Genesis (Pt. 9) (Grace in the Curse)
Text: Genesis 3:9 - 24
By: Ken McKinley
(Read Text)
Now last week we talked about how sin is lawlessness, how it is deceptive and how it always brings shame and guilt. This week we’re going to look at the result of Adam’s sin but also how God showed Adam and Eve grace, despite their sin.
Now in our text here, it begins with God calling out to Adam saying, “Where are you?” Now God is omniscient; that means that He knows everything. He knew that Adam was hiding behind the trees. This call from God, asking where Adam was, was more like a cry of grief than it was a question. The relationship and fellowship between God and Adam had been broken. Now I just reminded ya’ll how sin is lawlessness, how it is deceptive and how it brings shame. But this is the worst result of sin… it brings separation between God and His creation.
In verses 10 – 13 we see Adam shift the blame to Eve, and Eve shifts the blame to the serpent, and then judgment is pronounced. Every covenant has blessings and curses. Blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience; and the 1st covenant between God and man is no different. And in verses 14 – 19 we are going to see the terrible curse that results from Adam’s disobedience. But what I want us to focus on today is the grace that is also found in those verses; because whether we realize it or not, this is also actually the first step in the covenant of grace.
Look at vss. 14 & 15 (Read); So God deals with those who have rebelled against Him in the order that they did it. First He deals with the serpent, then He deals with Eve, and then… we’ll get to it in a second, He deals with Adam. And you notice God didn’t ask Satan, “Who led you to rebellion?” Or, “Who tricked you?” Satan knew exactly what he was doing. Now this is interesting, because God doesn’t offer any hope of pardon to Satan for his rebellion. He doesn’t offer any hope of redemption or salvation. Some people say that the reason for that is because he knew what he was doing, but Adam and Eve were deceived… but that’s not exactly what Scripture teaches. Turn with me to 1st Timothy 2:12-14 (Read). You see; Adam knew the command of God to not eat of the fruit, but he was spineless. And we see the same thing happening today. There is nothing new under the sun. We see pastors today, who rather than stand up and stand firm on the truth of God’s Word, will capitulate and waffle on things like the inerrancy of Scripture, or same sex marriage, or abortion. They say their being tolerant and open minded, but I think they’re so open minded their brains have fallen out. It’s the same thing Adam did. They know better than that, but the empty promises of fame, or fortune, or even a full church, causes them to capitulate; and down the path of error they go.
But back to my point… Adam rebelled, knowing that he was rebelling. And yet God offered redemption to man, but not to Satan. And I think this is a clear example of God’s sovereignty in election being displayed. There was no reason for God to promise Adam and Eve redemption and salvation, other than His free choice to have mercy and grace upon us.
So God pronounces His judgment. His first judgment is directed in essence at Satan, but the actual serpent suffers as well. I like how Matthew Henry – the great Presbyterian minister explained it. He said, “The devils instruments must share in the devils punishments.” In Exodus 21:28-29 we read about how if an ox or bull gores someone and they die, then that animal is to be stoned to death. They were to suffer the same punishment as a person who committed murder. God takes sin very seriously. So the serpent is cursed. And some people say that this reference to “eating dust” is talking about Satan being cast out of heaven. But I’m not ashamed to tell you… I don’t know if that’s what it is or not. I think that might be reading something into Scripture that isn’t there. Regardless; God curses the serpent, but then He gives a glimpse of the grace that is to come. In verse 15 He says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” Now we know that the “seed” of the woman is ultimately Christ… but what about the seed of the serpent? Well in John chapter 8 Jesus called the Pharisees children of the devil. We also see a pattern developed in the OT; we see the blessings of the covenant go from Abraham to Isaac, not to Ishmael, and from Isaac to Jacob, not to Esau, until ultimately it leads down through history to Jesus Himself. The promised seed of both Eve and Abraham. So the history of redemption is also a history of spiritual warfare that began right here in Genesis.
What this is here; is what theologians call the “protoevangelium” in-other-words, this is a presentation of the Gospel, before the Gospel was fully understood and realized. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that we are saved by grace through faith, and that has been the case since the beginning. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. And so by faith in this promise, Adam and Eve, and Seth, and Enoch, and Methuselah, and Noah… they were all justified by faith. They understood that a Savior was coming. In faith, they looked forward to that day. Just like in faith we look back at the cross. They looked forward to the day their Redeemer would come.
And so there’s this spiritual war that’s going on… it’s a war against sin. It’s a war against the devil, the world and the flesh. Now when I say “the world” I’m talking about this ungodly world system we all live in. And when I say “the flesh” I’m talking about our own sinful, depraved nature. And let me just say this… Sometimes… I’ve talked to people, and they tell me that they feel like they’re fighting a loosing battle against the sin in their lives. But the fact that they’re fighting the battle is a good sign that they are spiritually alive.
Let me tell you a little story I heard to try and illustrate this.
There once was a plantation owner in the Deep South, and this guy was a real jerk. He would beat his slaves, he would beat his animals, and he was even abusive to his wife and kids. He was known to have a foul mouth and a bad temper. But during a revival in his town he was saved, and his life immediately changed. All of a sudden he was a pleasure to be around. He no longer screamed and yelled at his kids, he was kind and considerate of his wife; he even began to treat his slaves better. About two months went by until one day one of his slaves forgot to secure a gate and several of his cows got out. The plantation owner flew into a rage and began cussing and screaming at them. But then right in the middle of his tantrum, he broke down in tears and ran into the house. He ran into the kitchen where his wife was cooking supper and he put his head in his hands and wept. His wife asked him “what was the matter?” And he said to her, “I’m no different than I was before.” And she looked at him and said, “Oh yes you are. Before, you would not have had any remorse for behaving in such a way, but now look at you. Your heart is broken over your sin.”
You all have heard me say this before, and you’ll probably hear me say it again. The evidence of true conversion is a changed life. If we can be at peace with the sin in our lives, if we resent it when we read the Bible and it convicts us, or we hear a sermon and it convicts us. Or we can be content living in sin, even when we are aware that God condemns it. Then something is seriously wrong. Because when God redeems you, He plants a spiritual enmity in our hearts between us and Satan.
That doesn’t mean that if you’re born again you’ll cease from sin… we won’t cease from sin until we go to be with the Lord… but what it does mean is that we; as Christians hate our sins, and I mean literally hate them. And it means that by God’s grace we struggle against the sins in our life that have been revealed to us, and that we are aware of.
Ok… look at verse 16 (Read); sin doesn’t bring an end to God’s original plan for man to fill the earth and have dominion over it, but what it does is that it now makes it much more difficult. And we’ve already seen how Adam was over Eve because he was created first, and she was created “for” him, but now God is not only re-stating that principle but He’s telling Eve that because of sin, there’s now going to be an element of discord in the marriage relationship. He’s saying that everyone wants to be in charge, but that His original plan must stand.
Then finally, in verses 17 – 19, we see the curses pronounced on Adam, and just like God’s original plan for marriage isn’t done away with, the creation ordinance of labor is also still in effect. There are 3 parts to this aspect of the curse. 1st – Adam is told that his work will become a very hard thing. There will be thorns and thistles in the ground that he’s attempting to cultivate. If you don’t believe that, just look at what used to be my garden. After a week at Falls Creek and two weeks of vacation, the weeds took over my garden. 2nd – we see that Adam must toil until the day he dies. Notice in verse 17 God says to him, “In toil you shall eat of it ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE.” And lastly; we see that God is not slack concerning His promises. He told Adam, “In the day you eat of it, you shall surly die.” And the last part of the curse is indeed death. But even here, God has grace. God allows Adam and Eve to live out a life on earth. Instead of allowing sin to take their lives immediately; God allows them to live (albeit physically) for a time on the earth. The moment they ate of the fruit, they died spiritually, and physical death does come eventually. The ratio of death to life is one for one. None of us escape it. But God often allows us to remain on this earth for a period of time. And so the amazing thing isn’t that all men die, it’s that any of us are allowed to live at all.
So that brings us to the aftermath of the Fall; verses 20-24, and I want you to notice something here. I want you to notice Adam’s faith. God has just pronounced His curse upon creation because of sin. He has said, because of sin, man will now experience death… but He also has said that the Seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. And so even though God has pronounced a sentence of death, Adam has faith in the promise of the Seed of the woman, and he names the woman “Eve” which is literally “Life.” In-other-words, Adam understood what God was saying in verse 15, and he responds in faith. And then God covers them with the skins of animals.
This is a picture of the atonement that is to come. The Bible says, “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.” And so the blood of animals is shed, and Adam and Eve’s nakedness is covered. But the sacrifice of animals can only cover sin, but the Sacrifice that is to come, will obliterate sin and wash us whiter than snow.
And lastly; God drives them from the Garden of Eden.
Now sometimes you’ll hear people say things like, “God didn’t want them to eat from the tree of life because He was afraid of them becoming too powerful.” So let me just tell you right now; God isn’t afraid of anything. The removal of Adam and Eve from the presence of the tree of life is an act of mercy. If Adam had eternal life in a state of sin, he would’ve had a life of eternal condemnation. Remember the words of the ordinance of Communion? “If you eat in an unworthy manner, you eat condemnation to yourself.” This was God’s grace in action.
So God drives them out of Eden. They have lost paradise. They’ve lost walking in the cool of the day with God, their relationship with Him has been undone, and their fellowship with Him has been marred. Now they will suffer, and their work will be burdensome, and child bearing will be painful, and men will lord over their wives, and there will be sadness and pain and suffering. And God sends cherubim to guard the entrance and He places a flaming sword to stop man from trying to return to the Garden. And what this is showing us, is that it is impossible for a human initiated re-establishment of relations between man and God. And so if there is going to be a re-establishment of our relationship with God, He’s going to have to be the One to do it. He was the offended party, and He alone can initiate salvation. And that’s exactly what the rest of the Bible is about – God initiating salvation to rebellious, sinful man.
In the 1st three chapters we learn about the world that God had made and the mess we made of it, but the rest of the Bible is about God’s plan to clean up that mess for His own glory and for our good.
It’s about His grace, majesty and glory.
Let’s Pray
