The Curse & the Blessings

The Gospel in Genesis  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Introduction

What comes to your mind when you think of blessings and curses?
We might have images of voodoo witch doctors pronouncing a curse upon an enemy. We think of a curse as some dark spiritual practice.
We think of blessings as receiving wealth and prosperity. We say phrases like “God Bless America,” and think we are asking God to bless us with safety, health, and prosperity.
But these ideas of blessings and curses are very shallow to the idea presented to us in the Bible.
To be cursed means to stand under the eternal judgment of God. It is not some fictional spiritual chant, but an actual experience for those who have rejected and despised the love, grace, and holiness of our God.
In the same way, to be blessed means that we are flourishing in life in a way that we are experiencing more of God’s presence, regardless of our physical circumstances. Some of the most blessed people have not received physical benefits, but rather are those who experience the joy of God’s presence even in spite of their circumstances.
Read Genesis 3:14-15
Genesis 3:14–24 (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.
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.”
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.”
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;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
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.”
The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Last week we looked at and saw the first sin and rebellion of mankind. Of course, the rebellion also included the temptation from the serpent, or Satan, but the temptation only took root because man and woman entertained the thoughts of rebellion within their own hearts. This week, we will examine the results and consequences of sin and rebellion and God’s grace in the midst of those consequences.

The Blessing of the Curse

First, we see that God only curses the Serpent.

After hearing the responses from the man and the woman as to how and why they rebelled against God, God begins to pronounce His judgment against all the parties involved.
What we want to see is that even in His judgment, God is being infinitely gracious and merciful to fallen humanity.
He begins to pronounce judgment first and foremost upon the serpent.

Satan received the exact opposite of what he wanted.

First God tells the serpent that He is cursed. Notice here that really, the serpent is the only one actually cursed in this passage. The final judgment has been passed and there is no redemption or possibility of salvation for the serpent/Satan.
God then tells the serpent that he is cursed above all the other creatures of the land and that he will be crawling upon the ground and eating of the dust of the earth.
Again, we do not know exactly if the serpent is merely a form that Satan took upon for himself, or if he possessed a snake of the field or what happened. But while it is describing the general description of how snakes live and exist in our current condition, there is also judgment being passed upon Satan that is in direct contrast to what he tried to acquire for himself.
Isaiah 14:13–14 (ESV)
You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
Instead of rising to the place of God, God threw Satan down to be the lowest of all creation!
God has demonstrated His power and sovereignty over the serpent. And this is a blessing for us.
While Satan and his demons are very real, we are in a real spiritual warfare,
What we need to remember is that Satan has already been defeated, and it happened already in Genesis 3.
This doesn’t mean that Satan is not going to win some battles along the way, but God has fully and completely won the war.

The first Gospel is given in the serpent’s curse

Of course, while God won the war from the very beginning, the proof of His victory will be seen thousands of years later in the fulfillment of this greatest of promises right here in verse 15.
Here God says there is going to be enmity between the Serpent and the woman and between his seed or offspring and her offspring.
Genesis 3:15 (NASB95)
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
Here in this curse upon the serpent we see God making a grand promise to Adam and Eve that there will be an offspring or a seed of woman who will come and defeat the serpent.
The serpent who deceived them and brought in death and separation, will be finally defeated by this seed of the woman.
This is a promise of Jesus. One who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary.
There will be a battle done between this Seed and the Serpent and both will be injured in this battle. But notice the wounds that are inflicted.
While the serpent will strike the heel of the offspring, the offspring will crush the serpent’s head.
While the cross did lead to the actual physical death of Jesus, the Son of God, it did not lead to a permanent death, but rather, through His perfect obedience He was able to endure the death that we deserve for sin and yet was raised from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the Father and is given a name that is above every name!
Satan is defeated. And while we must acknowledge that he has been granted a certain level of power, his power is insignificant compared to God’s infinite and glorious power.

We Have No Need to Fear

Because Satan has been defeated, if we are in Christ, we do not need to fear what he might do to us.
We do not need to listen to his lies of accusations against us because Christ has taken away our sin.
Revelation 12:10–11 (ESV)
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
We do not have to fear what he or the world might do to us.
Matthew 10:28 (ESV)
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
This is why we can rejoice in persecution, because we know that because Christ has defeated Satan, there is nothing permanent he can do to us.
Matthew 5:10 (ESV)
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Philippians 1:21 (ESV)
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

The Blessing of Discipline

God disciplines humanity for their sin

The Cultural Mandate - Genesis 1:28

Genesis 1:28 (ESV)
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
There is discipline found here.
Adam and Eve thought they could be their own gods, but God will show them that when they try to be a god, they will actually fail at finding the joy and flourishing God intended for them to have in the cultural mandate.
We find that being fruitful and multiplying will now be filled with increased pain.
Yes, there is now increased physical pain with childbearing.
But there is also increased pain as we seek to raise our children and as we watch them navigate life in this sin broken world. There are things in this world that threaten to capture their hearts from Christ. There are decisions they make that can bring pain and heartache to us as parents.
But there is also pain and struggle in subduing and exercising dominion over the earth.
We will have weeds, thorns, and thistles as we work the ground. Work will bring pain and sweat instead of the joy and satisfaction God intended it to bring.
Work itself is not a result of sin. The pain and toil of work is a result of sin.
What we see here is that the created order has been subjected to futility. There is now pain, suffering, and death as we seek to live in this changed and damaged world.
But notice that while there is a diminished joy in fulfilling the cultural mandate, God has not made it impossible. God still grants His grace to us even in the midst of the consequences. He gives us sunshine and rain to help our crops to grow. He gives us His grace as we seek to do our best to lead our children to Him. He has given us medicines that can even reduce the pain of physical childbirth. God is good and gracious even in His discipline towards us.

Blessing is found in this discipline

Consider it all joy

But as we consider the pain that we experience in this life, this pain and suffering is actually meant to be for the good of those who love God.
James 1:2 (ESV)
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
Hebrews 12:5–7 (ESV)
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
What God is doing for Adam and Eve, and ultimately for all of us is actually for our good. God could have passed immediate judgment upon humanity for our rebellion against Him, but instead, He shows His grace as He disciplines us because God is interested in treating us as His children even though we have made ourselves His enemies.

The pain and suffering of this life should drive us back to Christ

What God is doing here is leading us to recognize our need and weaknesses in this world, to recognize that we are not God and to turn to Him in the midst of the pain and heartache we experience in this life.
When you begin to experience symptoms of something that is wrong, it is not pleasant and it does not feel like a blessing. But if the symptoms drive you to seek out professional help to seek healing, then the symptoms actually act as a blessing because it reminds us that things are not right.
Matthew 11:28 (ESV)
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Laura Story - Blessings
We pray for blessings We pray for peace Comfort for family, protection while we sleep We pray for healing, for prosperity We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering And all the while, You hear each spoken need Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things
'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops? What if Your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights Are what it takes to know You're near? And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

The Blessing of Receiving God’s Grace

Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves - Law

After their sin, Adam and Eve knew they were naked. They were ashamed and sought to try to cover their shame by covering themselves with fig leaves.
Really it was a pathetic covering that they knew could not really cover them because when they heard God coming through, they still felt the need to hide even in spite of the coverings they made for themselves.
We try to cover ourselves in our own righteousness. We seek to try to be good on our own in the hopes that it will be good enough.
But as long as we are dependent upon the fig leaves of our own righteousness, we will continue to try to hide from God. We will not want to come face to face with our Maker because we know that our own righteousness will not cut it.
We know deep down that in spite of what many popular teachers might say, we are not fundamentally good people. It is why we constantly try to curate our image on social media, showing only the pictures that we want others to see. We have our reputations to try to protect because we don’t want people to know who we really are deep down.
We try to cover our shame in our own works and efforts always knowing that it will never be enough because God sees us as we really are and no matter how much we might fool each other, we can never hide from and fool our God

God gives them a better covering - Christ

But instead, God in His grace and mercy gives them a better covering.
God in an act of mercy makes the first sacrifice. An animal dies. Because He takes the skins of an animal to cover Adam and Eve.
Adam and Eve are going to physically die. But instead of them dying, an animal dies in their place to cover their shame and nakedness.
We see yet another image of the Gospel that God promised when He cursed the serpent. The offspring who will crush the head of the serpent will also give His own life and shed His own blood to cover the sins of His people for all those who would put their faith and trust in Him!

The Blessing of Death

Death is a curse

Death is a blessing

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