DWDP Gen 3; 12-13 Blame Shifting vs Honest Confession

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Have you ever caught yourself making excuses instead of simply admitting when you're wrong? Dr. Robert Jackson unpacks this universal human tendency by examining Genesis 3:12-13, where we witness humanity's first blame-shifting moment.

Drawing from his medical practice, Dr. Jackson shares revealing parallels between Adam and Eve's garden excuses and our modern-day justifications. Patients who fail to lose weight blame allergies and weather rather than admit non-compliance. Those who skip medication create elaborate stories instead of acknowledging their choices. As Dr. Jackson pointedly observes, "An excuse is the thin skin of a lie"—a truth that cuts straight to our hearts.

The consequences of blame-shifting extend far beyond mere dishonesty. Through Psalm 32, we discover the profound physical and emotional toll of unconfessed sin: wasted strength, constant groaning, and vitality drained "as with the fever heat of summer." Conversely, honest confession brings extraordinary relief. The path forward is beautifully clear yet challenging: name your sins specifically without excuse, genuinely repent by turning from old patterns, and receive Jesus as your only Savior. Just as God provided a sacrificial covering in Eden, pointing to Christ's ultimate sacrifice, we find our hope in "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."

Ready to move from excuse-making to honest confession? This episode offers practical wisdom for experiencing the freedom that comes when we stop shifting blame and start embracing truth. Subscribe now and join us next week as we explore the consequences of sin and the curse upon humanity, Lucifer, and our planet.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more
than enough for the ills thatplague our culture and our
country.
Hosted by author and physician,Dr Robert Jackson.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Papa, can you tell me a story?
Do you really want me to tellyou a story?
Well, you go, get your brotherand your sisters and I will tell
you a story.
Well, you go, get your brotherand your sisters and I will tell
you a story.
Welcome to Devotions with DrPapa.
Gather around, grab your Biblesand let's look into the written

(00:36):
word, which reveals to us theliving word, who is our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Well, today we're at Genesis,chapter 3, verses 12 through 13,
.
And our topic today is blameshifting versus honest
confession.
I'm going to start with verse11 to give us the context.

(00:59):
And God said the serpentdeceived me and I ate.

(01:33):
Now pay close attention.
My patients rarely acceptpersonal responsibility for
their poor health.
For example, one of my biggestresponsibility is helping
patients to lose weight.
As you can imagine, beingoverweight complicates

(01:56):
everything.
Blood pressure follows weight,elevated blood sugar follows
weight.
Everything is complicated bybeing overweight and losing
weight makes blood sugar comedown, cholesterol comes down,
blood pressure comes down andcomes closer to normal values.

(02:21):
But when I talk to my patientsabout losing weight, of course
we discuss diet and exercise.
Sometimes I'll give them anappetite suppressant to help
jumpstart the process, but whenthey come back to see me and
they've lost no weight.
They say things like well, doc,you know, my granddaughter got

(02:42):
and I had allergies last monthand it rained two weekends and
the excuses begin, the blameshifting begins and they blame
their circumstances rather thanaccepting responsibility for

(03:05):
their failure to lose weight.
Now, occasionally I have to behonest, someone will look at me
and it'll be quite refreshing,and they say Look, doc, I just
love to eat.
And that honesty is quiterefreshing, is quite refreshing.

(03:29):
And you know, I havenon-compliant patients who they
just will not admit to me thatthey just don't want to take,
for example, their bloodpressure pills.
And they make all kinds ofexcuses and they say things like
I just can't remember to takemy blood pressure medication.
And I'll look at them and I'llsay, well, don't you brush your
teeth every morning?
They'll say, well, yeah, I saywell, just put your blood
pressure pills by yourtoothbrush, don't you eat

(03:51):
breakfast every morning?
Well, sure, doc, I say, well,put your medication right beside
your breakfast table and youcan remember to take your
medicine.
Those are obvious solutions tome.
But the truth of the matter isthey just don't want to take
blood pressure medication andthey make excuses.
Now listen, an excuse is thethin skin of a lie and when I

(04:18):
say that to my patients they'reterribly offended, but it's the
truth.
They're terribly offended, butit's the truth.
Just listen, just man up, tellthe truth and look folks in the
eye and say no excuse, sir.
Accept full responsibility foryour failures and confess your

(04:38):
faults.
How many times in your wholeentire life have you heard
someone say to you I'm sorry, Iwas wrong, or I'm sorry I messed
up, or I'm sorry I let you down?
I bet it hasn't been a wholelot of times, has it?
Most people drop intoautomatically drop into

(05:06):
blame-shifting mode, just likeAdam and Eve in verse 12 and 13
here.
Listen to what they said.
I'm going to read it to youagain.
The man said the woman whom yougave to be with me, she gave me
from the tree and I ate.
Then the Lord God said to thewoman what is this you have done

(05:27):
?
And the woman said the serpentdeceived me and I ate.
And the Lord God said to thewoman what is this you have done
?
And the woman said the serpentdeceived me and I ate.
You know, I have a whole parcelof grandchildren and there's
seven of them that live locally,and this weekend my daughter
from Pennsylvania is going tobring five more.
So that's going to be 12grandkids living in my house

(05:49):
probably every day for the nextweek.
And when they're all togetherit's like all out warfare, with
kids under all of them under 10protecting their property rights
, slandering one another,physically assaulting one
another, and it's just ahullabaloo in my house and

(06:14):
they're all blame-shifting.
They're blaming one another forall of the physical assaults
and the stealing of oneanother's property.
And their parents, I'm sure,would like to shape shift, like
the creatures do in the scarymovies, and turn into a big bad

(06:38):
wolf and just scarf up thoselittle kids.
Or maybe they would like toteleport themselves into another
country when they hear thoselittle kids screaming bloody
murder.
Well, you get the picture.
But you see Adam and Eve here.
They begin to blame shift andAdam, immediately he blames God

(07:02):
by saying the woman whom yougave to be with me.
And he blames God and he says,in case you already forgot, god,
you gave her to me and besidesthat she was beautiful and she
had no clothes on.
What was I supposed to do?
Give me a break.

(07:22):
Well then Eve responded andsays the serpent deceived me and
I ate.
She also shifted blame tosomeone else.
Now let me ask you a questionDid Lucifer, disguised as a
serpent, deserve blame?

(07:43):
Well, in 1 John 8, verse 44,.
Well, in 1 John 8, verse 44,jesus speaking of I didn't mean
to say 1 John, I'm sorry, it'sJohn 8.
Jesus speaking of Satan, he hadthis to say about him.

(08:04):
Verse 44, he said to thePharisees he says you are of
your father, the devil, and youwant to do the desires of your
father.
And then, speaking about Satan,he says he was a murderer from

(08:34):
the beginning and does not standin the truth, because there is
no truth in him.
Whenever he speaks a lie, hespeaks from his own nature, for
he is a liar and the father oflies.
You see, that is Satan's naturehe is a liar and the father of
lies.
More than that, in John 10.10,the Bible says the thief comes
to steal and to kill and todestroy.
That thief is none other thanLucifer, who deceived Eve in the

(09:00):
garden.
Does he deserve blame?
Does he deserve his eventualpunishment in the lake of fire?
He certainly does.
But until then, paul has warnedyou and me not to be unaware of
the schemes of the evil, onewho is a liar and a thief, who

(09:24):
comes to steal and destroy andwho is a murderer.
Who comes to steal and destroyand who is a murderer.
But could Adam and Evesuccessfully and legitimately
shift blame to God or Lucifer orto one another?
The answer to that is no, theycouldn't.

(09:46):
Could we, you and me, shiftblame to our parents, our
upbringing, our environment, ourlack of education, our sorry
friends?
No, no, no, no, we cannot.

(10:07):
Have you ever listened to adefense lawyer in court try to
explain to the judge why hisclient committed his criminal
acts?
Have you ever listened?
During the sentencing phase,after a guilty verdict has been
rendered, in order to minimizethe penalty, the lawyer lays it

(10:30):
on thick, describing all mannerof different circumstances
involved His client has endured,such as difficult childhood or
poverty or poor health, oreconomic setbacks or
psychological problems, familyissues you get the picture.

(10:54):
Rarely does the defendant standthere in front of the judge and
say I'm guilty, your Honor, noexcuse for my criminal behavior.
You see, everybody wants toshift blame.
They want to blame theirimmoral behavior on something

(11:17):
other than their personalresponsibility.
Now let me ask you anotherquestion.
What would have happened ifAdam and Eve had just
immediately confessed their sinright from the start?
Rather than blame shifting, Iwant you to remember that our

(11:38):
God is quick and ready toforgive, that our God is quick
and ready to forgive, that hedeals with us not according to
our sins, but according to Hisloving kindness and His tender
mercy.
The Bible says that if weconfess our sins, he is faithful

(11:59):
and just to forgive us of oursins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness when we try tohide our sin.
The psalmist tells us in thebook of Psalms, in chapter 32,
I've read this psalms to youmany times, but it's important
for you to understand what theBible says here in Psalms,

(12:21):
chapter 32.
What happens when you and I tryto hide our sin, like David did
after he sinned with Bathsheba,like Adam and Eve did here,
rather than immediatelyconfessing their sin?
What does the psalmist sayabout it?
He says in Psalms 32 and verse3,.
He says in Psalms 32 and verse3, when I kept silent about my

(12:43):
sin, my body wasted away throughmy groaning all day long.
For day and night, your handwas heavy upon me.
You know that feeling, don'tyou?
You know what it's like to havethe conviction of Holy Spirit
upon your life when you refuseto fess up and admit to your

(13:03):
wrongdoing.
And then he goes on to say thatmy vitality was drained away,
as with the fever heat of summer.
You know what it's like whenthe heat and humidity of
summertime just sucks the lifeout of you.
Listen, when you and I fail toconfess our sin to God, the
Bible tells us that our vitality, our life force, is drained

(13:29):
away, as with the fever heat ofsummer.
But then, in verse five, thepsalmist describes what happens
when we confess our sin.
He said I acknowledge my sin toyou and my iniquity I did not
hide.
I said I will confess mytransgressions to the Lord and

(13:50):
you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Back up to verse 1.
How blessed, blessed is hewhose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered that wordmeans atoned how blessed is the
man to whom the Lord does notimpute iniquity and in whose

(14:13):
spirit there is no deceit?
So let me ask you the questionagain what would have happened
if Adam and Eve had immediatelyconfessed their sin?
Well, we have no way ofanswering that question.
We have no way of knowing,because the truth of the matter

(14:33):
is they blame shift.
They tried to blame God, eachother and Lucifer.
Adam and Eve refused toacknowledge their sin, as the
psalmist ultimately did here.
Instead, they blame shifted,like you and I do so often.
How often have you heard it saidthat confession is good for the

(14:57):
soul?
Confession of sin withoutexcuse.
Soul Confession of sin withoutexcuse, without excuse making or
blame shifting, is the firststep in making things right
between you and God.
Lord, I'm sorry, I was wrongand you were holy and always

(15:20):
right.
Here's a suggestion Name yoursins from beginning to end and
if you forget, I promise youHoly Spirit will help you.
Remember that's his ministry,that's his job.
And then repent.
That's his job.

(15:40):
And then repent, turn your backon your old sinful ways and
your old sinful attitudes andask God to give you grace and
say to him Lord, you give me thestrength that I won't live that
way anymore.
And then, lastly, receive Jesusas your only Savior, your only

(16:04):
hope and trust, only in theblood of the Lamb, acknowledging
that only the blood of Jesuscan cover your sins.
In the garden and we'll getthere eventually, in this same
chapter, in the garden, godkilled a sacrificial animal,

(16:25):
probably a lamb, to cover theirnakedness to cover or atone for
their sin.
That lamb in the garden pointedto the eventual, perfect lamb
of God, whose blood would takeaway the sin of the entire world

(16:46):
.
Dear listener, put yourconfidence, put your trust in
the blood of that Lamb sayingLord, I have no hope, I have no
plea, but that thy blood wasshed for me.
O Lamb of God, I come.
No more blame shifting, no moreexcuse, making Just an honest

(17:13):
confession in the presence ofHoly God, receiving Jesus as
your only hope, your only Saviorand the true King of your life.
You're listening to More ThanMedicine and I'm your host, dr
Robert Jackson.
If you like what you hear, Ipray that you would follow, like

(17:34):
or share, tell your friends andfamily about more devotions
with Dr Papa, family about moredevotions with Dr Papa.
We'll be back next week, atwhich time we're going to talk
about the serious consequencesof sin and the curse upon man,
lucifer and the planet.

(17:56):
Till then, may the Lord blessyou real good.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
Thank you for listening to this edition of
More Than Medicine.
For more information about theJackson Family Ministry, dr
Jackson's books, or to schedulea speaking engagement, go to
their Facebook page, instagramor their webpage at
jacksonfamilyministrycom.
This podcast is produced by BobSloan Audio Production at
bobsloancom.