No Neutral Ground

In 1861 a retired grocer named Wilmer McLean watched the first major battle of the Civil War start on his land near Bull Run. So he packed up his family and moved 120 miles south to a quiet crossroads called Appomattox Courthouse. Four years later, Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in McLean's front parlor. "The war began in my front yard and ended in my parlor."

He spent four years trying to stay neutral. And the whole time, he was selling sugar to the Confederate army.

This week we took a one-week break from 1 Corinthians to go back to the very beginning: the Garden of Eden and Genesis 3:14-15, the first time the gospel shows up in the Bible. It's a message about the second of our four mission pillars, Preach the Gospel.

- Adam was a priest-king. God put him in the garden "to work it and keep it" (Genesis 2:15): to serve and to guard.

- Adam was there. When the serpent asked "Did God actually say?", Adam had the word of God and kept his mouth shut. Two people were there, but only one was preaching. His silence was rebellion.

- There's no neutral ground. "By one man's disobedience the many were made sinners" (Romans 5:19). We didn't choose this war. We were born on the wrong side of it.

- The first gospel is a declaration of war. "He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15). A bruised heel hurts. A crushed head is the end.

- Jesus is the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45). Where Adam took from the tree and brought death, Jesus hung on the tree and brought life.

- So we don't get to sit this out. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is Adam's job restored under a better Adam. We're not salesmen for Jesus. Our job is to tell people what he has done in us.

Before you close this video, think of one name: a coworker, a neighbor, a family member who doesn't know Jesus. Pray for them by name this week, then invite them to join you next Sunday. Plan a visit: prdx.ch/sunday-gatherings

Scripture: Genesis 3:14-15

Preached by Joel at The Paradox Church in Fort Worth, TX

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