Text: Genesis 3:1-15
Theme: Redeemer Promised
Greetings: The Lord is good and his love endures forever! I greet you in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Introduction: We are dealing with the Privileges of the redeemed. the redeemed enjoy the sonship, friendship, and stewardship in Christ. The redeemed have the restoration of the Love of God, eternal life in Christ, and the restoration of the Joy of salvation. we are redeemed to worship the eternal living God. We are redeemed from the clutches of Sin, even if we fall, he redeems us to the original state of relationship with God. He ascertained to the redeemed during their trials and temptations, failures, and fears that he has redeemed and therefore he is there to deal with every situation of the present life struggles of the redeemed. Today, I would like to meditate with you on the theme ‘The redeemer is Promised’ while the punishment was sentenced upon the fallen humanity.
From this given passage, let us think of three valid points for our spiritual strengthening: Crucial rebellious act committed, colossal punishment awarded, and Celestial liberation assured.
1. A crucial rebellious act committed: (Genesis 3:1-7)
Crimes are divided into commissions and omissions. Knowingly and unknowingly are the two words we use for sins. The rebellious act committed by Adam and Eve was very serious, grave, dangerous, and life-threatening. Their one act of rebellion had taken them to the extremity of their glorious and greenery life. A sudden storm had made their entire life upside down their whole life plans God. Humanity had ruined the plan of God and destroyed the mirror house of God beyond conciliation. Their disobedience was the betrayal of the trust of God, trodden the love of God and trespassing their freedom of will, exercising their arrogance over God’s command, and doubting the integrity of God.
God told Adam to eat everything in the Garden of Eden except the fruit of the Knowledge of the Good and Bad (Genesis 2:15-17). It is interesting to note that God had explained to Adam about that Tree as the tree of Knowledge. The fruit had the vitamins of Good and Evil. The vitamins of Evil will overpower the vitamins of God. Adam had a clear knowledge of what would happen to him after he ate the fruit. So, it was a grave REBELLION.
Adam and Eve are the first to actualize the potential for evil, which was part of the cosmic structure that God had created from the beginning. The Genesis account suggests that evil and temptation were a potential presence in the world. The knowledge of good and evil is crucial thing. But knowledge is destructive for humans. The Hebrew meaning is ‘yd’ or yada.’ It is not an abstract conceptual knowledge but an intimate experience than an intellectual acquaintance. Such knowledge gives its knower a certain set of skills and a certain kind of flawed maturity. This knowledge is both an accomplishment and a burden, a blessing, and a curse. A rivalry was created by a rebellious friend of God (ref: Wondrium).
Adam sinned against the knowledge he had. “To desire what God has forbidden is to prefer self to God, and this is to sin.” Adam knew what he was doing but Eve was deceived (I Tim. 2:14). So, in rejecting God Adam established himself as the authority; he exercised selfish and self-centered sovereignty, declaring himself free of God, and by his action asserting his freedom from God, His word, and His rule. (ref: Embraced by Truth). Adam made the wrong choice because of his love and devotion to his wife Eve rather than to God and his command.
The study of the scriptures reveals the following truths. Rebellion against God’s authority originated with Lucifer or Satan who was in Eden (Isaiah 14:13-14; Ezekiel 28:12-19). He convinced many angels to follow him (Revelation 12:4,9), and he created a kingdom of darkness (Acts 26:18; Colossians 1:13). Satan is the ruler over the kingdom of darkness and has fallen angels. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). Satan’s kingdom firsts consist of his governance over those angelic beings in the spiritual realm against God. Now expanded to the human race through Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-7). (ref: Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook).
With the fall of Adam and Eve, Satan has had dominion over Adam and the world and is called “the ruler of this world” (John 14:30; 16:11), “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), and “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Satan’s scope of influence is universal “who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9), and who deceives “the nations” of the world (Revelation 20:3, 8). When tempting Jesus, Satan offered Him “the kingdoms of the world” (Matthew 4:8-9) (ref: Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook). The sin wrote an end note to the friendship of Satan and Eve and brought enmity, there is a natural fear of death, and Satan (Enduring Word).
2. Colossal Punishment Awarded: (Genesis 3:8-13, 16-19)
The critical rebellion of Adam brought colossal punishment upon the human race forever. This huge punishment is unbearable, lost paradise, pushed into separation, slavery to Satan, and sold the entire authority to the rebellious Angel Lucifer. He declares in the Temptation scene of Jesus Christ that he has authority over all the kingdoms of the world. God being the righteous, holy and just couldn’t use the shortcut method of the evil Lucifer. God chased Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and he asked but with the promise of Celestial Liberation through his own incarnation. The Critical rebellion brought colossal punishment but the compassion of God made provision for the Celestial Liberation.
We live in a world that is problematic and painful. There is always some sort of bad news around us like unemployment, immorality, illegal activities, political strife, social division, economic collapse, civil war, military strikes, and poverty to the extreme. So, watching social media or reading the news become so depressing. Staying away from the global chaos magnified by giant media does well for the mind. But we need to find the solution for all these. The way out is to read the word of God of the Living God.
God first cursed the woman with multiplied sorrow. Eve is condemned to a state of sorrow, and a state of subjection, proper punishments for a sin in which she had gratified her pleasure and her pride. Women are in the miseries; a lot of women are a little above those cattle.
‘There will be an ongoing struggle between the woman and the man for leadership in the marriage relationship. The complementary relationship between husband and wife ordained by God before the fall has now been deeply damaged and distorted by sin so now competing with each other.’ (ESV Bible Notes). ‘Women have a sinful inclination to usurp man’s authority and men have a sinful inclination to put women under their feet.’ (John Macarthur). In Christ, equality is established, all are one, male or female.
The punishment was awarded because Sin entered (Romans 5:12). All were made sinners (Romans 5:19). Sin brought conflict; Jesus endured great conflict (Hebrews 12:3). Sin brought thorns and Jesus endured a crown of thorns (John 19:2). Sin brought sweat of blood (Luke 22:44). Sin brought sorrow, and Jesus became a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). Sin brought death to all mankind (Romans 5:15,17, 1 Corinthians 15:22, Hebrews 2:9). All men were condemned (Romans 5:18).
War is proclaimed between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. There is a continual warfare between grace and corruption, in the hearts of God's people (Matthew Henry). According to Warren Wiersbe, ‘God declared war on Satan and gave the first promise of the Redeemer.’ Criswell says, ‘It is a prediction of continual hostility between good and evil, between man and the satanic forces, and between the people of God and the unregenerate world system in which they live. It is God's will that until the final redemption, the Christian and the world should not be at peace.’ (W A Criswell).
3. Celestial Liberation Assured: (Genesis 3:14-15)
The celestial Liberation would come to humanity in the Time of God. He made a promise that the seed of Humanity will crush the head of the serpent, Lucifer, and the fallen Angel. He is known as the father of lies, a false prophet, and a beast in the scriptures. The last fight will be between the Truth and Lies, between the Holy and unholy, and between the Son of Man and the Devil. One thing that is clear to us is that the Son of Man is the Seed promised in Genesis 3:15. Christ was born as the promise of God in due to season (Galatians 4:4). The seed of the woman is a great theological point. Biologically, a woman produces no seed, except, in this case. This promised Seed would, therefore, have to be miraculously implanted in the womb. In this way, He would not inherit the sinful nature which would disqualify every son of Adam from becoming a Savior from sin. This prophecy thus clearly anticipates the future virgin birth of Christ.
According to Matthew Henry, this promise is three-fold: The savior will incarnate in flesh (Hebrews 2:11,14); and he will suffer and die that is bruised; however, he would emerge victoriously over Satan. Criswell says this is the Protevangelium (Lat.), the "first preaching of the gospel." It has also been described as "the Bible in embryo, the sum of all history and prophecy in a germ." (W A Criswell)
The introduction of sin into the human race established the perspective which governs the rest of the Scriptures. God’s plan for redemption is progressively unfolded under three broad themes: Anticipation of Redemption (Genesis – Malachi), The accomplishment of Redemption (Gospels), and Application of Redemption (Acts – Revelation) (ref: embraced by Truth).
God foretold that the seed of the woman will have a painful bruise. “That bruised heel is painful enough. Behold our Lord in his human nature sore bruised: he was betrayed, bound, accused, buffeted, scourged, spit upon. He was nailed to the cross; he hung there in thirst and fever, and darkness and desertion” (Spurgeon).
According to God’s wise plan and sovereign will, He sent His only Son into the world. Jesus was born free from the taint of sin and the bondage of Satan’s kingdom, and Jesus lived His entire life without sinning (2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15; 1 John 3:5). Jesus Christ, the free righteous holy person went to the cross and died a death in order to pay debt and liberated us from Satan’s realm of darkness. Jesus reclaimed this world and pronounced judgment and sentencing for Satan, who will eventually be cast into the Lake of Fire forever.
Once we believe in Jesus as Savior, we are forgiven all our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Ephesians 1:7) and given the gifts of eternal life (John 10:28) and imputed righteousness (Romans 4:5; 5:17; Philippians 3:9). We are no longer “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3), but children of God (John 1:12; Romans 8:16). John writes, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are” (1 John 3:1). Further, we can say, “He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14; Acts 26:18). (Ref: Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook).
God bless you.
