Paradise Lost (Genesis 2:4-3:24)

can you answer some of life’s hardest questions?

ever lost someone too soon?

Aunt Kathee died of cancer at 52

Amanda lost cousin that was 19 in car wreck

explain brokenness and evil?

mass murders barely make headlines anymore

Austin—10 year old confessed to shooting 32 year old man while sleeping when 8 years old…for no reason

pastor/church leader embezzles thousands of dollars & goes to jail

natural disasters?

earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, and landslides kill hundreds (even thousands)

can you explain why?

why suffering?

why pain?

why death?

we have a lost and dying world that is asking

and we should have an answer from God’s Word

God revealed why this world is broken

why it is not the way He created it (very good)

Paradise Lost

narrowing focus

Gen 1:1—entire universe (heavens and earth)

Gen 1:2—The earth

Gen 2—complementary account to Gen 1

zooms in on garden, first man and woman

retells more intimate account of how God created Adam and Eve

tone: intimate care

A. The Lord God planted the Garden of Eden for man (2:4-17)

Lord God

Gen 1—אֱלֹהִים

almighty Creator of the universe

distant speaking Creator

Gen 2-3—יהוה אֱלֹהִים

the personal God who…

revealed His special name to Moses at the burning bush

delivered Israel out of Egypt

fed them manna in the desert

chose Israel as His special possession

made a covenant with Israel

intimate Gardener and Sculptor

God planted the garden of eden and planted Adam in the garden (2:5-9) pew Bible # 2

intimacy of God

garden for Adam

formed Adam from dust and breathed life into him

no other creature was created…

this intimately

in the image of God

origin of words

man—הָאָדָם

ground—הָאֲדָמָה

the earthling is made from the earth

specifics of garden of Eden

2 important trees (2:9)

4 important rivers (2:10-14)

2 unknown today, but 2 known

unknown—Pishon and Gihon

known—Tigris and Euphrates

God put man in the garden and made only 1 restriction (2:15-17)

free to eat of every tree, especially the tree of life

but not tree of the knowledge of good and evil

result will be death

broken communion with the intimate Creator God

will they focus on the one thing they cannot have

instead of all that they may enjoy???

the stakes are high

B. The Lord God performed divine surgery to make a helper for man (2:18-25)

God gave Adam dominion over animals and allowed him to name them (2:18-19)

but no suitable helper (2:20)

animals can make great pets

but they make horrible mates

SO God performed divine surgery to make a suitable companion (2:21-23)

only woman fits the bill

because she is made of man’s rib

the woman is the man’s equal

because she is made from the same substance

and also created in God’s image

man and woman are great compliments

man—אִישׁ

woman—אִשָּׁה

men and women are closely related

only humans are created in the image of God

same flesh

same bones

but opposite sex

thus compliment each other perfectly

conclusion of marriage (2:24)

the man and the woman are enjoying Paradise on earth

but trouble is brewing in Paradise

3:1-5

C. The scheming serpent deceived the woman (3:1-5)

Randal from Monsters, Inc

something special about this serpent

speaks

serpents do not speak

even in the perfect Garden of Eden

this serpent has been possessed

Rev 12:9

that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world

more crafty

ignores good gifts of God

makes God’s commandment sound unreasonable

You shall not eat of any tree in the garden (3:1)

contradicts God

You will not surely die (3:4)

but they didn’t die (immediately)

was the serpent right?

or did God mean something other than physical death?

appeal to be like God (3:5)

God’s benevolence to create humans in the image of God was not enough

can do much better and be like God

Mormons believe possible to be a god

not consistent with God’s Word

what will the woman do? where is the man in all of this?

3:6-7

climax of account

3 part build up to Eve’s decision (3:6)

D. The woman and the man betrayed the Lord God by eating of the forbidden fruit (3:6-7)

Adam, who heard the command from God, should have stopped her

but he remained silent…and even participated

rebellion is now in the garden

ever been betrayed?

1. like when younger son asked for inheritance while father still alive (Luke 15)

wish you were dead

I just want your stuff

2. like Judas Iscariot betraying the Author of Life

3. here—what a betrayal after God’s most tender and careful creation (Gen 2)

sin is rebellion (betrayal) against our loving Creator

desire to trade places with God and become our own god

how’s that working for ya?

now it is Lord God’s turn to weigh in on the situation

what will the Lord do about rebellion…about sin?

C’. The Lord God confronted the man and the woman (3:8-13)

3:8-13

broken relationship

walking in the garden (3:8)

symbolic of close relationship about to be torn

communion with God is replaced with fear

sin has entered and blame is the name of the game (3:9-13)

man — The woman whom you gave (3:12)

woman — The serpent deceived me (3:13)

will Lord God give them what they deserve?

3:14-19

B’. The Lord God cursed the serpent and punished the woman and Adam (3:14-19)

instantaneously, everything changes

now Adam and Eve are recipients of God’s judgment

work :) will be hard and known as work :(

pain and sadness are new emotions unfelt before this day

the eviction notice from Paradise has been issued

the judgment will not only affect them

but every single one of their descendants

the ones who were created to live forever

are now subject to death—an exile that never ends

cursed the serpent (3:14-15)

even in the curse

God made a promise of a curse-reversing seed of the woman (3:15)

punished the woman (3:16)

punished, not cursed

pain in becoming a mother

struggle for dominance in marriage

man and woman created to be one flesh

but will find themselves tearing each other apart

punished Adam (3:17)

punished, not cursed

ground is cursed

work = 4 letter word

punished to death for sin

from dust to dust (3:19)

all of us are frail and made from dust

Christopher Ash “A living human being can walk, run, build, think, speak, act, love. But dust is disconnected particles on the ground, with no life, no action, no agency, no power; it is lifeless, inorganic matter. You and I came from dust and our bodies will return to dust. At no point of our lives in this age are we far away from reverting to dust. We are very fragile.”

for our whole life

we are a few particles of dust into which God temporarily breathed the breath of life

we are from dust and will return to dust

may we never forget that

how much do you and I desire to be like God

that we shake our fist at Him

and act like we can live this life without Him?

with sin in their heart, Adam and Eve are banished

A’. The Lord God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden (3:20-24)

did God give them what they deserved? NO

God did not annihilate them (3:20-21)

but clothed them

and banished them

3:22-24

yes they didn’t die immediately

banished from the garden

banished from the presence of God

that is the worst punishment of all

spiritual death is separation from God’s presence

sin separates from God

intimacy with God has been replaced with alienation from God

and there is no way back into the garden

blank screen

The Fall makes one of most significant divisions in all of history

and we all stand on the wrong side of that division

universal effect

now pattern of our lives

you and I are not sinners because we sin

sin because we are by nature sinners

sin has stained every fiber of creation

God did not create the world like this

cancer, mothers dying too young, earthquakes

all due to the effects of sin

even when not specific judgment for specific sin

it is in our nature to replace God with self

and we attract His just wrath

we have no one to blame but ourselves

cherubim—angelic like beings

cherubim guarded the way to the tree of life (3:24)

2 cherubim guarded ark of covenant in tabernacle and temple

where the presence of God is on mercy seat

cherubim embroidered on curtain (x2) of tabernacle and temple

warning sinners are not allowed in the presence of God

but the curse-reversing seed of the woman

was someone unbelievable—God

did something unbelievable—made way back

Gal 3:13-14

Jesus took on the curse, and redeemed us from it by His death, burial, and resurrection

when Jesus died

Matthew 27:51

the temple curtain with the cherubim embroidered on it

was torn in two…from top to bottom

60’ high x 30’ wide

symbolizing all people barred from God’s presence

now have access back to God through Jesus

black screen

the cross was not Plan B for God

it was the plan from the beginning

on day in the garden when God declared judgment for sin was death

on day that flaming sword was put in place

on that day Jesus (God the Son) was sharing in the decision

it was a Trinitarian decision to banish Adam and Eve from the garden

Jesus (God the Son)

walked through in our place

to satisfy God’s just wrath

and make a way for us to enter back in

to eat from the tree of life

we long for the day when the Garden of Eden will be restored

Rev 22:1-3, 14 pew Bible # 1234

robes washed in the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb

hope is not lost after all

even though we suffer in the in-between time (Fall and restoration)

through Jesus we are brought back into communion with God

response:

broken world explained

only 1 way back to the Father (John 14:6)

present Randy and Jana Ivy