Genesis 3: 6-19 Grace & Truth

Dearly loved people of God,

Two pictures of God in our culture that don’t do him justice:

Santa Claus greeting folks with “ho, ho, ho!” while promising candy and toys;

A scowling judge eager to throw the book at people who put one toe out of line.

Both are bad pictures of God. That’s not the way God reveals himself in Scripture.

Today is the 1st Sunday of Advent. One passage often read during Advent is the beginning of the gospel of John. It is part of our daily readings this week. Jesus is introduced as the light of the world and the one who comes with grace & truth.

The God who goes looking for Adam & Eve in the trees is the same God who comes to the world in the flesh. It’s not surprising God brings grace and truth in both situations. In a world knocked off kilter by sin, oh boy, do we ever need grace & truth!

It’s one of the most lamentable events recorded in Scripture. Egged on by the serpent, Adam & Eve approached the tree and looked at the fruit. It looked:

Good for food,

Pleasing to the eye

Desirable for gaining wisdom

So first one, then the other, ate.

What was the profound wisdom they gained? What insight into good and evil was revealed?

They realized they were naked. Talk about a let-down. They were filled with shame and needed to cover up and hide. Immediately, their sin created shame between Adam & Eve, so they covered up with these aprons made from a fig leaf.

Their sin created a desire to avoid God. They hid.

This past week, those following the daily Bible readings had a chance to chew over the description of temptation in the NT letter of James. A reminder how:

Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

(NIV)

Did you go on to reflect on the further consequences of sin? Sin cut us off from each other and from God: shame and hiding.

I was careless with words when talking with someone this week. As the unkind words hung between us, the air seemed to freeze. I killed that person a little. My shame and their hurt was a barrier between us, until it was patched. Maybe you experienced something similar this week.

Adam & Eve’s experience isn’t as long ago and far away as it sometimes seems. We experience it regularly. Maybe we’ve even grown a little calloused to it. Sin creates shame. It creates barriers. It causes death.

But God doesn’t leave humankind there. The Lord doesn’t leave Adam & Eve hiding among the trees, shivering in their pitiful fig leaf skirts. The Lord God calls out to Adam & Eve with grace and truth.

Graciously the Lord calls to the man, “Where are you?”

He doesn’t smite Adam & Eve with fire and brimstone. Gently, with careful questions, God lets his people unpack their fears, their actions, their story. As parents and teachers we can learn how to deal with disobedience from this.

Even when Adam shifts the blame to Eve – and even to God, “the woman you put here with me she gave me some fruit . . .” Even then, God patiently works to untangle the threads of the problem. It’s grace.

But there’s also truth. Disobeying God, mistrusting his guidance, stepping away from his instructions, causes death. Humankind tastes death in their shame and hiding. It’s the flavour of our fear of God. But the curse continues. God tells the truth about their doom, but there is grace as well:

The serpent, catalyst of Adam & Eve’s doubts and disobedience, is cursed: Crawl on belly and eat dust.

It’s only in hindsight, after reading further into God’s revelation, that we recognize this serpent as Satan. This account of the fall into sin doesn’t unpack all the theology. But there is a promise, the first hint of the gospel, that the evil one will not be allowed to run roughshod, tempting and leading into sin unchecked.

The battle in the garden was lost, but the war has just begun. The enmity – the struggle – between the serpent and humankind isn’t over. For generations it will continue. In grace and truth, the Lord God refers to the day when the serpent’s head is crushed.

We know this story. It is our story, our comfort, our confession. Jesus is the offspring of the woman who was born to crush Satan. That is why we make such a big deal in the church about Jesus’ arrival.

We celebrate Christmas because the boy-child of Mary is the fulfillment of the Lord God’s promise. Throughout his life he suffered from sin and brokenness, but unlike our first parents, Jesus doesn’t give in to temptation.

Jesus was nailed to the cross to die for the sin of humankind. He died for you. But neither sin nor death had the last word.

Jesus rose from death so that we and the rest of creation don’t need to live lives of death and sin and brokenness any longer. Jesus rose so that all who trust in him can live in God’s grace and creation can be renewed.

This is why we tell and retell the story of the Garden of Eden – especially in Advent. Sin and brokenness don’t have the last word. God has come with grace and truth.

He’s not like Santa Claus with jolly warm fuzzies. He’s not like a scowling judge determined to condemn. Our God reaches out to his dearly loved children with grace and truth and says you’ve screwed up. It’s going to be painful, but we can make this right. Do you trust my truthfulness enough to enjoy my grace? I’ve got plans and instructions for you. Do you trust me now?

It’s not just about the serpent. Eve and Adam also have their turns listening to God’s truth-telling. Even as God pronounces the doom of the woman and the man, there’s grace and truth:

The woman will have pain in her labour. Bearing and raising children will cause pain.

The perfect marriage has been marred. The equality of their relations gives way to attempts to dominate. Husbands aren’t supposed to be bossy!

But it’s not all doom. God’s grace can be seen. The woman will still bear children. Her good desires for her husband will continue. Relationships will be restored.

In Christ, the perfect bridegroom, the marriage relationship is redeemed. God’s Word in the letter to the Ephesians makes that clear: in Christ, marriage can be redeemed and restored.

We discussed this earlier this fall: Groom and bride can take a page out of Jesus’ book and serve each other with humility and joy. In Christ, relationships are lifted up and renewed. We heard this grace and truth yesterday as Preston & Anita exchanged their wedding vows. Their promises made reference to Christ’s love and sacrifice for his bride, the church. Jesus models the selfless love proper in marriage.

God’s word to the man is likewise a mixed bag of grace & truth. The ground is cursed. I don’t have to tell most of you the struggle it is to grow crops amid weeds and pests. Painful toil and sweat are a daily experience. It’s not all cushy seats and air-conditioned tractors, is it?

But food will continue to be produced. Eat, eat, eat, is mentioned in these verses. Growing it will be hard work, but the grounds will produce food and humankind will still eat by the sweat of their brow.

And the eating won’t always be alone, as when Adam & Eve disobeyed. Eating the fruit wasn’t a meal that fostered togetherness. No, that food tore them apart.

In God’s grace, we’ve been given food that draws us together. Around the Lord’s Table, the bread that we eat and the cup that we drink draws us together in communion. You’re invited and challenged to prepare for that celebration. An Advent Communion, as we celebrate Jesus’ coming and his coming again.