Choice & Consequence

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever wondered why is so messed up? Why can’t we just get along? Why is everything so difficult? Why are is there so much pain and heartache in the world?

Why is marriage so challenging? Why is divorce so common? Why is it so rare to see marriages that survive much less thrive?

Today we’re going to see the answer to those questions. We are going to see the incredible fall out from a singular choice and it’s unintended consequences.

Erwin Lutzer wrote a book entitled “God’s Devil.” In it, he talks about the unintended consequences on an individual choice.

He talks about a general contractor putting a bid in for a multi-million dollar building contract. Usually in these sorts of deals the lowest bid wins. One of the contractors was in the presidents office to discuss the bid but the office was empty so he went to put the bid on the desk. In doing so he saw a bid from his biggest competitor on the presidents desks covered by a can of soda. It was sitting right on the bid amount.

He paced the office back and forth debating whether to lift the can, see the bid and underbid just enough to get the job. To quote Lutzer:

He contemplated moving the can for just a second, reading the figure, and then putting it down. He touched the can but found himself unable to do it.He glanced around the room one more time. Now, confident that no one was looking, he lifted the can quickly, intending to glance at the number and then put the can back instantly. Much to his chagrin, as he lifted the can from the desk hundreds of BBs spilled onto the desk and rolled onto the floor.That contractor experienced the law of unintended consequences firsthand. He thought he could control the fallout of his dishonesty but discovered that unforeseen events had been built into the temptation. One single act had repercussions he could not have anticipated. The can of soda was not what it appeared to be.

Original Sin = Origin Story

An intentional choice and unintentional consequences. That’s the story of original sin in Genesis 3.

Man’s original sin is the ultimate origin of everything that’s wrong in our world. It was a singular act that had ongoing and disastrous unintended consequences.

Original sin has tainted every good thing that God has made. Everything from the cosmos to the social alienation we experience in our relationships is because of sin.

If you want to understand the origins of our brokenness, Genesis 3 has the answers. When Adam and Eve sinned against God it invited God’s judgment on their life and a curse on our world.

It’s an unavoidable reality of living in God’s world. Every choice has a consequence.

Let’s pick it up in verse 14 to see the consequence of this original sin.

Genesis 3:14–19 (ESV)

The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

in pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,

but he shall rule over you.”

17 And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

and have eaten of the tree

of which I commanded you,

‘You shall not eat of it,’

cursed is the ground because of you;

in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your face

you shall eat bread,

till you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

for you are dust,

and to dust you shall return.”

This passage presents a series curses and consequences.

There’s a curse on the serpent and a curse on the ground.

There are consequences inflicted on the man and the woman.

For the woman there is multiplied pain in childbearing and relational dysfunction with her husband.

For the man there is relational dysfunction with his wife and pain in his work.

This morning we’re going to look at the nature of the curse, the implication for our world, the response of God’s people and the cure for problem.

The Serpent is Cursed

Let’s begin by looking at the curse on the serpent in Gen 3:14

Genesis 3:14 (ESV)

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

The idea that the serpent is cursed “above” livestock (tame animals) and the beasts (wild animals) doesn’t mean they were cursed as well.

The serpent alone bore the curse in God’s judgment.

All animals feel the EFFECTS of the fall but only the serpent bears the curse.

All animals feel the impact of sin in the world, all animals will age, decay, get diseases and die (cf. Rom 8:20 creation groans) but only the serpent carries the badge of the curse.

In doing this, the LORD is makes the serpent an everlasting symbol of death and degradation.

Satan is doomed to symbolize the opposite of what he aspired to be.

Before Satan’s fall HE wanted to be the symbol of truth, goodness, & beauty. I WILL be like God. And now, because of God’s curse, he will eternally represent the opposite.

Today when we look at snakes we’re reminded of Satan’s rebellion and the world’s brokenness. That’s why we hate snakes.

Humiliation & Defeat

Notice the two implications of this curse on the serpent. (Gen 3:14)

“on your belly you shall go”

“the dust you shall eat.”

Both of these are symbolically powerful. Snakes slither around on their bellies to remind us of God’s humiliation of Satan because of his wicked schemes and destructive lies.

The Lord is saying when you see a serpent slithering in the dirt, that gross nasty thing, I want you to be reminded of the curse of sin and God’s victory over evil.

(just as the rainbow become a symbol of God’s mercy so does the serpent become a symbol of God’s judgment on evil)

God then curses the serpent to eat the dust of the earth. “Eat the dust” is language we still use today. It’s a statement of defeat and disrespect.

It’s God’s way of saying, “you have lost and you will always lose.” When people look at the serpent I want them to be reminded of something.

If you attempt to dethrone God you’re in for a humiliating defeat. You’ll eat dust. You’ll be frustrated and empty for all of your days.

In the curse, the serpent becomes an eternal symbol of humiliation and defeat. God’s humiliation of Satan and Satan’s failure to rob God of his glory.

Curse on the Woman

After the LORD’s curse on the serpent we see a shift in focus on the women.

Genesis 3:16 (ESV)

16 To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

in pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,

but he shall rule over you.”

It’s important to point out that the Lord does not curse the woman nor the man. The curse is on the ground and on the serpent.

That said, even though the woman doesn’t bear the curse, she does bear the consequences of sin’s curse on her world.

The fallout of sin on the woman affect two primary domains: motherhood and marriage.

Motherhood

The first part of God’s judgment is multiplied pain in childbearing.

Genesis 3:16 “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children...”

What does this mean? It obviously include the physical pain associated with giving birth to a child.

But I think it actually extends beyond that to all of the hardships associated with motherhood.

Menstruation

Barrenness / Miscarriages (%15) / Stillbirths

Morning Sickness / Cramps/ Discomfort

Lack of sleep / Back pain / headaches / hot-flashes

Delivering a baby can be extremely dangerous. It can be scary and things can go wrong. Every healthy conception, carrying and delivery of a baby in this fallen world is a miracle.

It also includes the emotional toll that surrounds being a mom.

Kids can go astray and engage in self-destructive behavior.

What God intended to be pure blessing is not tainted with sin and sorrow.

Marriage

But it’s not just the hardships related to motherhood - it’s also the hardships related to marriage.

Genesis 3:16 “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.””

What does this mean?

This word desire is actually only used three other times in Scripture.

Here in Genesis 3:16-

Again in Song of Solomon 7:10 There it is a sexual desire so some think that’s what is in view here in Genesis. But I don’t think that really fits the context of Genesis.

The final place is actually about 15 verses away from our passage and it’s the desire that sin has for Cain as he deliberates murdering his brother Abel.

Genesis 4:5–7 (ESV)

5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

Contrary Desire

What’s going on in Genesis 4? Sin is crouching at Cain’s door and it wants to dominate and control him to do what he shouldn’t do. Sin’s desire is to take over, rule and have it’s way with Cain.

That is the same language of Genesis 3. Because of the Fall, the woman is going to have this inclination to rule over or control the man. To have her way with the man and usurp his leadership.

Because of sin, there will be an inclination in the heart of every wife to control her husband and usurp his leadership.

That’s exactly how the NLT translates this verse. Gen 3:16 “And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”

Before the fall there was relational harmony between the man and the woman. She joyfully embraced her role as a helpmate to support and work together with her husband as he lovingly led and oversaw the flourishing of their family. Now it’s the opposite.

Attacking The Core

Whether it’s the attack on motherhood or the attack on marriage the consequences of sin affect the very core of what it means to be a woman.

These things are innately tied to God’s original design for womanhood. They revolve around two of her fundamental responsibilities.

Because of sin, the core of who you are has now become extremely difficult.

Curse on the Man

What about sin’s consequence on the man? We saw the beginnings of it at the end of

verse 16. “You desire shall be for your husband but HE SHALL RULE OVER YOU...”

That’s not a positive statement, men. God’s original design for the man was loving male headship not male domination.

Adam was to lovingly work together with Eve as they partnered in God’s calling.

Now, because of sin, the husband will be inclined towards domination and abuse.

So sin is cutting both ways in the marriage relationship - the woman is trying to control and dominate the man and the man is responding with a similar kind of control to dominate the woman.

Wives - due to sin - resist the headship of their husband.

Husbands - due to sin - become harsh with their wives.

This dynamic is obvious in our world today.

Gender Roles

There are some who read this verse and suggest that the very notion of gender roles, headship and submission are a consequence of sin instead of God’s original design for man and woman.

You might be led to think that if you read Genesis 3:16 in isolation. But that’s not how we read Scripture. Every text has a context.

In context, you see that that God’s decision to make men and woman different was by design BEFORE the fall not because of it.

Gender roles were damaged by the Fall, but find their origin in God’s design.

God’s original design was for the husband to serve as the head of his home and for the wife to submit to her husband as his helpmate.

In fact, the very language of God’s judgment on Adam hints at this. Gen 3:17

Genesis 3:17 (ESV)

17 And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

and have eaten of the tree

of which I commanded you,

‘You shall not eat of it,’

cursed is the ground because of you;

in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

God rebukes Adam because of his failure to properly lead his wife.

Some misinterpret this passage to say husbands shouldn’t listen to their wives in general because of Gen 3:17. That’s nonsense. The problem wasn’t that he listened to his wife in general. The problem is that he listened to his wife instead of listening to God.

The prohibition to not eat from the tree was given to ADAM, not to Eve. It was HIS responsibility, primarily, to ensure that his family was in alignment with the will of God.

This is why I think Genesis 3:6 goes out of it’s way to point out that Adam was WITH EVE when she took of the fruit and ate. He was STANDING right there watching the whole thing go down. If anything THAT was the original sin.

You also see this in God’s response to their sin. Who does he seek out in the Garden after their sin? Who does he engage in conversation? He engages ADAM, not Eve. Why? Because, as head, the husband was responsible for leading his family to follow God’s will. (Gen 3:8-9)

There are many other passages in Old and New Testament that reaffirm male headship in the home that we don’t have time to explore. (Gen 2:7, 18-23; 1 Tim 2:13; 1 Cor 15:22, 45-49; Rom 5:12-21; Gen 5:2; Gen 3:9; 1 Cor 11:9; Col 3:18-19; Eph 5:32-33; 1 Cor 11:3)

Male headship was established as God’s design BEFORE the fall. Sin, however, distorted God’s original design,

Providing & Protecting

Genesis 3:17 continues with the second domain for the man that is affected by the Fall: work.

Genesis 3:17 “...cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;”

It’s important to point out here that work is not cursed by God, the ground is.

Work was created by God and existed prior to the Fall of Man. What sin changed was the level of difficulty and satisfaction that men will not derive from their work.

Adam was responsible for cultivating creation and providing for his family. That responsibility remains intact but it will be MUCH MORE DIFFICULT to do so.

It’s the ability to conceive of better world but the inability to create it. Conceiving great artwork that never arrives on the canvas. We can envision it but we can’t get there.

Primary Domain

Again, like the woman, the fallout of sin on man strikes at the core of God’s original design.

Many men struggle with finding their identity in their work instead of in their relationship with the Lord.

It’s very common for men, in friendly conversation, to go immediately to what they DO for a living and measure up against one another based on our level of success in what we DO for our work.

That tendency to make an idol out of our work and to allow our work to control us instead of us controlling it is a result of the Fall. It’s a consequence of sin.

Because of sin, men are now inclined towards passivity or abuse instead of leadership and love. Work becomes burden and not a joy.

How Should we Respond?

If these are the consequences of sin on our lives, then how should we respond as the people of God?

We must recognize our sinful inclinations, resist the pull of the curse and recover God’s original design!

What does this mean for you ladies?

No shame in epidurals

Beware of the inclination to try and control your husband.

Encourage and help your husband to step into his role as leader.

Out of reverence for Christ respect your husband as God’s head of your home.

I know this idea is culturally unpopular. In fact, if this sermon ever went viral I’d be getting all sorts of nasty feedback in the comments.

God’s design is NOT unclear. It IS, however, culturally unpopular.

But we want to be a church that is centered on God’s word and submitted to God’s design more than we are shaped by the culture because of our fear of being maligned.

Men, how should you respond? Same way.

Reject passivity. Accept Responsibility. Lead your family with sacrificial love.

We’ve started, in our Men’s Ministry a partnership with an outside org called “Kingsmen” and they boil biblical masculinity to four words: lead, love, provide and protect.

Let me encourage you men:

LEAD:

Die to self, invest in your families more than your hobbies.

Repent of your sin and kill it at the root. lead yourself well.

Be a man worth following and then embrace leadership in your home.

Listen to your wife. Hear her out. Make decisions that glorify God.

Get wisdom. Get counsel. But at the end of the day TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

LOVE:

Lay down your life for your wife and your children. Make sacrifices that can be seen, felt and appreciated.

Speak regularly to your family about how much you love them. Encourage your children and affirm them daily. Say the words, don’t just think them. Never let your sons or daughters feel “average” around you.

Spend time with your family. Quality time even if it can’t be quantity time.

Pursue your wife. Date her. Pursue her. Romance her. Adore her. Show your daughter how a man is to properly treat a woman.

PROVIDE:

The word provide is actually from the latin “Pro” - before hand and “Video” - to see. So you’re provision to your family is to literally “see what’s coming” and get them prepared. Foresee and act in response.

We saw in verse 17 that this responsibility to provide is difficult. Do it anyway.

PROTECT:

Finally protect. Women and children before yourself. Protect your family physically. Protect your family spiritually.

Adam should’ve never let that snake in the garden. There should’ve been a rattle snake round up right there in the second verse. But he didn’t protect. As a result, his family was destroyed.

Are you even aware of the spiritual temperature of your home? Are you even aware of the subtle ways that Satan is compromising you, your family, your children or others?

The Curse & The Cure

The original sin in Genesis 3 has left the world with a series of devastating consequences. It has produced multiple forms of brokenness and alienation.

Spiritual alienation (from God, hiding)

Psychological alienation (not honest in our dealings with sin)

Social alienation (our God-designed differences because source of division)

Physical alienation (from dominion over creation to dominated by it) - we spend all of our lives fighting the dirt only to see that the dirt eventually wins!

Nature becomes our enemy because we are the enemy of it’s LORD.

So we’ve seen the choice, the curse and consequences. But what about the cure? Where is it located?

It’s actually embedded in God’s judgment on the Serpent.

Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

God’s judgment is a strange work. God is holy and will and must punish sin. But he is so eager to bless that even in the pronouncement of judgment he promises deliverance.

God’s deliverance from the curse rides on top of two tracks: enmity and the seed.

What is this “enmity” God speaks of?

It’s not just the natural hatred that people have for snakes and that snakes have for people. It’s so much deeper than that.

It’s not a hatred within the snake at all. We know that because Satan already had that hate in his heart otherwise he wouldn’t have tempted Eve to sin against God.

The hatred is in the heart of the woman and her offspring. The hatred is in the heart of God’s people TOWARDS Satan and evil.

He’s saying, “from now on there is going to be two groups of people and they’re going to hate each other.” (1) Satan and his seed. (2) The woman and her seed.

Christ the Seed

This dynamic plays itself out through the rest of the Old Testament. The seed of the woman becomes a prophecy about a promises Messiah. This Messiah would come and crush the head of the serpent and reverse the curse of sin for God’s people

This seed of the woman is ultimately fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. The curse is reversed through his person and work. Recovery of God’s design begins and ends in Him!

Christ came to destroy the works of the devil and to reverse the curse of sin.

He perfectly embraced God’s design and succeeded where Adam failed.

Not only did he live a sinless perfect life of love. He also willingly laid down his life to die in our place for our sins.

Adam’s sin brought a curse on the ground, thorns and thistles it would produce for us. Jesus took the curse of that thorn and received it as a crown onto his head.

As the old hymn says, “See from his head, his hands, his feet? Sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did ere such love and sorrow meet? Or thorns compose so rich a crown?”

Oh the wonderful cross! Oh the wonderful cross! Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live.

What is salvation? Salvation is God planting that seed of hatred for sin in your heart. A hatred for sin and a love and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He has already begun the work of destroying sin and death. He now invites you to receive that salvation and join him in his work of recreating the world.