Did God Really Say…? Returning to Truth, Identity, & Purpose

• I am so glad that you’ve joined me today. I’m believing that God is going to speak to you through his word and that you’re going to be equipped and empowered to fulfill your God-given purpose. You know, when they say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I have to agree when it comes to my youngest daughter, Sophia.
• Just like her mom, that girl came out of the womb asking questions. Now, she’s always been inquisitive, and I could never give her just a shallow or a dismissive answer because she would just keep drilling down with question after question until she felt that she had a well-considered and a really wellthought through answer.
• Now, you could all pray for Nick because that man has had to live in a house with three very, very inquisitive women. We can girls are not the only people with questions, though. I want you to know that the Bible is full of questions and we see the very first question asked as early as Genesis chapter 3.
• And today what we’re going to do is we’re going to go back and look at the first three questions that are found in scripture. We see all of these three questions in Genesis chapter 3. Now, of course, you know, I so badly want to say something about the significance of the number three in the Bible because it’s often seen as representing completeness or perfection, but I’m going to stick to the point today and let’s turn together to Genesis chapter 3.
• This is the word of the Lord. Now, the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, “You can’t eat from any tree in the garden?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, “You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.” “No, you will certainly not die.
• ” The serpent said to the woman, “In fact, God knows that when you eat it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit 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 open. And they knew 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 walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze.
• And they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat?” Now, in this passage, we find the three most significant questions of all time.
• And can I just say they are still relevant for you and I today and every day. The answer to these questions will truly determine whether you become all that God has called you to become and whether you do all that God has called you to do here on planet Earth. The heart of our identity, the heart of our purpose, and the heart of our hope lie in our answers to these three questions posed in Genesis chapter 3.
• This could potentially be the single most important message you will ever hear because I cannot overstate how crucial it is that you and I have the right answer to these three questions. Hey friends, it’s Chris here. You know, the gospel is free to receive, but it takes great resources to reach people with it.
• Every single free resource that we create, every single podcast and devotional and resource and download takes real investment to produce, to distribute and to share around the world. Now that is why we have launched the double our impact campaign over the next few years. Our vision is to double our reach to release more gospel centered content and remove more barriers than ever before so that people everywhere can encounter Jesus.
• So right now through equipment empower we are reaching over 150 million people every single year through our different outlets and social media and sending 80,000 daily devotionals to equip people to live on mission. Now that’s 29 million a year. We’re seeing 2 million podcast downloads and impacting lives in more than 50 countries every single week.
• And here’s what makes this so special. 100% of every donation goes straight to ministry operations. Every single gift helps us to reach more people with the hope and the truth of Jesus. So, here’s how you can help. Pray for revival, our team, and this mission. You can give a one-time gift between now and December the 31st to help fuel the work that God is doing.
• And partner, you can join us monthly to help keep sharing the gospel across the world. You can learn more and be part of this move of God at christinekade.com. We are full of faith for what God will do as we double our impact and see revival sweep across the nations. The first question that we find in all of the Bible is actually asked by the enemy.