The Beginning of Consequences

Introduction – Sin has a great cost

Sin is pleasurable

“Owning” our opponents

Political debates

The ease of fitting in

Physical pleasure from sin

Pro 23:31-32 “31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! 32 In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.”

The benefits of deceit

Pro 20:17 “17 Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel.”

The pleasure of sin for a season passes for the sorrow of sin’s consequences

Heb 11:24-25 “24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”

This week we are moving on from Eve’s initial pleasure and looking at the destruction brought about by sin.

Sin Shames

Shame

Genesis 3:7–13 NIV

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The glory of created man and woman has no need to be covered before the fall – in fact it is on full display!

In chapter 2 we see they were naked and unashamed.

The serpent promised their eyes would be opened and they were.

Rather than their opened eyes exalting them, it shames them

They see who they are

This newfound shame drives them away from God

They cover their nakedness

They hide

Was this shame justified?

Of course it was.

How do Adam and Eve deal with their shame?

They cover themselves

They hide from the all seeing God.

They blame

Present Reality

Our shame

Our inadequacies

Our self protective instincts

Our secret sins

Just like Adam and Eve, our shame is on full display.

It is seen by those around us

It is seen by the all seeing God

How do we respond

We hide

We deceive

We brag

With shame on full display, we nonetheless see the beginning sparks of the Lord God’s provision for his shamed creation.

Redemption

The Lord God does not immediately destroy his shameful creatures

The Lord God continues to love his shameful creatures – he still comes to them

He eventually deals with their shame himself

He clothes them

He removes their sin

He takes their blame

Isaiah 54:4–8 NIV

4 “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. 5 For your Maker is your husband— the Lord Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. 6 The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit— a wife who married young, only to be rejected,” says your God. 7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. 8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer.

Revelation 3:18 NIV

18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

We have so much to be ashamed of, but we have a shame bearer in the Lord God

Sin Curses

Curse

It is not mankind that is cursed. Rather it is the serpent and the ground. Mankind feels its effects though.

Serpent/Woman

The Serpent Cursed

Genesis 3:14–15 NIV

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 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.”

God does not have a conversation with the serpent – he makes a declaration

Contrasted with the woman who converses with the servant

Contrasted with how he deals with the man and woman whom he questions and dialogues with

God curses the serpent

He goes from more crafty than all the animals to more cursed than all the animals

The serpent’s end is foreseen

There will be ongoing conflict between the serpent’s seed and the woman’s seed

The serpent does not physically have children, but his descendents are those who follow his desires

The serpent will experience great success, but the seed of the woman will ultimately triumph

The Woman Suffers

Genesis 3:16 NIV

16 To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

The woman though not cursed will suffer greatly

The production of her serpent crushing offspring will be marked by pain

The relationship with her ally will be fraught with conflict and difficulty

Option 1: Foh

Desire is a desire for control in opposition to the husband

Gen 4:7 “7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.””

This desire will be frustrated by the man holds onto his control over her

Option 2: Traditional

The desire is desire for

Song of Solomon 7:10 “10 I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.”

The desire is unsatisfied because the man dominates instead of cherishes

Both options have legitimate textual basis and hint at the same general idea – instead of a warm alliance of love and mutual understanding, the partnership will be a place of conflict

Ground/Man

The Ground Cursed

Genesis 3:17 NIV

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.

The ground itself is cursed.

Man was supposed to work the ground successfully, but now he is in conflict with it.

The Man Suffers

Genesis 3:18–19 NIV

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 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.”

As a result of the relationship of conflict between man and the ground, the man will struggle to fulfill his place in the creation.

There is poetic reference to the origin of man and our identity as glorious dirt

Gen 2:7 “7 Then the Lord God formed a man (adam) from the dust of the ground (adam) and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

Gen 3:19 “19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground (adam), since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.””

As a result of sin, the lungs of dust filled with the breath of God will again be merely dust.

Present Reality

We experience the hardships of the cursed world

Satan is waging war against mankind seeking to draw us to him rather than the Lord God

Conflict happens because of sin

Life and work are hard and toilsome

Redemption

Sin disrupts God’s good creation. The good ground and the good marriage are now places of struggle and conflict.

Even here we are not left without hope.

As death enters the world, Eve’s name is life

Gen 3:20 “20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.”

The cursed serpent will be crushed.

Gal 3:13 “13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.””

The thorns produced by the ground will crown the savior

Jn 19:2 “2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe”

In Adam we have death, but the second Adam will bring life

Rom 5:17 “17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!”

The Lord God makes a covering superior to fig leaves which anticipates our future covering

Gen 3:21 21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”

Rev 19:6-8 “6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)”

Sin Separates

Separation

Genesis 3:22–24 NIV

22 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.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Adam and Eve are driven from the garden lest they eat of the tree of life

The couple created for fellowship and worship is barred from the place where it could happen in perfection

The guardian of God’s glory prevents reentry into the garden temple

Present Reality

The perfect fellowship of the garden is replaced with enforced alienation.

No longer does mankind walk with God. Instead we are aliens to him

Our sin prevents us from approaching God

How can we have hope for unity with the one whom we commit treason against.

We aren’t just neutral we are enemies

Col 1:21 “21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.”

Redemption

The motive of this exile is gracious – we are protected from eternal death by being held back from the tree of life.

God is not content to leave us aliens though

Rom 5:8-11 “8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Conclusion – Though sin’s consequences are great, the Lord God’s grace is greater

I have a great need for Christ: I have a great Christ for my need. (Spurgeon)

As you feel the shame of sin, experience the curse of sin, and are alienated from your creator because of sin, look to Christ who takes your shame, takes your curse, and reconciles you to your creator.

Your sin is great. Your savior is greater.

Do not cling to your sin which offers fleeting pleasure. Instead look to your savior.

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” (Lewis)