Why We Need the Messiah / Genesis 1-3
Anticipating the Messiah
We are officially in the holiday season. I am sure you have noticed by the traffic and everybody losing their mind because there is a hundred dollars off a TV, so people camp out all night. How many of you camped out, by the way, before I make fun of you? Any of you fight the crowds on Black Friday? Some of you are saying, “Not a chance! You will lose your sanctification trying to do that.” But it is that time of year—decorations are out, holiday festivities are happening, and the excitement is building.
Last weekend, right after Thanksgiving, we held gatherings across all our campuses focused on baptism. What is wild about being a multi-site church is that when you attend your own campus, you can easily lose sight of what God is doing everywhere else. Last weekend, thirty-four people were baptized across our church! That is thirty-four people who publicly identified their faith in Jesus Christ, declaring their allegiance to Him and their desire to follow Him with their lives. What made it even cooler is that only about six of those baptisms were planned in advance. We simply opened the floor and said, “If you want to follow Jesus in baptism and you never have, come on down.” I was at our Southeast campus, and Janelle, one of our Life Group leaders, walked up in full street clothes and said, “I want to get baptized right now.” We made it work! It was incredible seeing people spontaneously step forward to follow Christ.
Now we find ourselves entering the season of Advent. Advent refers to the four Sundays preceding Christmas. The word advent literally means “the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.” Historically, the church has used this season to build anticipation for the coming of the Messiah—the promised Liberator and Deliverer of God’s people. If you grew up in a traditional liturgical church, you might remember lighting the four Advent candles week by week, accompanied by special liturgies, songs, and pastors wearing colorful robes. We are not rocking the robes here at The Well, but you can use your imagination!
Over the next five weeks leading up to Christmas and beyond, we are going to explore the Messiah. We will look at the need for the Messiah, the promise of the Messiah, the person of the Messiah, the arrival of the Messiah on Christmas Eve, and finally, the return of the Messiah. Today, we begin at the very beginning by addressing the fundamental question: Why do we need a Messiah in the first place?
Just Like Our Father
No doubt during Thanksgiving, many of you gathered with family. The funny thing about family gatherings is that you suddenly realize how much everyone looks alike. You sit around the dinner table, look across at your parents, and think, Man, I really do look like my dad. I never wanted to admit it, but it is what it is. Brothers look like brothers, sisters look like sisters, and grandma looks like everybody.
This Thanksgiving was especially unique for my family. My brother is fifty-one years old. He was adopted and never knew his biological father. But through an interesting turn of events and a lot of persistence—because even though he is adopted, he is a Bell, and Bells are persistent as the day is long—he began searching for his birth father and found him. They connected, met, and began building a relationship.
Last Saturday, I was at the football game, standing by the sidelines, and my brother walked up. He said, “Hey, I want you to meet my dad.” I looked over, and it was like looking at a clone. It was the spitting image of my brother. The eyes, the facial mannerisms, the personality traits—within thirty seconds of watching them interact, I said, “Dude, that is completely your pops!” It is amazing how much we resemble our parents.
When we talk about our need for a Messiah, there are many positive traits we inherit from our parents, but there are also broken, negative things we pick up. The spiritual reality is that every single one of us is just like our father. I don’t just mean your immediate dad or your granddad; if you trace the family tree back far enough, past all our diversity and uniqueness, we all end up in the exact same place: Genesis chapter 1. We are all descendants of the first man, Adam, and we carry his family resemblance.
Handcrafted in the Image of God
Most people don’t try to read Genesis until January 1st as part of a New Year’s resolution. But when you open Genesis 1, you find a chronological rollout of creation. For the Type A personalities, it is neatly laid out: Day one, day two, day three, day four, day five, day six, and then a day of rest.
On Day One, God speaks light and darkness into existence, and declares it good. On Day Two, He creates the atmosphere and sky, and declares it good. On Day Three, He forms the dry land, topography, oceans, and vegetation, and declares it good. On Day Four, He establishes the sun, moon, and seasons.
At the end of Genesis 1:16, there is what might be my favorite phrase in the entire Bible when it comes to the awesome power of God. Almost as a casual footnote, the text says, “He made the stars also.” Think about that! Billions of galaxies and trillions of stars spoken into existence like an afterthought: Oh yeah, stars. Boom. That is how vast and powerful our God is.
Genesis 1:16 (NASB)
God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; [He made] the stars also.
On Day Five, God creates the birds of the air and the creatures of the sea, each reproducing after its kind, and calls it good. On Day Six, He creates land animals, and then He creates the crowning achievement of all creation: mankind.
Humanity is so significant to God that Genesis 2 circles back to give us a detailed, intimate account of how man was made. In Genesis 1, God speaks the universe into existence from nothing. But in Genesis 2:7, notice the difference: the Lord God forms man from the dust of the ground and breathes into his nostrils the breath of life, and man becomes a living being.
Genesis 2:7 (NASB)
Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Mankind was handmade. We were fashioned with personal, intimate care by God’s own hands and animated by His own breath. This is why the psalmist declares in Psalm 139, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Psalms 139:14 (NASB)
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.
God then creates a helper suitable for Adam. In Genesis 2:19-20, God brings all the beasts of the field and birds of the air to Adam to see what he would name them, establishing man’s stewardship over creation. Imagine how exhausting that must have been—naming the platypus, the armadillo, and every other creature! Yet in that process, Adam recognized that there was no suitable companion for him. So God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, took one of his ribs, closed up the flesh, and fashioned a woman.
Genesis 2:18-25 (NASB)
Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’ Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought [them] to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.’ For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Eve, too, was handmade by God. Adam’s response is pure poetry: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” The chapter ends with this profound note: “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”
Both male and female were created to reflect the image and likeness of God.
Genesis 1:26-27 (NASB)
Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
In Genesis 1:26, God says, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” Notice the plural pronoun Us. While this language highlights the majestic nature of God, it also beautifully accommodates the doctrine of the Trinity—one God eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God created humanity, male and female, to reflect His character, glory, and dominion, placing them in a lush paradise called the Garden of Eden.
In this pristine environment, God gave Adam and Eve tremendous freedom, accompanied by a single restriction.
Genesis 2:16-17 (NASB)
The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’
God told Adam, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” In the original Hebrew, it literally reads, “Dying, you will die”—you will be dead-dead. It wasn’t complicated.
Because Adam was created first and received this command directly from God before Eve was formed, it was his responsibility as a spiritual leader to communicate God’s instruction to his wife.
Human nature, however, has a peculiar bent. If I told you, “I have something in my left pocket and something in my right pocket. You can look at what is in my left pocket all day long, but you can never look in my right pocket,” what does every fiber of your being want to do? You want to look in the right pocket! We are fascinated by what is forbidden.
Prior to the Fall, Adam possessed an uncorrupted moral nature. As theologians have noted, whatever Adam’s moral nature was before the Fall, he was entirely without sin. He enjoyed passive holiness and innocence, allowing him to walk in unbroken, unhindered fellowship with God in the cool of the day. There was no shame, no guilt, and no need for a mediator. God did not make Adam and Eve as pre-programmed robots; He gave them genuine free will to love, trust, and obey Him voluntarily.
The Strategy of the Enemy
In Genesis 3, everything comes crashing down. While many assume Genesis 3 records the first sin in the universe, Scripture reveals that the first sin actually occurred in the angelic realm when Lucifer rebelled against God.
Isaiah 14:12-15 (NASB)
’How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! ’But you said in your heart, ’I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ ’Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.
Ezekiel 28:12-17 (NASB)
’Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ’Thus says the Lord GOD, ’You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. ’You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared. ’You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you [there]. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. ’You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. ’By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire. ’Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you.
Satan grew proud, decided he no longer wanted to serve God, and sought to elevate his throne above the Most High. God cast Satan out of heaven, along with a third of the angels. In Genesis 3, we witness a repeat of that rebellion on earth.
Revelation 20:2 identifies the serpent in the garden as “the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan.”
Revelation 20:2 (NASB)
And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
In Genesis 3:1-5, Satan approaches Eve with a calculated strategy to dismantle her trust in God. He attacks three specific areas: God’s Word, God’s justice, and God’s love.
Genesis 3:1-5 (NASB)
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ’Indeed, has God said, ’You shall not eat from any tree of the garden ‘?’ The woman said to the serpent, ’From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’’ The serpent said to the woman, ’You surely will not die! ‘For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’
First, Satan challenges God’s Word. He asks the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” Just as he did when tempting Jesus in the wilderness, Satan takes God’s truth and subtly twists it.
Eve tries to correct him, but she makes two critical mistakes: she adds to God’s command and minimizes the consequences. She says, “God said, ‘You shall not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’” God never said they couldn’t touch it. When we make legalistic additions to God’s Word—saying that if something leads to sin, even the neutral act associated with it is sinful—we fall into a dangerous trap. Furthermore, she softens “you will surely die” to simply “you will die.”
Second, Satan challenges God’s justice. In verse 4, he boldly lies: “You surely will not die!” He directly contradicts God’s warning of judgment.
Third, Satan goes for the jugular and challenges God’s love. In verse 5, he says, “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Satan’s lie is insidious: God is holding out on you. If God truly loved you, He wouldn’t give you rules or restrictions. He wants to keep you small so you don’t become like Him.
Satan knew he couldn’t defeat God directly in battle, so he attacked what God loved most: His children. It is the same way an enemy might try to hurt a parent by going after their kids.
The Anatomy of the Fall
Instead of fleeing temptation, Eve rationalized it. She looked at the forbidden fruit the same way a toddler stares at a hot stove after being told not to touch it. Her mind started spinning: Why can’t I have this? Is it really that bad?
Genesis 3:6 (NASB)
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make [one] wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Genesis 3:6 says, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate.”
This mirrors 1 John 2:16 perfectly.
1 John 2:15-16 (NASB)
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
John warns against the lust of the flesh (“good for food”), the lust of the eyes (“a delight to the eyes”), and the boastful pride of life (“desirable to make one wise”). Eve took the fruit and ate.
Then comes one of the most condemning statements about passive manhood in all of Scripture: “and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” Adam wasn’t off in another part of the garden tending asparagus. He was standing right there beside her, watching the entire exchange! He abdicated his spiritual leadership, watched his wife take the bite, and then willfully followed her into rebellion.
They were promised enlightenment and life; instead, they received shame and death.
Genesis 3:7-9 (NASB)
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’
Immediately, their eyes were opened, they realized they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. That is human religion at its core: trying to manufacture our own coverings to hide our guilt. When they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, instead of running to their Creator in joy, they hid among the trees.
God called out, “Where are you?” God wasn’t asking for geographical information; an omnipresent, omniscient God knew exactly where they were. It was the same question a loving father asks when his child breaks curfew: “Where have you been?” It was an invitation to confess.
Sin always operates the same way: it over-promises and under-delivers. Sin never stays contained; it always impacts others. Sin brings consequences beyond our control, and sin always results in death—spiritual separation from God, relational division, and physical mortality.
Because of their disobedience, God pronounced a curse upon the serpent, upon humanity, and upon all of creation.
Romans 8:20-21 (NASB)
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
As Paul writes in Romans 8, the entire creation was subjected to futility and groans under the weight of sin, longing to be redeemed.
The True Nature of Sin
What exactly is sin? In popular culture, sin is often reduced to “missing the mark.” While that is one biblical word picture, Scripture uses nearly twenty different terms to describe the multifaceted darkness of sin. Sin is ultimately defined as anything within the creature—whether in thought, deed, action, or motive—that does not express, or is contrary to, the holy character of God.
Sin is active rebellion. It is a willful “No” to God and a willful “Yes” to self.
Some people dismiss Genesis 1–3 as ancient mythology. But the New Testament treats Adam and Eve as historical figures with real-world consequences for every person who has ever lived.
1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (NASB)
For since by a man [came] death, by a man also [came] the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
1 Timothy 2:14 (NASB)
And [it was] not Adam [who] was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
Paul explicitly ties the historical reality of Adam’s sin to our universal need for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you dismiss Genesis 3, you dismantle the foundation of the gospel.
Total Depravity: Dead, Not Just Drowning
How bad is our spiritual condition? If you went to the doctor for a spiritual checkup, what would the prognosis be?
Throughout church history, various views have attempted to soften the blow. In the early church, Pelagianism claimed that humans are born morally neutral with no inherited sin nature. Later, semi-Pelagian views suggested that while humanity is damaged, we still retain the ability to initiate our salvation through religious works and sacraments. Others view humanity as merely “drowning”—struggling in the water, waiting for God to toss a life preserver so we can grab hold of it.
Scripture paints a far more sobering reality: apart from Christ, we are not sick, hindered, or drowning. We are spiritually dead.
Ezekiel 18:4 (NASB)
’Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.
Jeremiah 17:9 (NASB)
’The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
Job 15:14 (NASB)
’What is man, that he should be pure, Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Psalms 51:5 (NASB)
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
Psalms 58:3 (NASB)
The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth.
The Old Testament makes it clear that the soul who sins shall die, that our hearts are desperately sick, and that we are conceived in iniquity.
The New Testament confirms this exact diagnosis.
Ephesians 2:1-3 (NASB)
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
Ephesians 4:18 (NASB)
being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
Romans 3:10-12 (NASB)
as it is written, ‘THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.’
Paul tells us that we were dead in our trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this world, darkened in our understanding, and by nature children of wrath. In Romans 3, he concludes: “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God… there is none who does good, there is not even one.”
People often say, “Well, I’m generally a good person.” Good compared to whom? Compared to a convicted felon? We are not being measured against other broken people; we are measured against the absolute holiness of Almighty God. God cannot look upon sin with favor, and the stench of our self-righteousness cannot stand in His presence.
The Imputation of Sin
In Romans 5, the apostle Paul contrasts Adam’s disobedience with the work of Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:12-19 (NASB)
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned– for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like [that which came] through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment [arose] from one [transgression] resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift [arose] from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
Paul writes that through one man, sin entered the world, and death spread to all men because all sinned. Through Adam’s transgression, the many died, judgment arose resulting in condemnation, and death reigned.
Theology calls this the doctrine of imputation—the reckoning or ascribing of Adam’s guilt and fallen nature to all his natural descendants. Because Adam stood as the federal head and representative of humanity, when he fell, we fell in him.
Just as genetic conditions are passed down through biological bloodlines, the terminal condition of spiritual death has been passed down to every generation. We are not sinners because we commit sin; we commit sin because we are born sinners.
This is what the church calls the doctrine of Total Depravity. Total depravity does not mean that every person is as evil as they could possibly be, nor does it mean that an unbeliever cannot perform civic good or show human kindness. What it does mean is that the corruption of sin extends to every faculty of the human person—our intellect, our emotions, our conscience, and our will. There is nothing within the natural human heart that can commend us to God or earn His favor.
Isaiah 64:6-7 (NASB)
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.
As Isaiah 64 declares, even our most righteous deeds are like filthy garments before a holy God.
You never have to teach a toddler how to be selfish, and you never have to teach young boys how to hit their brother with a toy. They figure that out naturally because they were born with a fallen nature in desperate need of redemption.
The Specialty of God
Understanding our total depravity is essential because without the bad news, the Good News makes no sense. If you think you are just spiritually wounded, you will look for a religion that offers self-help, moral coaching, or religious checklists. But if you realize you are spiritually dead, you know that self-help cannot save you. A corpse cannot assist in its own resuscitation.
There is nothing you or I can do in our own strength to earn the favor of God. We are utterly, hopelessly, spiritually bankrupt.
Romans 5:8 (NASB)
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Colossians 1:13 (NASB)
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
Yet this is where the grace of the gospel shines brightest! While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus did not come to spot us on our last spiritual rep; He came to make dead people walk. He came to rescue us from the domain of darkness and transfer us into His marvelous kingdom.
Breathing life into dead things is God’s specialty. That is why we need a Messiah.
Let’s pray.
Father in heaven, I am so deeply grateful that by Your grace, though we were far from You—dead in our sins, with nothing good in our flesh, and utterly incapable of saving ourselves—You pursued us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You bore our judgment, absorbed the wrath we deserved, and rose victorious from the grave so that we might have eternal life.
Lord, as the dark reality of our depravity sits before us, let the light of the cross shine even brighter in our hearts. Bring conviction where there is deadness, and awaken faith in the hearts of those who need You. We thank You that raising the dead is Your specialty. Thank You for Jesus, our promised Messiah, in whose name we pray. Amen.