A Promise Fulfilled Genesis 3:1-15

God answers the problem of sin by sending His Son Jesus to pay sin’s penalty

A farmer went into his banker and announced that he had bad news and good news. "First, the bad news...""Well," said the farmer, "I can't make my mortgage payments. And that crop loan I've taken out for the past 10 years -- I can't pay that off, either. Not only that, I won't be able to pay you the couple of hundred thousand I still have outstanding on my tractors and other equipment. So I'm going to have to give up the farm and turn it all over to you for whatever you can salvage out of it. "Silence prevailed for a minute and then the banker said ,"What's the good news?" "The good news is that I'm going to keep on banking with you," said the farmer.

I. Sin is Our Problem vv. 1-7

In our passage this morning, we are introduced to the greatest problem that humanity faces: sin

While there are many difficulties that we face, they are really all outworkings of this one fundamental problem

We have rebelled against God and we do not do what He intends for us to do!

In Genesis 3, we see the beginnings of this problem, but we also see the beginning of God’s solution!

First, we meet a serpent.

We will quickly come to recognize him as an agent or form of a much greater enemy that we call Satan

He is a tempter and works to bring humanity to rebellion against God

He has a specific strategy and the strategy has not changed

Satan introduces three doubts to Eve:

He questions God’s Word- did He really say that? Is that what it means?

He questions God’s Authority- “You will not die!” Either God is not telling the truth or He will not fulfill His command

He questions God’s character- God knows you will be like Him. He is only withholding something good from you.

Satan has an elegant plan to make what is evil seem wise and what is good seem foolish!

This works, because Eve is also facing three specific temptations:

The lust of the flesh- the fruit was good for food and fulfilled her appetite

The lust of the eyes- the fruit was good to look at and was beautiful

The pride of life- the fruit could make a person wise

This has always been the plan and we need to be wise to the plan!

James 1:13–15

[13] Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. [14] But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. [15] Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (ESV)

II. Sin Has Consequences vv. 8-14

Next, we see that sin has some very practical consequences in the lives of Adam and Eve

First, we see that a separation comes v. 8

They hide themselves from God

They are afraid of God in a way that they were not afraid before

Their fellowship with Him is now complicated and broken by this disobedience that lies between them.

Second, we see shame develop vvv. 9-11

They are now aware of a new reality: They are naked!

This has never been an issue; they were always similarly exposed

Now, they feel the need to cover themselves because they don’t want anyone to see what they really are and have done

Third, we see strife come between them vv. 12-13

God confronts Adam and he is full of excuses:

Remember, Adam is the one who received God’s personal instruction on the matter

He tries to blame Eve, the woman for his sin in this matter

Further, Adam tries to blame God. After all, God is the one who gave him Eve!

Likewise, Eve turns around and blames the serpent

Can you imagine how much conflict and pain results from the failure of Adam and Eve to confront their sin?

Fourth, we see suffering enter into the world v. 14

The Lord’s words here begin a new section:

The serpent will fall and lose some of his former glory

The woman will suffer through childbirth and her relationship with her husband will be filled with strife

The man will suffer at his work and work will lose much of its joy

The world will be marked by sin, suffering, and even death until the day restores things to the order that God set from the beginning!

We must not discount the consequences of sin

In 2011, one of the zany experiments staged by the "Mythbusters" television show nearly turned into a suburban tragedy Tuesday afternoon in Dublin when the crew fired a homemade cannon toward huge containers of water at the Alameda County Sheriff's Department bomb disposal range.

The cantaloupe-sized cannonball missed the water, tore through a cinder-block wall, skipped off a hillside and flew some 700 yards east, right into the Tassajara Creek neighborhood, where children were returning home from school at 4:15 p.m., authorities said.

There, the 6-inch projectile bounced in front of a home on quiet Cassata Place, ripped through the front door, raced up the stairs and blasted through a bedroom, where a man, woman and child slept through it all - only awakening because of plaster dust.

The ball wasn't done bouncing.

It exited the house, leaving a perfectly round hole in the stucco, crossed six-lane Tassajara Road, took out several tiles from the roof of a home on Bellevue Circle and finally slammed into the Gill family's beige Toyota Sienna minivan in a driveway on Springvale Drive.

That's where Jasbir Gill, 42, who had pulled up 10 minutes earlier with his 13-year-old son, Manvir, found the ball on the floorboards, with glass everywhere and an obliterated dashboard.

III. Sinners Find Hope in Jesus v. 15

There is good news, however. We have reasons for hope

First, we see that God was not caught off-guard nor was He unprepared: He had a plan for dealing with sin

Second, we see that God’s plan involves a Son

He will be God’s servant but Eve’s offspring

He will crush the head of the serpent

However, He will suffer Himself in the saving

This is an early picture of a greater story that we call the Gospel:

Jesus is the Son of God, born to Mary, the descendant of Eve

Jesus lives a life without sin, yet He dies on behalf of sinners

Jesus defeats death by rising victorious over the grave on the third day

Jesus has ascended to the presence of His Father where He intercedes on our behalf

Jesus is preparing for a day that He returns to rescue His people and to fulfill His promise of a Kingdom where He rules completely

This is the Good News, but this is also God’s promise

I don’t want us to miss this: God proclaimed the Good News before anyone else did

This was His plan, His purpose, His promise to us

He will bring it to its full conclusion and it is ours if we will believe it!

The Toronto Ward Museum tells us the story of a nineteenth-century man named Isapo Muxika. He is more commonly known as Crowfoot. He was the chief of the Siksika Indian tribe. He was known for his peaceful relations with Canada during a time of great violence.

When the Canadian Pacific Railroad was being built and they needed to build part of it on his land, the Canadian government approached Crowfoot with an offer. They said, “If you will give us the land we need for the railroad, you can ride it whenever and wherever you want.” 

So they made a deal. They finished the Canadian Pacific Railroad and Crowfoot received a lifetime pass. It was put in a beautiful case. Crowfoot is said to have carried that case around his neck for the rest of his life. It entitled him to go wherever he wanted where the railroad could take him.

There was just one problem. As far as we know, Crowfoot never stepped foot on that train. He had the right to travel anywhere he wanted, but he never availed himself of that right.