Series: 3:16- Numbers That Bring Hope [#1]
THE HOPE THAT COMES FROM CONSEQUENCES
Genesis 3:16
Introduction:
This morning, we are going to begin a series from chapter 3 verse 16 of each Book of the Bible. The most familiar of these is John 3:16, a verse that gives us hope; but each of the 3:16’s have a message of hope.
You might question how our passage this morning would be a message of hope; but it is. When God created this world, everything was perfect. When God created Adam, everything was perfect; but God knew that Adam was lonely, so He created Eve. Everything was going great until Eve was convinced by the snake to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, (which God commanded them not to eat from); and then she convinced Adam, (very easily) to also eat the fruit from that tree.
They immediately realized that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together for clothing. Then, they heard God walking in the Garden and they hid from Him. God called out to Adam asking where they were and Adam told God they were hiding because they were naked. God asked Adam, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" Then the blame game began. Adam blamed God for creating Eve and giving her to him; and he blamed Eve for giving him the fruit. Eve immediately blamed the serpent for deceiving her.
The next verses describe the consequences that God gave to the serpent, woman, and man. Although the Garden of Eden was lost because of sin, God gave us hope in all 3 punishments.
Genesis 3:14-15 (NIV)
“So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
There is hope in…
1. Knowing that Satan will be crushed.
Satan has been deceiving and destroying people from the beginning. Satan knows how to present things to us in a way that makes everything seem ok. He is always trying to get us to question God’s motives.
The good news in this passage is that Jesus, (the woman’s offspring) will crush Satan’s head. Notice that Satan will strike Jesus’ heel, (the cross); but Satan will be destroyed. I look forward to the day when Satan is gone for good.
Genesis 3:16 (NIV)
“To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
There is hope in…
2. Knowing that the Savior has been born.
The penalty for sin is death. God could have killed Adam and Eve right then; but He did not. Instead, children would be born from Eve. God already knew the plan for our salvation and that plan was Jesus. Jesus humbly came to this Earth and gave His life for all mankind.
Genesis 3:17-19 (NIV)
“To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, `You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
There is hope in…
3. Knowing that we will die.
I realize that this sounds morbid; but it is a good thing that we all die a physical death.
Genesis 3:22 (NIV)
“And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."
Can you imagine how things would have turned out if they would have been able to eat from the Tree of Life? They would live forever as sinners, (like the devil). Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can be saved. By trusting in Jesus as your Savior, you can be born again. Each of us make the choice in how many times we die. You can be born twice and die once; or you can be born once and die twice.
Conclusion:
Through Christ, hope can be found in the most surprising places. We have hope through Jesus Christ. We have victory over sin, death, and Satan through Jesus Christ.
