gospel promise and it was preached by none other than God Himself. 

Adam and Eve had lost their liberty, but they were not left without hope. 

God’s promise was that one day there would come One who would destroy their enemy and restore their liberty. 

We know that One to be Jesus Christ. 

John 8:36 

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 

Conclusion 

The founders of our country realized they had lost their liberty, but they too were not without hope. 

Liberty was worth having, even if the price to gain it was a high one. 

Liberty of the soul too is worth having. It is worth fighting for. It is worth sacrificing self so that I and may children may be free in Jesus Christ. 

TRUE LIBERTY

Genesis 1:26-31

I cannot imagine that there is any living soul who does not long to freedom.

I believe it is bred into us – part of the divine likeness that, though corrupted through sin, is part of the original nature of our being.

But I do find it to be curious that, in the history of mankind, there are two groups of people who have been the most focused on liberty:

·       The Jews

·       The Christians

I am also very interested in the fact that, in the history of Western Civilization, those people who have championed are:

·       First the British

·       Followed by Americans

The reason that is interesting to me is because the Baptists in the British Isles (Wales in particular) have always insisted that theirs is an unbroken chain of Baptist doctrine tracing back to the Apostles of Jesus Christ.

That the British Isles have a unique link to Liberty is historically undeniable.

Almost from the beginning of their Monarchies, when King Alfred [1]in the 10^th Century had parts of the Bible translated into the Old English and distributed among his citizens, the British have held to a higher form of government than any other people in Europe.

In the height of the Monarchies of Europe, England’s monarchy stood alone – it is labeled “British Exceptionalism”[2] because their monarch has never been a totalitarian one.

·       They were the envy of the people of Europe and

·       They were the ire of the Monarch’s of Europe

Because it was always understood that the British people, though having a Monarch, ruled themselves. As early as the 900’s AD they had trials by jury rather judgments handed down by the King, an indication of their rule over one another.

The Magna Carta of AD 1225[3] was not so much the beginning of liberty in England as it was a document reinforcing what already existed in England.

The people of England were free men.

And although it was

·       Often challenged and

·       Never practiced perfectly

it was always understood that the people of England had the right to rise up and replace their leaders if they did not keep their end of the contract with their citizens.

By the way, this is why, when the Thirteen Colonies fought for independence from England, they were within their rights and British citizens and not in violation against God’s blessings.

Thomas Jefferson said as much in the Declaration of Independence, “…Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security….”

With God’s help I plan to preach on Sunday mornings on the subject of liberty, not so much as we view it in the world of government and politics, but as it is revealed to us in the Word of God.

I want to begin at the only period of human history when I think an argument can be made that there was perfect liberty, before Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden.

I am sure there is someone who would challenge me, but I am convinced that man was created perfectly free.

I see three characteristics of this state of perfect liberty:

I. THEY HAD DOMINION OVER THE EARTH

(Though they did need to subdue it)

Genesis 1:26, 28

Both the words subdue and dominion, have as a primary meaning, to tread under foot.

God gave Adam and Eve – and their children – liberty to possess a piece of land:

• To till it
• To inhabit it
• To work it and to make it to produce

John Locke took from that man’s inalienable right, he said, to “life, liberty and the pursuit of property.”

And God gave Adam and Eve – and their children – liberty to govern the earth.

In this case it was the

• Fish
• Fowl
• Cattle and
• Creeping things

He has liberty to possess a piece of land, to till it, to enclose it and to put beasts of burden within it.

John Locke argued that since the American Indians had never actually fenced a piece of property, it was technically not theirs.

If you study much about the founding fathers of our country you will learn that a good number of them were obsessed with possessing land and were skilled in the trade of surveying.

They believed in the liberty to

• Mark out a piece of property
• Claim it as their own and
• Put it to work

The liberty, according to Locke, was the pursuit of property. You don’t have a right to property; you have a right to earn property.

God did not give us liberty to be lazy and receive without labor – not even before the fall.

Adam and Eve were as free as any people have ever been, but they were free to gain through work; not free to get without working.

We live in a corrupt world and the truest of souls practice truth imperfectly.

But the modern liberal concept that the wealthy own it to the poor to share their wealth with them is contrary to the “perfect law of liberty.”

• To give a person an opportunity to work is a noble thing
• To give a person the means to survive without working is to rob him of something more valuable that life – his dignity

In a world of perfect liberty they had dominion over the earth.

II. THEY HAD LIBERTY IN THEIR APPETITES

(Though there was a restriction)

Vs 29-30, 2v16-17

I am going to mess up the

• Evolutionary
• Vegetarian
• Tree hugging
• Environmentalist

right now.

Not only did Adam and Eve have the liberty to fence in the animals of the earth, they had the liberty to eat them.

The evolutionist has fed us a line so deeply that event he average Christian thinks that the first people only ate fruits and vegetables.

But I want to ask you some questions:

Why would Adam and Eve want to capture a fowl, a fish, a cow or a creeping thing if they only ate fruits and vegetables?

Do you honestly think that God was giving them permission to possess and aquarium in their living room?

Is it really possible that when God told them to have dominion over the fowl of the air all that He meant was they could train a Parrot to say, “Polly wants a cracker”?

John Gill writes (in the 1700’s) concerning Genesis 1:26,

“That is, to catch them, and eat them; though in the after grant of food to man, no mention as yet is made of any other meat than the herbs and fruits of the earth; yet what can this dominion over fish and fowl signify, unless it be a power to feed upon them?”

Gill understood, 100 years before Darwin came up with The Origin of the Species, that when God gave Adam and Eve liberty to have dominion over fowl, fish, cattle and creeping things – they were gonna eat them!

Taken together, verses 29-30 can be read to mean that

• Every herb
• Every Tree
• Every fruit
• Every beast of the earth
• Every fowl of the air and
• Every thing that creepeth upon the earth

Has been given to eat.

We don’t read it that way because we have been so conditioned to think that men were supposed to only eat

• Fruits
• Nuts and
• Vegetables

In a world of perfect liberty, their was perfect freedom to eat whatever God had created.

But there was one restriction.

Genesis 2:17

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

It is a perverted sense of liberty that thinks freedom means NO rules.

It is impossible to live above the animals without rules.

I have a German Shorthaired Pointer.

• She loves to run and hunt and chase rabbits and fetch quail.
• She loves to explore and be free.

But if I leave her outside unattended too long do you know what she does? She gets in her kennel.

She knows in there she is safe and she is not going to get in trouble.

Put a little child in a room

• With someone who is not paying any attention to the child; who gives that child absolute liberty to do anything, anywhere the child wants, and
• With someone who pays attention to the child, who lets the child know what he or she can and cannot do

The child will gravitate to the person who cares enough to place some restrictions in his or her life because he or she knows that person cares about them.

Adam and Eve lived in a perfect world of perfect liberty, but even there they had a restriction.

III. THEY HAD LIBERTY IN THEIR FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

(Though He was and is God)

Genesis 2:18

Notice just three words with me:

“…Lord God said…”

• The Lord is the Self Existing One
• God is the Supreme or Mighty Being
• Said means that Adam spoke to Him

Genesis 3:8

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Though by Genesis 3:8 Adam and Eve had already sinned and their fellowship with God was broken, the implication of the phrase, “walking in the garden in the cool of the day” tells us that this was something they were used to.

• This was a regular occurrence.
• This was a part of daily life for the person who was perfectly free

They were free to fellowship with God.

They were free:

• To speak with Him
• To listen to Him
• To walk along side Him

But they always knew that He was the Supreme One.

He had issued a command

Genesis 2:16

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

And He had given a warning if they disobeyed that command

Genesis 2:17

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

The freest person in the world is the person who knows God and knows his rightful place before God.

Conclusion

It is true that, because of the corruption of sin, the best a man can have on earth today is an imperfect liberty.

Liberty is something we fight for – something we know we ought to possess – something that is an inalienable right that forever slips our grasp.

Except, that is, when we know Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:17

… where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Through a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ any man or woman can be perfectly free:

• Free from the condemnation of hell
• Free from the bondage of sin
• Free from the burden of guilt
• Free from the fear of death
• Free from the corruption of the world

Are you saved?

Are you free?

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[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_Bible_translations

[2] http://oyc.yale.edu/history/hist-202/lecture-3

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta