Grace in the Garden - Week 1

Lead Off Question

Have you ever been told something, and it was kind of right, but also kind of wrong?

Illustration

Telephone Game: The wildly Pretty massively Pink and polka dotted Pumpkin just Plopped down in my Parents backyard Picnic.

Transition

Tonight some of us are aware, kind of, with what God’s Word says about the way we live our lives. But because we are not consistently studying his word, when we face injunctions, we miscommunicate and even just outright disobey. As we study tonight we will see that God has given us his grace since even since the beginning of creation.

Bottom Line

God's grace is evident since creation.

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Context

So leading up to Genesis chapter 3, God has just completed his creation of all mankind, and man and woman have just entered into the first marriage relationship. The opening of chapter 3 is where we start off tonight!

Bible Verse

Genesis 3:1–15 (NLT)

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’ ”

“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

“Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

Then the Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, you are cursed

more than all animals, domestic and wild.

You will crawl on your belly,

groveling in the dust as long as you live.

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.”

Passage Emphasis

Right off the top I want you to make a note about the attributes of the enemy. In Gen. 3:1 the Bible makes an observation about the devil.

NLT - “…the serpent was the shrewdest of all”

NIV - “…the serpent was more crafty than any”

ESV - “…the serpent was more crafty than any”

NASB - “…the serpent was more crafty than any”

CSB - “the serpent was the most cunning of all”

KEY TAKEAWAY - The devil is the root of all deception. He is tricky and he knows how to twist and corrupt.

Next in the passage you see the devil creating doubt in the minds of Adam and Eve as he accuses God of not having given the best to Adam and Eve.

“You won’t die…God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it.”

The devil debated the legitimacy of what God said.

Breakdown

In the devils first attempt to degrade what God had said the enemy states the polar opposite of what God said. But then the second time the enemy attacks the people of God, he does raise a question, he makes a statement saying that God is wrong. “You won’t die.” He says that Adam and Eve won’t die but that God has actually been keeping this greater form of life from them, this life that will allow them to be like God.

So frequently, we fall captive to the same trick of the enemy. He attacks whether or not we know the Word, and then when we fight back with the Word, well then the enemies tactic is to try and discredit that God is not who he says he is.

Because of the enemies attack at the character of God, Adam and Eve make the choice to try the fruit regardless of the warning that was given to them anyway. Yet even though they chose their own way…

Bottom Line

God's grace is evident since creation.

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Bible Verse

Let’s continue looking at this portion of Scripture though.

Genesis 3:8–13 (NLT)

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man* and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

“Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

Passage Emphasis

I want to focus briefly on Gen. 3:9, “Then the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you’”. The Lord wasn’t distant from Adam and Eve. It’s not like Adam and Eve had no clue who the Lord was, and why his words were important. Rather, he came and walked with them, and even though he was right there they still lost sight of his command and choose to pursue their own knowledge.

God chooses to love us even when we listen to the enemy.

Breakdown

Even though the Lord knew about Adam and Eve’s transgression against him, he did not just bail out and ditch the whole Garden of Eden As he could have. Rather he went to the garden for his walk with mankind.

First, can we just pause and realize the intentionality of our God. He desires a personal relationship with each one of us. So close, that it is as if we are walking together.

When you take a look at some of the men of the Bible who were considered to have been in pursuit of righteousness, Scripture commonly refers to them as having walked with God.

Similar to Adam and Eve, we have the Bible but we choose our own knowledge, our own path. Why? Well because our route is more on our time schedule, it is more likely to produce the results we want, and it is what we think is best for us. Yet even though we pursue our own interests…

Bottom Line

God's grace is evident since creation.

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Bible Verse

Genesis 3:14–15 (NLT)

Then the Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, you are cursed

more than all animals, domestic and wild.

You will crawl on your belly,

groveling in the dust as long as you live.

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.”

Passage Emphasis

Focus real quick on the Lords response as soon as he hears of Adam and Eve’s transgression in Gen. 3:14. Immediately he addresses the enemy and makes a few statements.

God’s Declarations to the Enemy

You are cursed

You will crawl on your belly

This is a symbolic of the lowliness of this deceitful measure.

You will be considered hostile

You are separate, against, not with me or my creation

Then after addressing the curse that was being placed upon the enemy, he informed mankind that we were still valued by Him, so much so that he would overcome the curse of the enemy. In Gen. 3:15 it speaks through the matter of how, even though the serpent/the enemy (Satan) will strike (bite) Jesus’ heel, Jesus will overcome the serpent (through his resurrection) by crushing the head of the snake.

In spite of our disobedience God desires a relationship with us.

Breakdown

God loves us so much that he made a way for us to know him again. As we go throughout the rest of Scripture, the entirety of it points back to this moment right here in Gen. 3. God loves us so much that he is will to give us his own son to redeem us, to claim us as his own. So even today as you fight and face your battles, there is comfort, regardless of how far you may have gone, your heavenly Father desires that you would still come back to him. Even though we still get distracted by the debates and the lies of the enemy, God has grace and even since creation has been desiring that we would not only KNOW him but also FOLLOW him.

Bottom Line

God's grace is evident since creation.

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Application

What deception have you allowed into your garden?

Are you walking with God? (Reading, praying, living your faith in school)

What are you doing with your relationship with God?

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