Outline We Have the Good News of a Savior Who Covers Our Sin based on Genesis 3:1-13, 21

I. Big winner on Friday.

II. Deception and lies are nothing new. The sermon text from Genesis 3 is all about deception and lies. The season of Lent is a time to think about our times when we have deceived others by telling them lies. The serpent in the garden knew about the power of telling lies. The serpent started to work on Eve, the first woman, by asking an innocent-sounding question. “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” (Gen. 3:1). The serpent tried to twist the words of God to make God look like the bad guy. The exact words of God to Adam were, according to Genesis 2:16–17 “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” Instead of saying that no fruit from any of the trees in the garden could be eaten, God had commanded that the fruit of every tree in the garden could be eaten, except for one tree’s fruit. The lying serpent did not stop at one lie. The serpent told another lie to Eve in Genesis 3:4–5 “But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”

III. Eve’s confused answer.

IV. Gospel in Genesis 3.

V. Adam and Eve in hiding.

VI. We try to hide too.

VI. Adam and Eve driven out of garden with unexpected covering. Adam and Eve could not outsmart God. They were driven out of the garden of Eden. Angels and a flaming sword guarded the way back to the tree of life. Before they were driven out of the garden to live a life of struggle and pain, God did something unexpected. We are told in Genesis 3:21, “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

VII. Conclusion. What was that all about? God had to sacrifice an animal to make garments of skins to clothe Adam and Eve. That loving action points us to the Gospel Good News in Genesis 3. Just as a sacrifice was needed to make garments of skins to clothe Adam and his wife, God would in the future send His Son to make a sacrifice. The sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus, on the cross was not a matter of clothing. The sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus, on the cross was to cover over the sins and wrongs of Adam and Eve and every person since that time. The sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus, on the cross brought us forgiveness and mercy from God. We deserve to die, like Adam and Eve deserved to die, because of our many sins and wrongs and deceptions and lies. Instead, God placed all of those sins and wrongs on Jesus and He covered them over by the blood shed by Jesus on the cross for us. That is very good news indeed. Amen.