The Fall--Sin's Curse Part II--Destiny

Passage: (ESV)

Intro:

[17] And to Adam he said,

I. Because of Sin, mankind is Destined for Destruction (17-19)

A. [17] And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; [18] thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. [19] By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

A. [17] And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; [18] thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. [19] By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

B. Destined to a pitiful reminder (17a)

B. Destined to a pitiful reminder (17a)

and have eaten of the tree

C. Destined to painful labor (17b-18)

1. The ground that Adam had worked with ease is cursed by the fall

of which I commanded you,

D. Destined to a promise demise (19)

a) The ground’s curse would forever remind Adam that he had sinned

‘You shall not eat of it,’

II. Because of Sin, Mankind is Destined for Division (22-24)

b) His sin: abdicating his headship to the woman

cursed is the ground because of you;

A. [22] Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” [23] therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. [24] He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

2. Moses writes that the ground is cursed because Adam “listened to the voice of (his) wife.”

in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

B. Destined to know Good but unable to do it. (22)

a) Men: this is not God saying, “never listen to your wife.”

[18] thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

1.

b) What this means is man chose his wife over God

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

C. Destined to know Grace but excluded from it. (23)

3. To whom should man listen?

[19] By the sweat of your face

1. Adam knew the graceful provision of God in the garden

a) Answer: God.

you shall eat bread,

2. Now, God would still provide, but not in the same way

b) Competing voices are still working to dissuade men from listening to one voice

till you return to the ground,

3. Adam’s toil would be hard and his work of the ground would remind him where he came from and to where he was going.

(1) God is creator

for out of it you were taken;

D. Destined to know God but driven from Him. (24)

(2) God is sustainer

for you are dust,

1.

(3) God is provider

and to dust you shall return.”

III. Because of a Substitute, mankind is Destined for Deliverance (20-21)

(4) God is sovereign

A. [20] The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. [21] And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

(5) God is supreme

1.

(6) Only the voice of God is worth the endeavor of our ears

[20] The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. [21] And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

2.

4. The curse of the ground had results that affected the work of man

B.

C. Destined to painful labor (17b-18)

[22] Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” [23] therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. [24] He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (ESV)

1.

1. The man’s joyful labor is cursed by the fall

2.

2. Like the woman, man’s joy is cursed

Invitation

a) I know we don’t always think of labor as joy

b) But in the economy of God, labor was and is a good thing

c) In , work was given to man as a blessing and a sign that man was an image bearer of God

3. Now, after the fall, painful labor abounds

a) Arthritis, joint replacements, aching muscles are all evidence of the fall

b) Many of us must force ourselves to do certain tasks because we know the pain that our labor will cause.

4. The destiny of man changed with the fall

a) No longer will there be unabated joy in our labor

b) Instead, our joy will be infused with pain

c) This will be a constant reminder of the sinfulness of man

5. Man’s labor will be done in pain and the end result of his labor will be his death

D. Destined to a promised demise (19)

1. God makes a promise in this curse to man

a) Man will return to the place from wince he came

b) God formed man from dust

c) Man will again be dust

2. The sobering reality of death sinks in when Adam hears this curse of God

a) Man and woman did not die immediately in a physical sense

b) Instead, the died immediately in a spiritual since

(1) They are not with God any more

(2) They are subject to their new knowledge and their new nature.

c) However, death immediately began its slow march to their demise

(1) Adam and Eve are destined to be dust

(2) Their life will eventually lead them back to the ground now cursed by God

(3) Adam will die at 930 years, but his death began that fateful day in the garden of God

E. Man is destined for destruction

1. He will be reminded of his eminent demise all the days of his life

2. But, man is also destined for division because of the fall.

II. Because of Sin, Mankind is Destined for Division (22-24)

A. [22] Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” [23] therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. [24] He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

B. Destined to know Good but unable to do it. (22)

1. Eve’s desire was to be like God and know what God knows

a) Eve gained knowledge but not the perfection and majesty that comes with being God

b) In other words, Eve got part of what she wanted

c) The knowledge she and Adam received only served to case separation between them and the God who had breathed life into their nostrils.

2. So, they know what is good, but can’t do it

a) Listen to Paul’s words in [15] For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. [16] Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. [17] So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. [18] For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. [19] For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. (ESV)

b) Do you hear what is going on?

c) Mankind knows good from evil because that was the nature of our rebellious act

d) The problem is we don’t know how to live rightly

(1) We may dabble in right living

(2) We may do good things

(3) But the general overtone of our lives is rebellious to good and to God

3. At this point all seems hopeless—but it gets….worse!

a) The destiny of man is to have the knowledge of good and evil and be unable to live in the ‘good’

b) But, his destiny is also to know what grace looks like but be unable to get it back

C. Destined to know Grace but excluded from it. (23)

1. Adam knew the graceful provision of God in the garden

a) God gave water from the ground

b) God gave vegetation to eat

c) God gave dominion over creation

d) Everything man had came from the hand of God—in the garden

2. Now, God would still provide, but not in the same way

a) God still provides water for the ground, but now man has to work the ground to make things grow

b) God still provides vegetation for man, but now man has to weed out bad plants from good and cultivate the dust

c) God still allows man to exercise dominion, but the creation will rebel against man like man rebelled against his creator.

d) Everything, everything, everything will still come from the gracious hand of God, but Adam, Eve, their children, and their children’s children will never be able to receive the kind of grace the garden offered again.

3. Adam’s toil would be hard, and his work of the ground would remind him where he came from and to where he was going.

a) This disastrous moments worst was not in the sweat laden toil

b) No, the worst thing was Adam was drive out from God himself

D. Destined to know God but driven from Him. (24)

1. Adam doesn’t stop knowing God the moment he sins

a) No, Adam know exactly who God is

b) Some may say that he knows God more fully because he knows good and evil and know that God is good

c) That means the pain of sin endured by the first human couple is multiplied because the are now separated from the God who made them.

2. The garden will be off limits

a) A flaming sword would protect the path from Adam’s intrusion

b) But even in this moment a great grace is given

3. Adam and Eve are evicted for a reason

a) Why? (you can answer)

b) So that they will not partake of the tree of life and live forever in their rebellion

c) This is an act of divine grace.

d) According to , sinful man is “dead in his trespasses and sins.”

e) If God allowed Adam and Eve to reenter the garden and partake of the tree, they would have been destined to live on earth in their deadness.

f) That would have been a literal hell on earth.

E. Man is lost at the moment sin entered the world

1. The true character and majesty of God shine most at this moment

2. Man is lost, but God is the ultimate finder

3. God will come to man because man cannot come to God

III. Because of a Substitute, mankind is Destined for Deliverance (20-21)

A. [20] The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. [21] And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

B. Destined to return to the land of the living (20)

1. The name Eve is interesting

a) It literally means “life”

b) Eve, the deceived one, who brought death with her first bite of the forbidden fruit is now named “life”

c) Adam is saying that Eve will be the mother of all who live

2. Eve’s name rests in promise

a) God’s curse to Eve was pain in childbirth and constant usurping of the created order

b) But, she was also promised that her lineage would provide a bruised serpent head crusher.

c) Adam’s name for Eve confirms that He believes God will do what He has promised.

3. Adam speaks of Eve’s name in what we call the prophetic perfect tense.

a) What does that mean? I’m glad you asked

b) It means that the promise is as good as done

c) In renaming Eve, Adam is speaking a prophetic word of affirmation

d) God will keep His promise.

4. The promise of God is incredible.

a) The Protevangelium marks good news in the midst of the world’s greatest tragedy

b) God will rescue a rebellious creation

c) And He will do it by means of that very same rebellious creation

d) That is incredible, but it doesn’t end there

C. Destined to return to the table of grace (21)

1. God clothes Adam and Eve’s nakedness

a) Adam and Eve had attempted to cover themselves

(1) They used God’s creation to cover their nakedness

(2) Their attempt was inadequate to say the least

(3) They could not undo what they had done by merely covering up with leaves

b) So, God intervenes

(1) The verbiage here indicates that God made tunics for the couple

(2) These were garments that reached to their knees or ankles

(3) They were completely covered in a robe provided by God

c) God did all of this through sacrifice

2. Adam and Eve’s clothes were not from plants but from animals

a) Blood was shed

b) Sacrifice was made

c) A substitution for the death of mankind happened and it happened at the hand of God

d) Theologian Kent Hughes writes, “It is clear that this is a sovereign work of God, conceived and executed by God alone. It is a work that Adam and Eve would never have conceived of because it involved the unprecedented taking of life.” (Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing p. 94)

e) There had been no death, now sin had necessitated death and God executes the judgement of death by grace through a sacrifice so that man and woman can be clothed by God in God made garments

D. This should make believers ecstatic because we know that is what God has continued to do for His own.

1. Listen to the words of John in [6] Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. [7] Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; [8] it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. (ESV)

2. Isn’t that incredible!!!

3. We come to God with our sinfulness laid bare

a) We are “naked” before Him

b) Our shame and guilt is exposed for Him to see

4. So, what does God do?

a) He provides the sacrifice for us

b) [3]…Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, [4]that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day accordance with the Scriptures ( ESV)

c) On top of that, God clothes His own in righteous robes provided by His own hand through faith in Christ

5. Hallelujah!! That Is Amazing Grace

IV. Invitation