Who told you?

“And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked....” (Gen3:11)

We are in the information world. Just a few years ago it takes time to know
what is happening even within your township. It was at this time that the
American came up with the cliché’ that the if you don’t know what is
going on you must be living in Cincinnati, but I sure now Cincinnati is no
more lagging behind in information.

In the third world the situation is even worse of, in the villages
(unfortunately it is still happening) they lacked the basics of life like
electricity, water, road etc. So the best way information is disseminated is
ear say, when information is passed this way, it gets watered down and it
gets distorted. So we could say that rumour was the major way of passing
down information before. (By rumour I mean Flying or popular report; a
current story passing from one person to another without any known
authority for the truth of it. It may also mean, Report of a fact; a story well
authorized).

In an environment where truth and facts are hidden then rumour in its
negative sense prevails. The truth is, as the world information is
disseminated so quickly and factually, negative rumours can easily be
nipped in the bud, but when information are not released then the
contrary is the case. What I am saying in essence is that any environment
be it nucleus, state or a nation where rumour thrives is an environment
where truth is being compromised.

But now, the way information travels is alarming and scary sometimes. In
this information craze world it is possible for others to hear information
about you before you. And that’s not just within your vicinity but
throughout the world.

As a Christian, I believe the information technology era is a sign of the end

time. How do I mean? One of the signs of the end time is rumour (report
of authorised facts) of war, not just that but that the gospel shall be
preached all over the world. Information technology is making it
increasingly impossible for an individual to say he had not heard of the
gospel. I believe more than ever before that the world can be evangelised.
From the negative stand point also, it is becoming increasingly possible
for one man to govern the whole world through information technology.
So the story of the anti-Christ ruler is more likely now than when it was
revealed in the scripture.

The title of this message is a common statement in a rumour infested

area. It is what you hear a person say after that someone releases to
him/her information concerning him/her or someone known to him/her in
other to ascertain the source, the credibility or the falsity of the
information.
The scripture mentioned above was the dialogue God had with Adam after
man’s first sin. You know the story man was created and formed and then
God gave him instruction on what to do and not to do, responsibility, job
and a wife. Then the devil came deceived his wife while he was there
staring at the sky unconcerned about what was happening and to add salt
upon injury, the woman gave him part of the fruit he was commanded not
to eat and he ate it. I am wont to believe that Adam had intended to eat
the fruit for a long time he just did not have the courage to do so. So when
he saw a willing ally in Eve he said nothing (so it is not unlikely that Adam
had been tempted by the devil before Eve came on scene) rather he
quickly took a bit of the fruit. Then they saw their nakedness and quickly
covered up.

When God queried him why he was hiding and if he had eaten of the fruit,
he gave a readymade answer (the reason he had no qualms about Eve
being tempted and why he ate), “it is the woman you gave me.” If you are
a man (a married one with or without children) and you take pleasure in
blaming your wife and children for the reason why things are not working
well in your home, you are grossly irresponsible. It is you that God gave
the responsibility to provide direction and leadership at home so do and
settle it in you heart that concerning your home, the bulk stops at your
table. Period!

Also, from the first sin of mankind towards God we are able to understand
the meaning of sin in its simplest form. From the book of beginning
(Genesis) sin is simply disobedience to God’s instruction. Every other
(stealing, lying, adultery, fornication, unforgiveness, idolatry and the likes)
are just demonstrations of disobedience. As stated in Rom14:23b,
“whatever is not of faith is sin,” so God even judge you by your motive.
Once you motive is wrong you have sinned.

The question God asked Adam is very instructive, while Adam was stating
the obvious ... I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I
was naked; and I hid myself.... (Gen3:10) God rather asked him who told
him he was naked. That is a kind of question you will pose to somebody
with false rumour or a kind of question you will ask your naive child if he is
talking about something you feel is beyond his comprehension.

From the question of God to Adam, it shows that sin is the door way to
guilt, sin is also the door way to shame, and sin breeds also the unholy
fear of God, sin reveals our nakedness (weaknesses and shortcoming), it
makes you run from God rather than fellowship with Him and sin will make
you bare, unprotected and vulnerable to the devil. Sin takes you away
from God’s covering.

Adam was unaware of these things till he sinned and unfortunately it

could not be undone. The bible called sin the joy of a season but it is a
sadness of a lifetime and for some an eternal damnation if they refuse to
ask for forgiveness and repent. In case you have not given your life to
Jesus, you will be doing yourself a world of good if you will do so now! The
bible says,”the wages (the salary) of sin is death (physical, emotional and
spiritual death). When you refuse to repent you are guaranteed three
deaths and three hells. It is the sin of Adam that cut short man’s life on
earth, so all must die physically. But sin also will make you callous, you
will become insensitive to God and His ways as such you are dead in your
emotion and finally you will die and go to hell and that is the last death,
the point of no return. You may as well repent now!

If you say I don’t believe in it, you are only deceiving yourself. You do not
have to believe in the law gravity, but if you jump down a mountain, you
have just set yourself for death or injury. You don’t have to wait for the
final fall down the cliff of earth to hell before you belief, because by then
there’s no going back.

God asked Adam who told him he was naked. The question was as if he
was not supposed to know. God was not unaware of his nakedness but
that information was a miscellaneous one, meant for God alone. I believe
up till the time of the sin the only thing that Adam heard from God in their
fellowship was His love towards him. God must have told him of his
dominion over all things, that he was a god on earth, that he had the
same authority on earth as God had in heaven, that he was answerable to
no being but God. God must have made Adam to feel very important.

Adam statement after the sin brought a twist to the knowledge of Adam,
for he was supposed to know only good and no evil at all. Hence the
question “who told you?”This was what took mankind out of perfection
(Eden) to struggles, but thank God Jesus came to restore man back to
genesis. Hence the born again experience. When you give your life to
Christ you are born again into Eden (before the sin); it is an absolute
restoration for what should disqualify you had been paid by our Lord and
master Jesus Christ in full. Your dominion is restored, fruitfulness restored,
and replenishment restored. In short you are blessed. Blessed as in the
blessing God passed on mankind at the beginning.

Having received all these through salvation, when you start speaking like
Adam after his disobedience, you put God in a strait. What I am saying in
essence is that concerning you born again child of God, it is abnormal to
say you are bound; it is abnormal to say you are poor, stagnancy is not
the usual in your life, sicknesses, generational curses, struggles, agony,
pains, bareness, sorrows or whatever makes sad.

When you are always talking about what is not working, failures, loses and
the workings of the devil, your speech is not of a man in fellowship but as
a sinner and God is bound to ask “who told you”? As a new generation
man therefore you should be speaking God’s language. Talk about all that
Jesus had obtained for you through salvation, boast about your God, talk
of His greatness, give voice to His promises for you, and be bold to let
whoever cares to know that you are a child of covenant. Let the finished
work of Christ concerning you be your watch word. If you must talk about
the devil, talk about your dominion over him, bind his influences over you,
lose yourself and your ward from his grip, take authority over him and
condemn every negative word over you. When you speak in this way you
on the same wave length with God but when you take pleasure in
glorifying the devil, God will not hesitate to ask “who told you?”