Where Are You? | The Garden, The Flood & The Promise | Chad Veach

0:00 Hey, what's going on, everybody? Thank you so much for joining us for this week's message from Zoe Church. We are in a new series, a study through the book of Genesis, and we're going to jump into part two in just a moment. But it is the first Sunday of the month here in Los Angeles, and we are thanking all the tithers of our church. We want to acknowledge the faith and the obedience that it takes to be a tither and to obey God's word. So thank you to everybody that gives. If you'd like to begin the worship of your tithes and offerings, go to our website and you can give there. Also, subscribe to our messages so you don't miss anything and leave a comment. Help us get better and help us get the word out. But let's jump into this week's message called, Where Are You? Genesis together, the first book of the Bible. And I want to read to you Genesis chapter 3, verse 1.

0:55 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden from Trader Joe's, 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 certainly die. The serpent said to the woman, for God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be open 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 desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and she 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 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 them, where are you? And he answered, I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I'm 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? And the man said, the woman you put here with me, she gave me some of the fruit from the tree and I ate it. And the Lord God said to the woman, what is this you have done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me. And so I ate.

2:43 I want to preach a message today. Write down the title. It's called, where are you? Where are you? The story of my life in my house when I'm trying to find these kids. Where are you? Sometimes they're in the bathroom. Sometimes they're in the backyard. Sometimes they're in the garage or my bedroom. I don't know why they're in my room, but I'm always, where are y'all at? Where are you? Have you participated in this diabolical behavior on your cell phone? You can share your location. Have you done this? People sharing their location. I don't want none of y'all to know where I'm at. There's only one person I share my location with, and she is the boss of my life, the eve of my world, and her name is Julia. I share my location with Julia. Sometimes in the middle of the day, Julia texts me. She's like, hey, order the number three. I'm like, how did Did you know I was at In-N-Out?

3:37 The other day, this is a true story. The other day, middle of the day, I had a friend in town. I was dropping him off at his hotel. Middle of the day, Julie texted me, what are you doing in Beverly Hills? I'm like, this girl stalking me. And I love it. And I ain't mad at it.

3:59 But I think God's asking a lot of us today, where are you? Where are you? did you see verse 1 go back to verse 1 on the screens 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 write down number one today the serpent doesn't attack with force he starts with doubt see the enemy of your life does not come with this crazy amount of force No, he's slithery. He's crafty. He's cunning. And he starts with seeds of doubt that you'll doubt who you are. You'll doubt who he is. This is how he works. He doesn't come in with force. He comes in with doubt and he gets you to question, is God holding out on me? Is God holding out on all the fun I should be having? Is God holding out on all the things I should be doing? This is what he did with Eve. He got her convinced God's holding out on you. You get to eat from all this fruit and all this stuff is good, but how come you can't do that one thing? See, the enemy wants to lie to you to tell you that walking with God is not as good as walking in the ways of the world. That if you walk and live for God, you're going to miss out on all the fun and all the action. I want to tell you today that just as the serpent lied to Eve, the serpent's lying to you. The better life is the Jesus life. The better way is the God way. Oh, come on, clap today if you believe. God knows better than you do. A lot of times the enemy comes in and it's crafty. It's like, man, God's, you know, everybody else is having so much fun. Everybody. But if you, you know, you got to, you only get to work six days and you got to take a day off. Who told you? You're in crime mode.

5:54 has that wake up and grind and the serpent comes disguised as for you but is against you and never strikes with force but always leads with doubt in luke chapter four jesus finished a 40 day fast and after 40 days of being tempted in the in the in the wilderness the enemy comes to him and asked him three times to Jesus. If you are the son of God, then, and tries three times to get him to doubt his identity. And every time he's so doubt, he used scripture. See, some of us got to understand the devil knows the Bible better than you do. And he manipulates, see, this is how he works. He distorts truth to deceive hearts. He distorts the truth of who God is and the truth of who he's called you to be to deceive your heart. This is what he did with Eve. It's what he tried with Jesus, and it's what he's going to try with you. But I'm thankful today that we can stand on the truth of who God is and the truth of his word to walk in life and liberty. Come on, clap and give him a praise today. Oh, I love, I love the way Paul, Paul describes him. Second Corinthians 11, 14, and no wonder for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. He's dressed up like Halloween, like he's for you and he's with you and he wants you to have fun and relationships and freedom. But all the while he's promising bondage. He's promising brokenness.

7:28 He's selling you a lie. God wants you to be really free and really redeemed and really whole and really excited and really confident. And so you got to be careful not only of that, but people in your life that masquerade like they're for you, but they're against you. He doesn't come with a huge force. He comes in the seed of doubt. Have you seen on social media, these people that keep going to national parks, like they'll be in Montana and they're messing with bears. Have you seen these people? This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. Like if you want to talk to a squirrel and like, you know, feed a squirrel. So I'm good, but bears, I just think let's, let's call them off limits. See, you keep thinking that the enemy of your life is going to come up like some bear, some force, some big event, but it's always slithering and sliding through doubt.

8:30 Are you really forgiven? Are you really walking in God's ways? Or do they really love you? It's always seeds of doubt. And he started with Eve. He started with Jesus and he sows it with us. But I'm thankful today that we can hear a greater voice and it's the truth of God's word. The enemy doesn't start with force. He starts with, he starts with doubt. And so he tells, he sows the lie and he tells the lie and they take the fruit. Look down here in verse seven and eight. 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 of it and ate it. And 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 realized, oh man, we're naked. So they sold fig leaves together from anthropology and make coverings for themselves.

9:26 Write down number two, shame drives us into covering. It doesn't draw us into confession. See, all of a sudden, for the first time in the history of the world, shame enters the equation. And notice what shame does. Shame leads you into covering. I've got to cover up my mistake. I've got to cover up this sin. I've got to cover my tracks. I've got to cover my lies. I've got to cover myself. Because covering is about control. I've got to control the narrative. I've got to control the story. I've got to control the relationship. But I'm thankful God. The Holy Spirit doesn't lead me to covering. He leads me into confession. I confess my sins. I confess the blood. I confess the cross. Shame is about covering. I got to cover. They took some leaves and they were sewing them together. This is still very inappropriate in my opinion.

10:24 Very inappropriate. Barely covering. But they're covering themselves rather than being covered by God. Let me say it to you this way. What you try and cover, God cannot cover. But what you expose, God will cover with mercy. You're only as sick as your secrets. Your authority is in your authenticity. And the Holy Spirit doesn't leave you to cover things up. The Holy Spirit leads you to the cross. It leads you to forgiveness and to mercy to say against you and you alone have I sinned. And I'm not trying to hide anything. I'm trying to come and confess everything. I'm thankful today that I have the ability to confess my sins. Come on, somebody give him a praise.

11:11 Let me encourage you today. God already knows about it. God was there. You know, when you're doing your worst sin, God doesn't look away like O M me. No. When you are in your worst sin, God has, the Bible says in Isaiah, he has set his face aflint. He can't look away. You're the apple of his eye. His eye is on the sparrow. So even when you're in your worst place, God says, I'm not going to look away. My love's not conditional. It's unconditional. And so, and so watch what shame does. Shame is such a bully, by the way. Shame, shame tells you, you didn't do something bad. You are bad. That's the difference. Shame says you are bad. What you did is not bad. You are a bad person. You live a bad life. You do bad things. No, no, no. I've made a mistake, I am not a mistake.

12:07 Shame is a bully. I was talking to my sister this last week, and she was telling me about my nephew. My nephew's a stud. He's a stud. But she was telling me that for the last couple of weeks, a kid at school has been bullying him. I couldn't wrap my head around it because he's a stud. And he's a sweet kid, so he's allowed this kid to bully him at school. And he's been messing with him, flicking him in the ear, calling him names, messing with him. I mean, just messing with him. And so my nephew came to her the other day and said, can I come clean about something? Can I can I come clean? They have in their house the no trouble bubble. If I step in this bubble, I can't get in trouble. I wish I had one of those growing up. Come on, somebody. And so he said, can I come into the no trouble bubble? And she's like, come right on in. And so he came in, he said, you know, finally, you know, so-and-so has been bullying me. She's like, I know. She's really mad about it. I know. And he says, well, I couldn't deal with it anymore. I couldn't handle it anymore. I finally had enough. So today at school, I pushed him down and I called him a name and my sister goes, good.

13:05 I've been waiting for you to do that. See, my question to you is how long you're going to let shame bully you? How long you're going to let shame just tell you who you are and how bad you are? You're not worth a blessing. You're not worth a grace. You're not going to get a, come on, clap today. You're not going to get a promotion. Come on, my Bible says I didn't earn it. I didn't deserve it. It's all by the power of the blood of Jesus. Give him a praise today. You stop letting shame cover you. I got to cover it all up. I got to cover it all up. Nobody can know. Nobody can know. No, no, no. The power is in the repentance. The power is in the confession. The power is in admitting you were there. You saw it. You watched it. There's nothing you've done that God can't forgive. There's no place you've gone that God looked away. There's nothing you've touched, smoked, watched.

13:59 Nothing you've done that is too far from the love of Jesus Christ. Somebody give him a praise. This is his grace. But shame will tell you, you're the only one. You're the worst of them. You're the only one dealing with it. You're the only one struggling. You're the only one. No, you're not. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All of us are sinners saved by grace. None of us are looking around today going like, dang, y'all ate the fruit?

14:29 Sure, even I knew not to eat the fruit. y'all are messed up man you guys are messed up I wouldn't have eaten it you know I wouldn't I always love that guy if it wasn't for Adam I wouldn't eat an apple fam you root for the clippers shut up You literally have a cowboy sticker on your bumper. Shut up.

14:57 For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I'm just standing here. It just feels so good. That's the beard, man. But shame will get you to cover. It never leads you to confession. leads you to go, no, if they found out, if they knew, if so-and-so, and then you just live a life of covering. You don't have an honest bone in your body. You live a lie.

15:32 And I'm here to tell you today the Holy Spirit wants to set you free from lying. Amen? And so he comes and he says to Adam, Where are you? Guys? Adam!

16:01 anybody? Where are you? Write down number three. God didn't storm in saying, what have you done? He came asking, where are you? Even in your sin, he wanted relationship. Even in your sin, he was looking for connection. He didn't storm in and say, what have you done with that apple? I told you not to eat from it. Look what you did. Why did you do it? No, no. Even in their sin, he came in saying, where are you? The first question God ever asked in the history of the world to a man is, where are you? And I think he's asking the same question today. Do you know where you are?

16:47 Come on, man of God. Come on, woman of God. Where are you today? Where are you at? You ever go to the mall and just at a big mall like Century City and you want to get to X store, But before you can navigate how to get to X store, you got to find that thing, that screen that tells you you are here. Most of us never get to where God's called us to go because we can never identify that we're here. And today I want to ask you, are you in depression? Are you in suffering? Are you in addiction? Are you in sin? Because I know the God that can heal your heart, set you free, pull you out, put your feet on a rock, put a new song in your mouth. Give him a praise today if you believe. I know the God that knows where I'm at today. His eyes on the sparrow. Come on, clap a little bit louder. God knows where I'm at.

17:39 He wasn't asking Adam, where are you? Because he didn't know. He was asking Adam because he didn't. Do you know where you're at? God is all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent. He knows where Adam's at, but he still asks him, where are you? Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? And I think God's asking you the same question today. Where are you at? Where are you at? Do you know where you're at? Do you know what season you're in? Remember, you don't know the action that you should take until you can identify the season that you're in. If you're in a season of suffering, let's call it a season of suffering. You're in a season of waiting, let's call it a season of waiting. You're in a season of faith, let's call it a season of faith. Where are you?

18:16 Is what he asked Adam. And it's the same question I think that he's asking you. Where are you at? It's my favorite text to say. Yo, where are you at? Maybe heaven's asking you, where you at? Where you at with your faith? Where you at with your family? Where you at with serving me and following me? Where you at? And most of us are like, you ever go to text? And you're like, I know if I text, it's going to send the bubbles. So I'm like, I got to. Because as soon as I start, it's like bubble time. And I don't like bubbles to be living there forever because I want them to know like I got my stuff together so it's like, here we go. Beverly Hills dropping off my friend. See, most of us think that God's looking for the church answer.

19:16 Good. I am blessed and highly favored. Never been better. Outside of my facial hair, tremendous. instead of bringing the real you to the table i feel so lost i feel so disappointed i feel things i've never felt before do you think god is intimidated by the emotions he already gave you do you think god wasn't there for the abandonment betrayal or rejection that you've walked through god that owns the cattle on a thousand hills he owns you the earth is the lord's and all that's within it, and he's not intimidated. Come on, he's not intimidated by the season you're going through right now. Come on, clap and just thank him. I can bring me to the table. I messed up. I ate an apple. I made a mistake. See, most of us don't get to the promised land of God's plan for our life because we're never honest with where we're currently at.

20:20 How could he turn your mourning into dancing if you never admit I'm in mourning? And so he asked him, he says, it's all right there, isn't it? Where are you? And Adam's like. It's like when my dad used to come home when I was doing something dumb. over here. He's like, what are y'all doing? What are you wearing? Oh, because we're naked. We covered up, you know, we're having company over later. He's like, who told you you were naked?

21:05 And watch what Adam does. Adam's in this textbook right here. he says Adam says you know we ate from the tree the woman you gave me fed me an apple would be fine running around naked no shame but the woman that you gave me write down the next one today stop wasting your time blaming spend your energy returning back to God we spend so much energy blaming others oh i'd be doing so much better if it wasn't for them they messed it all up they fumbled the ball they made the mistake this is the first being thrown under the bus in the history of the world adam is blaming e instead of stepping up and taking responsibility you want to know what let me tell you what adam should have done adam should have stood before God and said, sir, I want to apologize and repent on behalf of my family.

22:09 I ate an apple. I made a mistake. I have sinned. I have made this mistake. And I want to ask for your forgiveness. But Adam's playing the blame game. Are you done playing the blame game yet? Most of us can never grow because we're too busy putting all the blame on them. I could have had that, you know, if it wasn't for them. That's what I like about athletes. You know, I could have been somebody if, you know, but coach. But coach, you couldn't have become nothing. It wasn't. The coach is a smart man. The coach does it for a living. He's good at his job. That's why he's still there. but we blame our ex and we blame our boss and we blame our coach and we blame our friends and we blame and we blame and we blame and where did all that blaming get you how far is it taking you blaming feels good for a moment but at the end of the day the bill's still on you you can look through the receipt and go like, well, they ordered this and they ordered that and they ordered that. Yeah. But fam, it's still your visa card going thrown down.

23:18 You still picking up that bill. Adam says, well, the woman you gave me, the woman you gave me. Don't want me. If it wasn't for her, I, you know, me, God, I would have never eaten the apple. You need to take extreme responsibility for the place that you're at today. You need to take extreme responsibility for it. I'm trying to teach my boys this. They love to blame others for where they're at. They love to tell it's there. It's my brother's fault. It's my friend's fault. One of my boys, my nine-year-old this week told me this story at school. He's had this crush on his girls for two, we're on three years. But now he says he don't like her. so this last week now this so this started when he was seven so this last week he said that he took a milk carton and he told the girl that he has a crush on he said you want to know what you did to me and he put his foot on the milk carton and he started to squish it and he squished it all the way down and he said you had my heart but you broke it in a million and he started to just crush it. And then the whole thing's crushing. He goes, in first grade, I loved you. Second grade, I had a crush on you. And now you're nobody to me. I said, my man, what are you watching when we're not home?

24:38 We a long way from Bluey. the imagination of this man Like, I'm not mad at it, very dramatic, but like, come on, man. You're in third grade. Most of us, they broke my heart. They messed with my life. It's their fault. No, you know what? Could we maybe factor in all of your decisions and maybe where you could have improved and where you could have done a better job? We spend so much time looking at those folks. And we never grow because we never look internally. I could have been so much better. I could have handled things a little bit better. And if I'm being honest, you know, I know she was presenting apples and I love honey crisp apples, but, but, but God told me not to eat the apple. I wonder what are you doing in your life right now that God told you not to?

25:45 But they, you know, they didn't have a place to live. Ownership. Yeah. David in Psalm 51, put it on the screen, verse four. He says, against you and you alone have I sinned. He's taking ownership, isn't he? And today, repentance starts with being honest with God. I messed up, but I'm thankful that though I made a mistake, you do not call me a mistake. And I'm done with covering it up. I love confessing because you were there and you saw it, and yet you still love me. Amen. Are you thankful for his grace today? Come on, clap one more time. Worship team, come join me. Here's the last one. Write down number four. Even in the mess, God was planning a solution. Even in the middle of this mess, our God, all the way in the third chapter of the Bible, was planning a solution.

26:46 Go to verse 14. So the Lord God said to the serpent. Who's he talking to right here? Who's he talking to? The serpent. He's not talking to Adam, and he's not talking to Eve. He's talking to who? the serpent. So the Lord God said to the serpent, the wicked one, because you have done this. See, there's some things that have happened in your life that the enemy was able to do. The enemy did stuff to you and God's acknowledging it because you did this man. You lied to them. You sow doubt. You messed with my children because you have done this. Cursed are you above all livestock and all 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 you and your offspring and hers and he will crush your head and you will strike his heel. What?

27:36 What's he saying? He's talking about in Genesis 3 15, the promised Messiah all the way back then. Adam and Eve, you made a mess. Don't you worry. I've got a solution. You done messed up? Don't worry. I'll rescue you like I always do. And he says to the serpent, you are going to get your head crushed and you will only strike their heel. You know what he's saying to them? I'm going to send my son and he's going to crush your head. And all you'll do to them is you'll strike their heel. Come on, clap and thank God. You're going to mess with them. You're going to hurt them. Come on, clap. But you will not defeat them. You will not conquer them. You will not overwhelm them. But my son is going to crush. Come on, praise the Lord.

28:29 And the God of peace will soon crush Satan underneath your feet. Give our God a praise today. Give him a praise. Come on, stand to your feet. Stand to your feet. Come on, keep clapping. Give our God a praise today. Give our God a praise today. He's going to crush. Just stay with me. Stay with me. Hear me today. Hear me today. He's saying, he's saying to the serpent, I will only give you heel territory.

28:57 And you will strike their heel. And some of us, you're limping today because your heel has been struck. Your confidence has been struck. But I'll tell you, he can, he can strike you, but he can't conquer you. because God promised his son and he will come and he's going to crush your head and he did it didn't he when he came and hung on the cross he came and he rose from the dead and he defeated he crushed Satan death sin and the grave was crushed by my God come on anybody grateful today even in our mess come on Zoe even in your mess and I want to tell you I want to tell you today I want to tell some folks you're in a mess today and I know it you're in a mess you're in a mess you've made a mess but don't you worry i know the rescuer i know the savior that could come and help i know the one that could come and pick all the pieces back up he didn't come walking in storming in what have you done he came in and asked you today where are you and i've got a solution for your life in fact put on the screen i love this thought i just love this thought last thought today instead of ending the story god promises redemption he didn't demand that they fix this he said i will fix this through someone i will send most of us are afraid of god because we think god's going fix it fix it but if you're trusting god and you'll turn to him I believe he will fix it.

30:34 Anybody believe that today?