God Displayed His Goodness To The Rebellious

“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 and 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 opened, 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 the man, ‘Where are you?’ He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was 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?’ The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’ Then the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate’” (Genesis 3:6-13, NIV).

Now, may I ask: what do you think is the good thing that your father did that you will always remember?

In my case, I could remember many good and even exciting things that my physical father did, especially when I was still very young. One of those things was when he performed magic tricks before me.

When I was three or four years old, he placed a glass of water on the table, while he held a coin in his hand. Then, he wrapped the coin in the middle of the handkerchief and instructed me to hold it over the glass of water. Then, he uttered some “magic words” and told me to release what I was holding. You could hear the clink inside the glass, when the thing that I held fell in the water filled glass. But, when the handkerchief was removed, you could not see any trace of coin inside the glass! My physical father could vanish a coin.

But, studying the first verses of Genesis chapter 1, we learned that our Heavenly Father could make something appear out of nothing. Because He is the Eternal Creator.

Also, we learned that He is the Sovereign Being, in complete control of all things. And He is the Supreme Personal Being, whom we could have intimate personal relationship. Really, we would seek and desire to have a close relationship with Him, because He is supremely good.

And this time, we will observe that even to sinners, He shows His goodness. So, our topic is… GOD DISPLAYED HIS GOODNESS TO THE REBELLIOUS… as we focus on our text (Genesis 3:6-19).

So, how did God display His goodness to man even when he sinned against Him?

Before the account that happened in our text, Moses -- who wrote the first five books of the Bible – related many good things that God gave to the man. Aside from his life and being created in the very image of God, the man was provided with a garden – really a very good one!

Then, God provided him “every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” (Gen. 2:9).

God granted him the pleasure of employment. What good thing then to farm or work in the garden and keep it (verse 15)!

God issued to the man a very good command – an instruction that would prolong his good life in the garden for eternity and would prevent his joyful relationship with His Maker to be severed (verse 16-17).

And God provided the man with a partner. For it was not good for the man to be alone.

But, in spite of all the good things he enjoyed from the Good God, the man listened to the alluring lies of the tempter!

Yet, God continued to display His goodness to the rebellious man. How?

I – By displaying His gentleness (verses 6-11).

We read verses 6-11, “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 and 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 opened, 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 the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was 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?”