The Three Worship Wars Genesis 3 & 4 Dr. Vernon M. Whaley.

The Three Worship Wars Genesis 3 & 4

Dr. Vernon M. Whaley

The Bible is a Book of Worship . . .

The first three chapters of the Bible lay the foundation for us to

understand HOW God values worship of

Himself by those He created . . .

Adam & Eve’s Worship

Consider this:* Adam & Eve’s worship of God was perfect in the garden.


* It was perfect worship in a perfect place … until man became misguided.* His unspoiled union with God was broken when he chose to worship self instead of God.

It began with mistaken worship

and a resulting worship war!


Genesis 3

1) Now the serpent was more crafty 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'?"

Genesis 3 2) The woman said to the

serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3) 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.' "

Genesis 3

4) You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.

5) "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Genesis 3

6) 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.

Genesis 3

7) 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.

Genesis 3

8) 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.

9) But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

Genesis 3

10) He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

11) And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

Genesis 3 12) The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." 13) Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"

The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Genesis 3

14) 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.

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."

Genesis 3 16) 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."

Genesis 3 17) 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.

Genesis 3

18) It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

Genesis 3

19) 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."

Genesis 3 20) Adam named his wife Eve,

because she would become the mother

of all the living. 21) The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

Genesis 3

22) And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

Genesis 3

23) So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

Genesis 3

24) After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 4

1) Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.

Genesis 4

2) Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3) In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD.

Genesis 4

4) But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,

Genesis 4

5) but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.

So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6) Then the LORD said to Cain,

"Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?

Genesis 4

7) If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

Genesis 4

8) Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Genesis 4

9) Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

Genesis 4

10) The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.

Genesis 4

11) Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

Genesis 4

12) When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” 13) Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear.

Genesis 4

14) Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your

presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

Genesis 4

15) But the LORD said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.

Genesis 4

16) So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Consider this:

What Is A Worship War?

* Is it disagreement over preferences?* Is it driven by ego?

* Is it selfishness or self-centeredness?

* Is it searching for “the” experience?

Consider this:


* Is it a misunderstanding of biblical worship?* Is it a focus primarily on

performance?


Whatever the cause, we know that the fallout is

very damaging to the body of Christ.Leaders refer to such

“spiritual clashes” as worship wars.

War is a state of open and declared, hostile conflict.


The point of this conflict is the object of our worship.

The question: What – or who – is worship of man’s

praise?Remember that all things were created to worship

God.


Worship began in the spirit world LONG BEFORE man was

made! Worship is not a new

21st Century Phenomena.

REMEMBER …

You and I will NEVER lead PUBLIC worship until WE LIVE PRIVATE worship!

At the heart of ALL worship wars is Satan’s desire to

distract us and in the process rob God of the

worship that belongs ONLY to Our Great Sovereign

Lord!

The Three Great Worship Wars

I. What is War? What is a Worship War?

II. Worship War #1 - Satan vs God

III. Worship War #2 - Satan vs Mankind

(Woman)

The Three Great Worship Wars

IV. Worship War #3 – Cain vs Abel

V. Principles of Worship from the Lessons

The Great Worship Wars

II. Worship War #1 – Satan

vs GodIt’s About Me!

The Great Worship WarsII. Worship War #1 – Satan vs GodA. The Players

B. The Personalities

C. The Process

D. The Penalty

E. The Price

The Great Worship WarsII. Worship War #1 – Satan vs GodA. The Players

1) The author of the first worship war is Satan.2) Satan is a spirit being and belongs to the order of angels called cherubim (Ezek 28:14).

The Great Worship WarsA. The Players – Satan is known as:1) The adversary

2) The accuser 3) The devil 4) The tempter 5) A liar 6) A murderer 7) The ruler of darkness 8) A dragon 9) A serpent


Satan is a real, live, literal figure!

“You try opposing him for awhile and you’ll see if he’s literal or not.” – Charles Finney

Satan is the unabashed enemy of God.

The Great Worship WarsII. Worship War #1 – Satan vs GodB. The Personalities

1) Satan has a personality.2) Satan was created with a free will.

3) Satan willingly disobeyed God.

The Great Worship WarsII. Worship War #1 – Satan vs GodB. The Personalities

4) Satan opposes everything God represents5) Satan is intelligent and capable

6) Satan is PROUD and puffed up

The Great Worship WarsII. Worship War #1 – Satan vs GodC. The Process

1) Satan seeks to steal, kill and destroy2) Satan was not alone in his sin

3) Satan was at the root of all the rebellion

The Great Worship WarsII. Worship War #1 – Satan vs GodC. The Process

4) Satan does not possess the attributes that belong to God: omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience

The Great Worship WarsII. Worship War #1 – Satan vs GodD. The Penalty

1) Satan was driven into disgrace from the mount of God2) Satan was made a spectacle before kings

3) Satan’s conceit and envy ruined his intimate

relationship with God forever

The Great Worship WarsII. Worship War #1 – Satan vs GodD. The Penalty

4) Satan’s title was removed and he suffered defeat

5) All of humanity had to pay the price for Satan’s sin

The Great Worship WarsII. Worship War #1 – Satan vs GodE. The Price – affects

were widespread.

1) It costs everyone.

2) It affected other angels.3) It affected people.

4) It affected every nation of the world.

The Great Worship WarsII. Worship War #1 – Satan vs GodE. The Price

5) Satan’s fall positioned him as the ruler of this world6) He lost the war and

could never defeat God

7) He decided to HURT God by destroying man


III. Worship War #2 –

Satan vs MankindIt’s About Self-

fulfillment! What I feel … driven by a

spirit of entitlement … It’s my right!

The Great Worship WarsIII. Worship War #2 – Satan vs MankindA. The Players


C. The Process

D. The Penalty

E. The Price


1) They were Adam & Eve, our first parents.

2) Having come into this world already full of worship, it was natural for them to respond to God in worship.


3) They knew instinctively they were to worship God.4) Satan wanted to replace mankind’s worship of God with worship of himself.

The Great Worship WarsIII. Worship War #2 – Satan vs MankindB. The Personalities

1) Adam & Eve were innocent and trusting.

2) They were intellectually, emotionally and physically healthy.

The Great Worship WarsIII. Worship War #2 – Satan vs MankindB. The Personalities

3) They were totally without fear and void of any evil thoughts.

4) When the father of lies approached Eve, she took his falsehood at face value.

The Great Worship WarsIII. Worship War #2 – Satan vs MankindC. The Process

Satan is self-serving and envious; he seeks to be like God. And so,

to establish his “godhood” over Adam & Eve, he engaged in a

cunning process of pretext.


1) Satan’s strategy involved deception.2) Satan is a master of disguise.3) Satan is a chief counterfeiter.4) Satan first approached Eve, not Adam.


5) Satan challenged the Word of God.6) Eve suddenly questioned God’s integrity.7) Eve even questioned God’s motives.


8) Eve listened and Satan robbed her of her

faith.9) Satan robbed Eve of her contentment.

10) A spirit of jealousy arose within Eve.


11) Eve reasoned: I need it, I deserve it. It is good for

ME.12) Eve fell for Satan’ s propaganda and bowed

to the idol of self.13) Satan sold Eve a bill of goods.14) She took, she ate. She gave to her husband. They

willingly disobeyed.

The Great Worship WarsIII. Worship War #2 – Satan vs MankindD. The Penalty

1) There is always a penalty for doing wrong.2) Crime, once committed, can never be undone.

3) The serpent was condemned eternally to crawl on the ground and eat the dust of the earth.


4) Hostility between his offspring and the children of man was forever set in motion.5) Eve along with women of all ages would experience

painful childbirth.


6) In the new cultural hierarchy, women would be ruled by men.

7) Adam was cursed to a life of hard labor.


8) Adam’s disobedience brought death to the entire

human race.

9) Adam was driven from the garden, never to return.

The Great Worship WarsIII. Worship War #2 – Satan vs MankindD. The Price

1) The collateral damage is unthinkable, as with

any war.

2) The battle for worship was lost.

3) Mankind was condemned to death.


4) Their relationship with God was severed.

5) All of life changed, including man’s worship.

6) Worship was now inhibited.


7) Communication with God was now from afar and now they KNOW and experience GUILT.


IV. Worship War #3 – Cain

vs AbelWorship is about what I like and what I want.

The Great Worship WarsIV. Worship War #3 – Cain vs AbelA. The Players


C. The Process

D. The Penalty

E. The Price

The Great Worship WarsIV. Worship War #3 – Cain vs AbelA. The Players

1) Cain was a farmer.

2) Abel was a shepherd.

Each brings an offering to the Lord!

The Great Worship WarsIV. Worship War #3 – Cain vs AbelB. The Personalities

1) Cain: somewhat arrogant.2) Cain: patronizing spirit as he sacrificed to God.


3) Cain: temperament demonstrated

intense paganism of his worship. He hoped to build up credit with God – God rejected the sacrifice.


4) Abel: brought God the best.5) Abel: expression of genuine, personal devotion.6) Abel: God accepted sacrifice as an act of faith.


Cain's sin was not in the item offered, but the spirit in which

the offering was made.

Cain’s reaction to God’s rejection was full of hatred

and deep resentment.


“God is not interested in any works, not even those which he himself has commanded, when they are not done in

faith.” – Martin Luther

God gave Cain opportunity to make things right. He refused and killed his brother out of a

jealous, resentful heart.

The Great Worship WarsIV. Worship War #3 – Cain vs AbelC. The Process

1) All worship wars are essentially fought

in the spirit world.

2) The battle for worship was almost entirely in the heart of one man.

The Great Worship WarsIV. Worship War #3 – Cain vs AbelC. The Process

3) Cain became enraged at the very one he sought to worship.4) No one was going to tell Cain what to do.

The Great Worship WarsIV. Worship War #3 – Cain vs AbelD. The Penalty

1) “Now you will be cursed in your work with the ground,” God declared.2) You will work the ground, but it will not grow good crops for you anymore.3) You will wander around on the earth.

The Great Worship WarsIV. Worship War #3 – Cain vs AbelE. The Price

1) War always affects innocent people.2) Because of Cain’s evil

heart, Abel too lost his life.3) There are no descendants of Abel.

4) The cost to Cain was the greatest of all.

The Great Worship WarsIV. Worship War #3 – Cain vs AbelE. The Price

5) Cain would never enjoy his brother’s companionship again.6) Cain destroyed his closest friend and the one that could have taught him how to worship.7) Cain was separated from the presence of God.

Lessons Learned From The Worship Wars

A. Misguided worship begins in the heart.

B. Satan is ALIVE and WELL and he wants to wipe out your worship.C. God is still a God of second chances.

D. God, not self, is our object of worship.

(

Lessons Learned From The Worship Wars

E. We are to worship God alone.

F. We are to worship God HIS way.G. Worshiping God’s way comes

with great promise.

The Three Worship Wars Genesis 3 & 4 Dr. Vernon M. Whaley.

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