Genesis 3: The Promised Redemption

Good Morning Melville folks! So so grateful to be here with y’all this morning. Lucky for y’all or not you get to have me all summer, not everybody at once now clap. Again so grateful to lead the preaching of the word for y’all this summer. I take this very seriously, I really want to lead y’all this summer to a deep hunger for God’s word, its so good. So this summer I was debating through do I walk through a book in the Bible, I have 8-9 weeks with y’all, and I was like what can I do. So I landed on walking through expostionally Christ in all of scripture. The main idea of this sermon series this summer is that Christ is in all of scripture, The promise of the Gospel is all throughout the old Testament. Best phrase to go by today is Old Testament is promises made, the New Testament is promises fulfilled. I want to set the theological standard for the summer with this objective theological truth. The Bible is one big objectively true story about how God created the earth, he created us in image, however Adam and Eve sinned, which leads to separation the entire Bible is a story centered on the redemption found in Christ’s death, burial, and Resurrection. This summer is going to be great we will be looking at how the Old Testament points to the New, and the other way around we will see how the New Testament looks back at the old testament. We will be in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 2 Samuel, Isaiah, and then we shift into the New Testament and we will see how it looks back on the Old Testament in that we will be in the Book of Matthew, Romans, Galatians and Revelation. So excited to help y’all see the Bible as one big story centered on Christ death, burial, and Resurrection. So we start at the Beginning of the Bible in Genesis 3 today. If you will turn there today, we will be looking at the Fall today, most everyone is familar with this story. As I was going through this, I could not help but have a joke in there, why do not let women chose where to eat? The last time we did they doomed the whole world. Thats a good one dont worry ladies I have one later for y’all about men, I think y’all will find funny.

So today we will start by Reading Genesis 3:1-15

Genesis 3:1–15 CSB

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 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 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?” And he said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 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 have you done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” So the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

Prayer: God help me today to present the Gospel through this text, help me to not add or take away from your word. I pray that you give your people today a hungry thirst for your word. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Context:

This is one of the easiest Contexts that I have ever given for a sermon. God has just created the world in Genesis 1, and he created in six days, and rested on the seventh day. First of all what day of the week did Jesus die on the 6th day, what day did he lay silently in the grave for 7th day of the week, and he rose again on the first day of the week. This is not by accident, this has real meaning, every one of the words of God point to Jesus even in the very beginning, also fyi Jesus was there in the beginning with God, because we know that from John 1:1 that he is. So God has created the world, and he has created Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were God’s most prized creation. God and man at this time dwelled in perfect relationship, and this was to continue just as long as Adam and Eve did not eat from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil, in which tempted by the enemy in verses 1-5 they fell in verse 6, and verses 7-14 there were consequences of their sin, shame and separation from God, however in verse 15 there is a promise of Redemption that the woman seed will crush the head of the serpent’s seed, we will look at how that connects to Jesus later on, but focus in now on the main idea of the text today, which is

THE FALL OF MAN LEADS TO THE PROMISE OF REDEMPTION IN CHRIST.

MIT: The Fall of Man leads to the promise of Redemption.

1. The Temptation v.1-5

First point we will look at is verses 1-5, looking at the Serpent’s temptation of Eve. Serpent is described as the most cunning of God’s creation, very sneaky, very tricky.

In verse 1, the serpent approaches Eve in the Garden and asks, “Did God really say you can’t eat from any tree in the garden?” The serpent tempts Eve by questioning God’s commandment. In verse 2, Eve responds rightly by saying God’s word back to the serpent, however the serpent responds.

In verse 4, the Serpent responds to the woman by twisting God’s word, and persuades her to disobey God’s word by tricking her to believe that God’s commandment was a lie.

In verse 5, the Serpent continues by convincing Eve that she can become like God, and when she eats of it, she can have her eyes opened knowing Good and Evil.

We may look at this text today, and shake our heads at Eve for being dumb enough to fall into this sin. But brothers and sisters we do this everyday. I want to point out a few things from this temptation of Eve, first, notice how the serpent twists God’s word and the woman believes the lie and falls. Friends today, be reminded of this truth the only power the enemy has is to twist God’s word, if this is the case, then my plead for you today and myself is that we would be so devoted to the word of God that we can respond like Jesus did in his temptations in the wilderness, notice how the woman knew God’s word, even said to the enemy, but because the enemy subtly tempted her by twisting the command, she fell, everyday no matter what is the enemy is trying to twists God’s word in your life, we must not only be devoted to knowing God’s word but living it out as well, clinging to it because it is our life. So be reminded today, that the enemy is going to tempt by twisting God’s word but you do not have to be a slave to that, trust in the instruction of the Lord cling to it is for it is your life and defense against the schemes of the enemy. Notice in verse 5, the enemy promises to Eve that she can be like God, see the enemy here is taking away, the God-man relationship, we are creatures made in the image of our God, we were never made to be God, but we were created to know God and worship him in delight. Every sin promises is to make you like God, but it fails to bring us life instead it only brings death, because sin rejects the way we were created to live not to be like God, but to be his children worshipping in him in delight.

Today, I do not what sin struggles y’all might be battling, but I do know this is true from these first five verses the only power the enemy has is to twists God’s word, friends today lets be men and women of the word, and lets fight against the lies of the enemy with the truths of God’s word, what we are about to look at now is one of the saddest falls in human history, Eve caves into what the Serpent says.

2. The Fall v.6

So now we shift to the fall.

In verse 6, we get the description of this tree as the woman describes the tree as good for food, delightful to look at, and good for obtaining wisdom, and so because she allowed the serpent to trick her, her eyes were set out to eat the fruit and she took and ate.

Notice the tree description again: good for food, desirable to look at, and desirable for attaining wisdom. It promises her something she does not currently have, the enemy had convinced her that she was missing out on something amazing if she did not eat from the fruit. Notice the parallels of sin description: sin looks good, it is desirable, and the enemy convinces us that God is withholding something great from us, so just as Eve fell so many years ago in the garden, we also fall the same way every time to this very day. What we notice here is to be reminded is naturally we are pleasure seeking people, we were created to take pleasures in things, the problem here is not that Eve is pleasure seeking, the problem is she was willing to settle for such a weak pleasure that brought sin and death into the world. The same with us, my challenge for all of us today is that we would refuse to find pleasure in such weak things such as sin, but I pray we would find delight in God who is all-satisfying trusting him that he is all the we need. Whether you settle for money, lust, greed, happiness in temporary things, whatever it may be if you want to keep from falling to these pitiful pleasures you must delight in God and experience his all-satisfying presence which is life, fullness of joy, and pleasures forevermore. The reason Eve failed was because she was convinced that she didn't have enough, and that she felt something was withheld from her. Friends today, God’s commandments are not meant to be kept out mere duty, to him that’s legalism which is following God’s commands without real heart change. Legalism seeks to glorify your own works over the Lord’s work. God’s commands are meant to bring you life, do not worship God out of mere duty, but delight in him, take pleasure in his great word, as it is great sword against the attacks of the enemy. True worship to God is delighting in him and be satisfied in his presence, when we take our eyes off the life that God gives, we fall to the enemy and allow him to convince us to go against his word, this is what happened to Eve, let me tell you want to break the power of that certain sin in your life here’s the solution delight in God the one has the power to kill the sin your life. May the fall today be the reminder of how we are in constantly at war against the enemy as he is constantly trying to get us to fall away from God, may we stand our ground by delighting in the one who has the power to overcome the enemy, and put the serpent in his place, he has no power us. I think about the great hymn of Turn your Eyes upon Jesus a line from it goes: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”

The main point of the text today is that the Fall will lead to the great redemption in Christ, we are getting closer to that connection, but we still have some more ground to cover before i show y’all one of the earliest direct promises of Jesus in the old testament.

3. The Consequences v.7-14

The third thing we see are the consequences. As soon as they ate the fruit they got what the enemy promised them however they were not ready for the consequences, the first thing we see is that immediately Adam and Eve felt shame and knew they were naked, which they were never supposed to feel if only they had listened to God. God’s commandment to not eat of the tree was meant to bring life, but they ignored were true life was, and they failed to obey God’s commandment. Notice in verse 8, they hid themselves from the Lord, they knew that they had messed up, they knew that they were going to be punished for their wrongdoings. They were ashamed of their own actions, so they wanted hide to not face the punishment, but of course God is omnipresent, so they could hide even if they tried. Then the Lord God called out to the man, asking where are you, Adam responds by saying he was afraid and naked, and did not want to come before the Lord because of this great fall, he knew what he had done was wrong. Then the Lord asked a question that only a all knowing God would ask, knowing the answer to that question. In verse 12, we see Adam do the mostly manly thing ever blame his wife, now men in the room i am sure that we have never misplaced blame in our entire life right? See ladies told you I had a good one back. See here though importantly, Adam is blaming God for giving him the great gift of a helper, claiming it is because of her that he ate the fruit, this is a consquence of sin as well as guilt and blame. So then the Lord asked the woman her side, and she is a lot more honest and direct maybe Adam should take notes, however she also places blame on someone other then herself, she blames the serpent. So up to this point, Adam is blaming Eve and God, which is wild, Eve is blaming the serpent for falling. You see at this point there is only been one sin committed in the world at this point and notice the problem it is already creating. This right here should break our hearts today, God had created this perfect universe and everything in it, including human beings, all Adam and Eve had to do was obey but what did they do they sought pleasure in such a pitiful thing compared to God, and what was meant to be God dwelling with man, has now to lead to separation and tension with God and man. Adam and Eve’s fall now leaves man hopeless. At this point in time, now humans could no longer live in right relationship with God, this relationship was fractured by sin. However, praise the Lord the story of the Bible does not end here, God gives us a great promised redemption here in verse 15.

4. The Promised Redemption v. 15:

Genesis 3:15 CSB

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

Here the Lord is saying that there will be now this tension between good and evil. the Good offspring/seed is the woman, and the evil offspring is Satans. What we see here in verse 15 after the greatest fall in human history, we are receiving the greatest redemption act in human history. He will strike your head represents what Jesus does on the cross as he died, is buried, and defeats death in the act of the cross Jesus strikes the head of the serpent, and the serpent through his violent death represents the serpent striking his heel. Praise God that he promises redemption in the very beginning right after the fall. This goes back to our main idea of the text today, which is the fall of man leads to the great redemption promised in Christ.

Today friends be reminded that because of Christ death, burial, and resurrection the power of the serpent which is sin and death are destroyed, like Paul says in

1 Corinthians 15:55–57 ““O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 John 3:8 “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

Revelation 12:9–11 “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 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.”

Through Christ today we can have new life, and defeat the power of the enemy, and crush the head of the serpent. Notice how God immediately in verse 14 curses the serpent and limits his power. God from the very beginning of time knew the fall would happen, and he planned accordingly to his sovereign will that man would fall, but because he has such of love for his people, throughout scripture we see that his promises he gives never fails, the promise he gives here in Genesis 3:15 is a promise that is kept throughout the entire old testament and reaches its fulfillment in Christ. We are only three chapters into scripture and if you cant tell Jesus is theme of Genesis 3:15, and Genesis 3:15 is foundation and theme of the entire Bible. Christ is in all of scripture.

So today, whats your response today?

Have you trusted Christ as Lord and savior, maybe your here today and say I have been delighting in the pitiful pleasures of this earth, and I need to see Christ as savior today, friend if this is you today I pray today would be day of salvation, there is coming a day when it will be too late, and I pray that the Lord would reveal himself if that be you today.

For the believers today, be encouraged by the truth of scripture today, while the enemy may seem really powerful the only thing he can do is twist God’s word, so do not take your eyes off the beauty of the Lord, continue to delight in him this week. Lets all fight the enemy together this week clinging to the promises of God’s word, worship God this week and enjoy it, do not do it out of mere duty, but take pure delight in resting in the presence of God which brings life, fullness of joy, and pleasures forever.

I want to end today by quoting a song from this church that makes incredible theological music a line from it goes, “O sovereign God you are the Lord over all, you chose to save, redeem your bride from the fall, you bled, and died, you rose to life, we worship you because we know you are a sovereign God.” Worship God today because he is sovereignly chose to redeem you from the foundation of the earth Bible is clear about that, take delight not in this world, but take delight in God, and be watchful stand firm in the word of God against the lies of the enemy this week.

Prayer:

O God you are so gracious and as we today looked at the fall, as Adam and Eve directly disobeyed your word you had given them, God we thank you that immediately after they fell one of the first thing you do is promise to crush the serpent head, the promise of Jesus our great savior foreshadowed here in chapter 3 of the Bible, O God you are sovereign in your will and plan, and we thank you today that we can rest in your redemption today that is in Christ. O God I pray this week, that we would recognize that the enemy is weak compared to you Lord, help us to delight in your life-giving promises over the lies of the enemy this week, may we desire and hunger for you more this week than any other week, we love you, and thank you for the cross today where Jesus bled and died so that we may have life in his word.

Romans 16:25–27 “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.”