An Outline Of Salvation
(God’s Grace)
Genesis 3:20-24
Intro: A grandfather found his grandson, jumping up and down in his playpen, crying at the top of his voice. When Johnnie saw his grandfather, he reached up his little chubby hands and said, “Out, Gramp, out.”
It was only natural for Grandfather to reach down to lift the little fellow out of his predicament; but as he did, the mother of the child stepped up and said, “No, Johnnie, you are being punished, so you must stay in.”
The grandfather was at a loss to know what to do. The child’s tears and chubby hands reached deep into his heart, but the mother’s firmness in correcting her son for misbehavior must not be lightly taken. Here was a problem of love versus law, but love found a way. The grandfather could not take the youngster out of the playpen, so he crawled in with him.
. Grace, unconditional Love.
. God will not always deliver us from trouble and heartache, He will not reach into the pens that we have put ourselves into; but He has promised grace for every situation of life.
. He has promised us a way out.
. He gives us his Grace.
. Grace, that’s what sets us apart from all other religions.
. Years ago, a large international conference was held of religious leaders from around the world. In the midst of the conference, a debate began about what it was that set Christianity apart from other religions.
Some argued that it was God coming in the flesh that set Christianity apart from other religions. They decided that wasn’t it, because other religions claimed that their gods came in human form. Some argued that it was love, or sacrifice, or the resurrection, or one thing or another; each idea being shot down. Finally, C. S. Lewis, having arrived late, walked into the conference and asked what all the noise was about. When told they were discussing what it was that set Christianity apart from all other religions, he said, “That’s easy. It’s grace.”
. It is by and through grace that all mankind can be saved.
. Ephesians 2:8 says this:
. 8God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
. Grace is what sets us apart.
. God’s love and provision for man to be reconciled with him.
. We are back in Genesis this morning.
. Our last sermon out of chapter 3
. We have looked at mans disobedience and sin.
. Today, we will see Salvation revealed through the grace of God.
. While we get so much of our Christian theology from Genesis, what Genesis is ultimately about is God’s grace that is bestowed upon his creation.
. Let’s look at the final occurrences in the Garden.
Genesis 3: 20-24
20Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live.
21And the LORD God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.
22Then the LORD God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!”
23So the LORD God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.
24After sending them out, the LORD God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
.In these verses, we see the outline for salvation.
. As we look at these verses this morning, the first thing we see here is the:
. Penalty for sin
. In verses 22 & 23 we see this.
. 22Then the LORD God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!”
. 23So the LORD God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.
. The penalty for sin is death and separation from God.
. Adam and Eve could and would have lived for eternity in the garden.
.There was only one tree forbidden to them.
. They had access and could eat from the tree of life.
. After their disobedience, God said that they could no longer live forever. They had to lose access to this tree of life.
. He had warned them that they would experience death if they disobeyed him.
. We looked at what happened with Adam, Eve and the serpent a few weeks ago.
. In their disobedience, they chose death over eternal life.
. Their punishment was eventual death and separation from God.
. Before, they had fellowship with God and as we have seen, they had the ability to see and walk and talk with God. No more.
. There sin against God, created a loss of fellowship with God. A separation from their creator.
. All sin is a sin against God. It is a sin of disobedience.
. We are commanded to love God and love others. When we don’t do that, when we lie or cheat or mistreat people or cast God aside for what we want, we are sinning against God. Our sin is disobedience.
. David, the great King of Israel realized this concept and expresses it for us in Psalm 51.
. He had just been confronted with his act of adultery with the wife of Uriah the Hittite, Bathsheba.
Look at the fist 7 verses of this psalm.
. 1Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.
2Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.
3For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.
4Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.
5For I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.
7Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
. David cried out that yes I have done wrong. My sin is a sin of disobedience.
. Yes he did Uriah wrong, yes he did Bathsheba wrong and he suffered the rest of his life for that. The consequences of that sin were monumental.
. But just like Adam and Eve, His sin was against what God commands us to do.
. The expulsion from the Garden for their disobedience was the punishment for their sin.
. Folks there is a penalty for our sin.
. Separation from God.
. God could have said that’s it, no more. I told you that disobedience would bring death. You didn’t listen.
. But He didn’t.
. In his bountiful grace, God gave us a way back.
. In our outline of salvation, we see the penalty for sin but we also see the:
. Promise of salvation.
. Look with me at verse 20 again:
. 20Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live.
. Adam said wait a minute, our death will not cause our kind to disappear from the earth.
. Even though God has pronounced death on us, He is making a provision for mankind to survive and flourish.
. He just told us that the woman would have pain in childbirth. That must mean that there will be children born.
. God said this:
“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth.
. He also just told us that the seed of the woman would one day crush the serpents head.
.As He was talking to Satan, God said this:
. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
. The one who deceived us and led us into disobedience will one day be defeated.
. While there is death for us, there is life promised for our children.
. Knowing all of this, Adam named the woman Eve. The mother of all who live.
. Some translators translate Eve as this:
. Beginning
. The beginning of the way back to God.
. Adam, in naming his wife, is making a statement.
. You are the beginning of more life and you are the beginning of our way back to God.
. In his infinite grace and mercy, God did not use man’s disobedience to eliminate us, He provided a promise that one day, Satan would be defeated by a descendant of Adam and Eve.
.That promise came to fruition when Jesus died on the cross, crushing Satan’s hold over man as they lived in sin.
. Not only does this passage show us the penalty for sin and the promise of salvation, it also shows us that there is a:
.Principle of salvation
. Look at verse 21 again:
. 21And the LORD God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.
. Adam and Eve had fashioned for themselves coverings made from fig leaves.
. In their innocence, they had never experienced sin or disgrace or shame.
. At the moment of their disobedience everything changed.
. Look at verse 7 with me.
. 7At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
. In their disobedience and shame, they tried to cover their shame with a covering of fig leaves.
. How very human.
. We all try to cover our disobedience and shame and sin in many ways don’t we?
. We lie and deceive and think man, I got away with that one.
. The only problem is we can’t cover or hide our disobedience from God.
. Only God can cover our shame of disobedience.
. God, in his infinite grace looked at them and provided something that they could not provide for themselves.
. A covering for their sin and shame.
. God gave them skins from animals to cover themselves.
. It was here that the principle of sacrifice was first brought into the world
. In order for their sin and shame to be covered, blood had to be shed.
. God had to take a life of animals to provide this covering of sin and shame.
. That principle was carried on for thousands of years.
. In order for man to cover their sin and shame, in order for God to forgive their sin, a blood sacrifice had to be made.
. We live by this same principle today.
. God, in his grace and mercy provided that blood sacrifice for us.
. He did that through himself, God incarnate, Jesus Christ.
. Since the beginning, God has provided a covering, for our sin and shame.
. From the sacrificial system of the Hebrew people to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God has provided a way for our sin to be covered.
. Our sin is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.
. Our Heritage song this morning was “Nothing But The Blood”.
. How true that is.
. What can wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus.
. What can make me whole again, nothing but the blood of Jesus.
. What can reconcile us to God.
. What can remove this separation from God, a life sacrifice.
. Jesus was and is that sacrifice for our sin.
. He is the covering that God has made available to you and I to cover our disobedience.
.There is a penalty for disobedience.
. Separation from God.
. There is a promise of forgiveness and reconciliation.
. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of that promise.
. The principle to be learned is that in order for covering and forgiveness, a life must be lost. Blood must be shed.
. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of that principle.
. Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
Illustration from sermon central
