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George Barna heads a research company that surveys Americans about their religious beliefs. In his most recent national survey among adults, he discovered that only four percent of adults have a biblical worldview as the foundation for their decision-making.

A "worldview" is a comprehensive philosophy of life. It’s similar to putting on tinted glasses that cause you to see all of life with a certain tint or perspective. Your worldview shapes your thinking, attitudes, beliefs, values and opinions—which ultimately will determine how you will live. You see, everyone has a worldview, but only a few have a biblical worldview.

So what is the biblical worldview that only four percent of us have? Barna defines it as believing that "absolute moral truth exists, that such truth is defined by the Bible, and that holds a firm belief in six specific religious views. These views are that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He stills rules today, salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned, Satan is real, a Christ follower has a responsibility to share his or her faith in Christ with other people, and the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings."

Sadly, most people own a Bible and know some of its content, but few know how to integrate core biblical principles into their daily lives. According to Barna’s research, when you apply a biblical worldview you are three times less likely to get drunk, two times less likely to view pornography, eight times less likely to buy lottery tickets; and 12 times less likely to have sex outside marriage.

In no place does our biblical worldview get shaped more than in our perspective on the Bible’s first book—Genesis. Understanding this book is critical to developing a biblical worldview. In the first 11 chapters of Genesis most every key biblical belief is addressed, a moral standard of right and wrong is established, the purpose of history is clarified, and marriage is defined. All the major sciences are touched on in a way to help explain the workings of our physical world.

Ken Ham is the founder of Answers in Genesis. He explains how the historical book of Genesis lays the foundation for a biblical worldview and validates scientific discoveries
and the Bible as truth. For information, visit Answers in Genesis awesome website: www.answersingenesis.org 

The Bible is absolutely incredible, and without it you’ll never discover God’s worldview. You don’t have to be afraid to defend it. History and science have never proved it wrong. It’s God’s Word—God’s absolute truth for you to live your life by. It offers you everything you need to develop and live out a biblical worldview with confidence. The Bible is amazing.

It consists of 66 books written by over 40 authors over a period of 2,000 years on several different continents in three different languages, yet it contains one story line. It’s the story of the creator who lost his prized creation in the Garden of Eden and instead of starting over; He pursued that lost creation and paid a huge price to get it back. This story from Genesis to Revelation can be summed up in one word—redemption.

Don’t let the word "redemption" scare you. It means "to buy back, to regain possession of, and to recover by payment or sacrifice." God, who lost his prized creation, buys us back, regains possession of us, and recovers us by paying a high price.

God wrote the story of redemption in reaction to his prized creation—Adam and Eve—who chose to disobey God’s one rule and create a need for God to buy us back—to redeem us. God wasn’t ready to give up on Adam and Eve or his prodigal race.

Adam and Eve were God’s prized creation. He met all their needs and provided them with a beautiful garden—a perfect world where there were no natural catastrophes, no death or fear, no predator-prey relationships, no hurt, jealously, anger or bitterness. No one gets fired, no sickness or disease existed—it was a world of absolute harmony and freedom with just one rule to obey. For Adam and Eve, they experienced unlimited potential with God. It was truly paradise.

They were living out the ultimate scenario, until the serpent, or Satan, came on the scene and rocked their world and redefined their worldview. The pattern is all too familiar. Adam and Eve went from deception to distrust to disobedience to facing physical and spiritual death. We pick up the story immediately after they ate the forbidden fruit. Genesis 3:7 says, "At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they strung fig leaves together around their hips to cover themselves."

Instantly, their worldview changed. Their eyes were opened. Purity was replaced by shame. From that one act of rebellion, they were kicked out of the garden, their relationship with God was devastated, childbirth became a pain, work became a drag, death, disease, hurt and pain, natural catastrophes and predator-prey relationships occurred for the first time. Everything that makes your life miserable happened at the moment Adam and Eve ate the fruit.

Even the very nature of humankind changed from that point forward. Tragically, the effects of their sin didn’t dwindle away after a few generations. It says in Romans 5:12, "When Adam sinned; sin entered the entire human race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned." That tendency to do what’s wrong is born in all of us—it’s part of who we are—and we have Adam and Eve to thank for turning our paradise into a moral mess.

One thing that we can all relate to in this story is the sense of regret. Imagine Adam and Eve’s sense of regret for having blown it for all humankind by introducing a whole new, flawed worldview. I wonder what it felt like for them to see their own life and family begin crumbling to pieces?

We’ve all tasted those wonderful possibilities that ended in blown opportunities, dashed dreams and huge regrets. For some of you it was the first marriage when you promised, "till death do you part," but now on the other side there’s hurt, bitterness, anger and financial pressures. Your potential turned to regret and a blown opportunity and a moral mess. So what do you do if you’re on the side of regret rather than potential? Here’s what you can learn from Adam and Eve on how NOT to respond when you’re on the other side of paradise, facing blown opportunities and regret. First of all, when there is regret…

1. You hide from others and God. When they ate the fruit they immediately felt shame and nakedness, so they covered up with fig leaves. Not only did they start hiding and covering up with each other, they tried to hide from God as well. It’s so human what they did, isn’t it? Genesis 3:8 tells us, "Toward evening they heard the LORD God walking about in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees." How absurd that Adam and Eve tried to hide from the God of the universe who created everything—including them. It’s a tragic worldview. There is no hiding from God. But here’s what I absolutely love about the God of the Bible—next verse.

Genesis 3:9, "The LORD God called to Adam, "Where are you?" Was God confused, had He misplaced his GPS? Why was God calling out to Adam? God wanted Adam to know that He was looking for him. God had warned them in Genesis 2:17 that they would surely die if they ate the fruit. Adam figured that God was coming to demand justice by putting Adam and Eve to death. No wonder they were hiding. Their potential became a blown opportunity, so they figured God was going to wipe the slate clean and start over with a new story and new characters.

God wanted them to know that He’s just but also merciful and loving. That is the God of the Bible. Maybe you’re naked and hiding in your shame over blown opportunities, but you need to know that God is looking for you right now to re-establish a relationship with you. He’s looking for you. He wants you back. Now when you deal with blown opportunities, not only do you hide, but you also do a second thing. 2. You blame God and others.

Genesis 3:10–12 says, "Adam replied, 'I heard you, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.' 'Who told you that you were naked?' the LORD God asked. 'Have you eaten the fruit I commanded you not to eat?' 'Yes,' Adam admitted, 'but it was the woman you gave me who brought me the fruit, and I ate it'" "God, I’m so glad you came looking for me. I’ve got a bone to pick with you. That woman you gave me is trouble. It’s her fault. You should have a talk with her."

Don’t we do the same thing? Some of us blame God for our misfortune. We blame the church or the pastor. We play the total denial game, always pointing the finger at the other person to blame. If she had just…if he had only…my boss is unreasonable …it’s all his fault…she’s to blame…. Friends, no one wins when you play the blame game.

All God is asking of you, me and Adam is to stop hiding and blaming, and if you will do that, God offers you this provision in Genesis 3:21, "And the LORD God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife." The skins represented the first animals that had to die in Adam and Eve’s place, so they could be covered. The immediate death consequences and punishment that should have gone to Adam and Eve instead went to those animals. This is the introduction to God’s story of redemption. A sacrifice was made to buy back or regain possession of Adam and Eve.

God didn’t want Adam and Eve to tackle the world in fig leaves, so He reached out in love and graciously gave them skins. He offered them grace—His undeserved and unearned favor. He offered them His provision of skins to cover their nakedness and shame so that they could move forward and experience a fresh start. He redeemed them. He bought back his prized creation, his prodigal people … through a sacrifice.

Maybe you’ve blown paradise and you’re facing missed opportunities and a moral mess. The good news comes when you put on the skins. You experience God’s grace. Here’s the point: the only thing keeping you from God’s grace is your hiding and blaming. God has the skins ready—his grace is ready—to carry you into the future with forgiveness and hope.

Are you hiding? Are you blaming? Are your blown opportunities too much for you to deal with? Is the shame and regret overwhelming? God offers you something much better than this. It’s time to stop hiding and blaming and come out from behind the bushes and experience God’s provision of grace—His undeserved favor. Remember, He’s already made the sacrifice, which foreshadows the ultimate sacrifice through His Son’s death on the cross. He just longs to wrap those skins around you and give you a fresh start so you can move forward again.