Adamic Covenant, pt. 2

Introduction

Keeping distance because god said to stay away

The problem of abundance being replaced by little

Satans dispute

Are we satisfied knowing good?

Satan makes it easy

The destruction of relationships by disobedience

Gauging Distance

Verses 1-7 provide both the record of the historical fall of man and the archetypal temptation. This passage is a perfect case study of temptation for sin cannot be blamed on environment and heredity.

Genesis 3:8–9 HCSB

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

There are many layers here. Adam and Eve took the temptation of being like God, knowing good and evil, and they acted on it. Now, they stood naked and afraid, for they had to cover themselves.

At this point, God has every reason to stop the story.

I said THIS and you did THAT.

The great emphasis in the text of 9-15 is the God who pursues.

It seems that Adam and Eve were standing still, but God was doing His daily walk, which was different today.

God pursued His people because they had reached for something higher but plunged to something lower.

Where are you is such a powerful question?

God knew - like the father seeing the feet under the table. He knows. But did Adam know where he was? Did Eve know? Did they know where they were spiritually? That God had to even ask that question is proof that the intimate, regular, personal closeness was broken and only one person in the group knew where they were: God

This is the reality of covenant in the Scriptures -

But there is another truth uncovered in this whole passage:

God designed man for fellowship with Himself and and even rebellion and sin were not going to thwart that design.

In verses 9-10, we read about something I call the Faults Alarm

Sin leads to guilt leads to alienation.

INSERT SLIDE

This is obvious by Adam and Even hiding, knowing their nakedness, being questioned about the eating from the tree

But, God’s covenant of grace transforms this alarm into a FALLS ALARM - one where grace falls on us

Sin leads to repentance leads to acceptance

So, even in their sinfulness, God stayed. this is the perfect picture of the Adamic Covenant and the power of God’s grace.

Gauging Guilt

Genesis 3:11–13 HCSB

Then He asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” Then the man replied, “The woman You gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.” So the Lord God asked the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate.”

At some point, any adult who has ever left a room with children alone has asked the same question -

WHO DID IT?

God is no different in this regard and this is made evident in verses 11-13. Everyone else is easier to blame.

The Nature of God's Questioning (v.11): Beyond Fact-Finding to Relationship Repair:

Overlooked Insight: God asks, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree...?" This isn't just an interrogation for information (He already knows). It's an invitation to confession and restoration. God is giving Adam and Eve space to take responsibility, to turn back towards Him.

The power of God’s Covenantal heart is more powerful than sin and just as accessible as the temptations of sin.

Sermon Application: Emphasize God's primary desire is reconciliation, not condemnation.

His questions are acts of grace, offering a way out of hiding.

How do we respond when God's Spirit prompts us with uncomfortable questions about our sin? Do we hide, blame, or step into the light of confession?

The Blame-Shifting Sequence (v.12-13): A Fracturing of All Relationships:

Overlooked Insight: The blame doesn't just flow down (Adam -> Eve -> Serpent); it fundamentally fractures relationships in every direction:

Our guilt is seen and experienced in our relationships with others but so is the reality of God’s covenantal love.

Adam -> God: "The woman you gave me..." (Implicitly blaming God for giving him Eve).

Adam -> Eve: "...she gave me..."

Eve -> Serpent: "...the serpent deceived me..."

Overlooked Consequence: Sin doesn't just isolate us from God; it poisons our relationships with each other and even twists our perception of God (seeing Him as part of the problem). The harmony of Eden is shattered on every level.

Sermon Application: ETrue repentance requires owning our sin without deflection.

Challenge Accepted

Genesis 3:15 HCSB

I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

While Satan cripples mankind with a strike at the heel, God will deliver the fatal blow.

God’s design for living in relationship with His people won’t be thwarted by the adversary.

The imagery of the cross as a tree -

Eat from every tree but that one

Abundance vs. lack

Death, toil, sweat, thorns, the tree, the struggle, and the seed - all of these are traced to Christ - the other Adam

It isn’t a wonder that in verse 21, we see the extent to which God would go to remedy the problem of man’s breaking of God’s covenant -

Genesis 3:21 HCSB

The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 1, Part 1: Genesis–Deuteronomy b. The Physical Consequences (3:9–21)

Thus, in man’s darkest hour, when sin had marred the divine image in him, when judgment had been pronounced upon him, when his whole world was changing, even then God’s grace and mercy were revealed as in veiled promise and symbolic act He foretold the coming Savior and His redemptive work.

The skin with which God clothed Adam and Eve perpetually reminded them of God’s provision.

Are you being reminded daily of God’s covenantal provision of grace?