Genesis 3 The Way to the Tree of Life

Dear Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,

I have read this passage many times. I use it regularly in Catechism classes to demonstrate the fall into sin and the immediacy of God’s promise of grace and plan of salvation. Most of the time, I’ve found it to be a sad passage. Humankind’s innocence and perfection is lost.

Yet, as I considered this passage throughout the week, I had to re-examine my opinion. This is not just a story about what Adam and Eve are up to. This passage is not primarily about humankind’s fall into sin.

Studying God’s plan of salvation – as we move from creation and fall into the section on redemption – we find an emphasis on God’s love for his creatures and his creation, and the tender care of his plan of salvation. We cannot diminish how lamentable and sad the Fall into sin is, yet, this passage reveals God’s love and compassion. It gives us hope. That hope is echoed in the Contemporary Testimony, especially the words we recited as our assurance of pardon this morning. In the Contemporary Testimony, stanza 19 moves from humankind’s fall into sin to God’s act of redemption:

While justly angry God did not turn his back on a world bent on destruction; he turned his face to it in love. With patience and tender care he set out on the long road of redemption to reclaim the lost as his people and the world as his kingdom.

In studying this passage for this sermon, I read several times. Then I turned to de Graaf’s Promise and Deliverance. This book is a guide to telling Bible stories with a Reformed accent that emphasizes God’s grace.

For example, de Graaf suggests that many people miss the main point of . By looking at the title, which the editors of this translation of the Bible give to , we can see what he’s talking about. In the NIV, this passage is entitled The Fall of Man. Following de Graaf, I agree that this passage should receive a title more reflective of the main message.

The fall into sin does not deserve the headlines. Only the first seven verses record the fall into sin. The headlines should shout out what is truly remarkable or unexpected in this event.

After the first 7 verses the rest of the chapter records God’s response to the sin of humankind and that is where the real story is. The Lord God is angry with sin and angry with humankind’s rejection of his will for their lives, yet God’s response is tempered by love for his creation. The curse is laid upon the serpent and the ground. God’s people, those who bear his image, are saddled with the consequences of their choice, but they also receive Grace in several forms.

Consequences:

Realization of nakedness: previous there was no reason to fear or regret being exposed and vulnerable, now the knowledge of evil and the possibility of rejection or being hurt makes such openness and vulnerability dangerous.

Fear of God: humankind had betrayed the trust of their maker and disobeyed his command. How would he respond? This disobedience has created a barrier between people and God, experienced by every generation since Adam and Eve.

Inability to own up to wrong-doing or stand together, they wouldn’t back each other up, they wouldn’t accept the blame, instead of working together, they began to point fingers.

Grace

God came looking for the people – he continues to look, seeking the lost and welcoming them into his kingdom – seeking the lost characterizes God’s dealings with humankind throughout the history of redemption – we first see it here.

Promise that the serpent would be defeated – the offspring of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the son of David was coming – although the serpent would harm him, Jesus’ response would be fatal to the serpent and his cause

God’s grace is seen in the way he protects humankind from the tree of life. Living forever under these conditions would be hellish. The relationship between God and humankind must be restored before any good would come of the tree of life.

The tree on Golgotha becomes the tree of life and opens the way to the tree of life. On the cross, Jesus shoulders God’s judgement. The sentence upon Adam and Eve was postponed. As many people point out, God’s warning in doesn’t seem to be true. In the previous chapter, God gave instructions to Adam:

The Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

Adam and Eve don’t drop dead when they bite the fruit.

God goes looking for them instead. God’s punishment on humankind is suspended until Jesus Christ arrives. Christ died for humankind’s sin. By bearing the punishment, Jesus saved us from bearing the consequences of our sin. In Jesus, God’s plan of grace and salvation reaches its culmination. Even before he went to the cross, Jesus made this great promise:

He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die ().

The penalty for sin is already paid for those who believe in Jesus. The people lost in sin, deserving death, are brought close to God once again. Jesus is the Way to our Creator.

Those who do not believe in him will not have this death sentence lifted. When they die, they die eternal death. The choice of humankind to reject God’s instruction, to refuse God’s love will be finalized – rejecting Jesus’ sacrifice, they receive the judgement of God upon their choice to live without him. Their death ushers them into the absence of God’s grace or favour – that is hell.

Those who receive God’s promises through Jesus Christ, those who are redeemed by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross are ushered into the kingdom, the presence of God’s glory. And what do we find there?

When Adam and Eve sinned, they were barred from the tree of life. God was not being mean, but preventing them from living eternally separate from him. But this restriction is no longer necessary when the plan of redemption is fully realized. Therefore, we see that tree of life again in John’s vision of heaven:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse ().

The tree of life – guarded by angels and a flaming sword, now found in the middle of the city, giving healing to the nations.

There are two things that I’d like to have completely clear in this sermon:

1. When you study God’s Word, when you look at a Bible passage, look for God’s action, look for God’s relationship with his creation, his creatures, look for God’s grace. This is important in Bible study, because the Bible is God’s self-revelation – it is the clearest way he reveals himself to us.

This is a basic lesson in reading scripture that I needed to remember as I prepared to preach on : the story of humankind’s fall into sin and God’s response of grace.

2. God’s grace is incredible. When we were kids, we enjoyed building and creating. Whether it is with Lego blocks or play-do, my brother and I take pride in the things we made. Once something is complete, we liked to show it around and take pleasure in what we were able to make.

If the ship or animal, house or robot broke, we were disappointed, and sometimes we became quite upset. But if someone deliberately broke our creation, our natural reaction was anger. Sometimes we got into serious fights when one of us wreaked what the other had made.

When humankind wreaked the purity of God’s creation, God came looking for Adam and Eve. While they heard his disappointment and the consequences of their actions, they also heard a message of love and grace, which has resounded throughout all of history. Already in the garden, God began the plan of redeeming and re-creating what had been spoiled by sin. How amazing his love is for his creation!