New Beginnings Part 7

Last week talked about the consequences of sin

We talked about how sin cause us to fear, feel shame, to hide, to blame others, and how it separates us.

Separates us from others, ourselves, and most disturbingly, God.

As we find ourselves nearing the end of chapter 3 we find ourselves in Adam and Eve.

Lost, hurting, even sometimes, hopeless.

As we come to the end of Genesis 3, we are coming to the end of the Garden, the end of paradise on earth.

Sin has now entered the world, the garden is tainted by man’s disobedience and the world will never be the same

The garden of Eden will only be referred to a few more time in the OT and is never mentioned in the NT. The garden of paradise is now shut closed.

But there is good news, as we continue our study today the theme will be this, and really the theme of the whole of Scripture,: “The Lord responds to human rebellion with judgement and grace.”

We must remember that this is written to the Israelites to explain who God is and why He created.

This is a sermon to them. If we remember from wk 1 or 2 that this is probably given to the Israelites post their Egyptian slavery so now the author of Genesis is trying to answer the question: what happened to God’s good creation?

Because what they had experienced in this world so far had not been very good.

labor from dusk to dawn

no freedoms

their baby boys had been drowned in the Nile river

They were probably currently wandering through a desert in the burning sun and scorching sand.

So they finally get a glimpse into why. Why the world is hurting so badly. Why their is such pain and agony. They’ve seen, like us, the judgement of God

And I would imagine that at this point they must be wondering, is that all God will be now?

Yes, He has a right to be. But is it true?

And so we will see, God’s response is, yes judgement, but also grace and grace and more grace.

Big Idea: Even in our worst, God is still merciful and gracious

Even in your lowest of lows, God still extends mercy

Even in your worst of the worst, wickedest of your sin, God still shows mercy because that’s who He is

And that’s what we will see today

So let’s dig in:

Genesis 3:20 NIV

20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

Adam’s faith: Even throughout all of the judgment they just received, all of the pain, all of the hurt there was a glimmer of hope in that the seed of the woman would one day crush the serpents head. In response to that, Adam names the woman Eve, which means “life.”

They could still have babies. There was still a future. God did not wipe out the human race at this point.

God was still in control and it’s important to realize that this wasn’t plan B for God

It wasn’t like He went to the garden that day and was shocked by what Adam and Eve did and had to come up with a whole new plan

Part of God’s grace is seen in the fact that He knew what we would do and He still chose to create us anyways.

Genesis 3:21 NIV

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

God’s Grace: Adam and Eve hid themselves with fig leaves. It is not a long-term solution. They would have quickly withered and died.

Man’s puny attempt to cover his sin is always doomed for failure.

We don’t use fig leaves today but really not much has changed. We use money, sex, power, religion, and a handful of good works to try to cover up.

It works for a little while but nothing we can possibly do will work forever. 

That’s where God steps in.

Notice how God takes the initiative of providing the needs for Adam and Eve.

He doesn’t wait for Adam and Eve to come to Him asking for a covering, He just provides.

Now it’s not specifically written in the text but it’s implied that an animal was sacrificed, killed to cover them.

They weren’t running around with live animals on them

This is the first time we see the Biblical doctrine of substitutionary atonement.

Remember that sin = death so someone or something had to die because of their sins.

So in the garden, instead of God slaughtering the man and woman and just starting over again he let’s something else die in their place.

And instead of just allowing Adam and Eve to continue to find things to hide themselves He does for them what they can not do for themselves

We can not deal with our shame, fear, guilt. But God can and does

Atonement is payment for a wrong doing, being made right or being placed in good standing.

So we can think about substitutionary atonement as someone or something who takes our place, makes our payment, so that we may be made right.

As we continue to read into the OT the message is clear: God must only be approached through a blood sacrifice because our sins are so great. Sin = death and because God is holy sin must be punished.

But the sacrifice of animals is only temporary as well. So what starts as a hint in Gen 3:21 comes to full bloom when Jesus takes our place on the Cross. 

He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). His death was the ultimate sacrifice, the just dying for the unjust, the Holy One dying for the unholy that he might by his death bring us to God.

So as we see God cover Adam and Eve in the garden we also see Jesus cover us with His blood on the cross. This is grace. We didn’t deserve it and neither did He but out of His abundance of love He chose to. And thank God He did!

Genesis 3:22–23 NIV

22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

So we see another form of God’s judgement once again but maybe upon further investigation we will actually see that, although it may be judgement, it is simultaneously Mercy. Let’s look

So sin has entered the world and sin must be be judged. And that is why Adam and Eve are forcibly evicted (the Hebrew terms in verses 23 and 24 are very strong) from Eden. They were pushed out, kicked out, booted, ejected, removed forever.

If we remember the serpent had said to Eve, “When you know good and evil, you will become like God.” That was a half-truth.

By sinning, Adam and Eve now know evil on a personal basis. But, they know evil like a cancer patient knows cancer. They would give anything to be cured of their sin just as a cancer patient wants to be cured of cancer. 

So now God must cast them out. He really has no choice.

If they stay in Eden and eat from the Tree of Life, they will live forever. They will never die and will always be in their sin, and separated from God.

What do you call a place where you live forever in sin, always separated from God? Hell!

For them, Eden would be like hell itself. Now, because of sin, Paradise is not only lost, it is now transformed into a prison.

It is for their own good that they are cast out. As humiliating as it was, it was also a “severe mercy” of the Lord. If God lets them stay, they are both doomed and damned.

Out of God’s mercy He kicks them out of the garden because we already know they can’t help themselves so soon enough they would have eaten from the tree of life and would have spent an eternity, in their sins, separated from God.

So the judgement of being cast out of the garden and the judgement on our sin leading us to death is both judgement and grace.

Upon Adam and Eve’s eviction out of the garden led to the opportunity to be reunited with the Creator.

Upon our death, we are given the opportunity to be reunited with our Creator.

It is both a curse and a relief.

Genesis 3:24 NIV

24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Now, how do we find God’s mercy in vs 24? It seems like it’s the final blow.

But what are cherubim known for throughout Scripture? They are assigned to guard the throne of God. (The veil contains figures of the cherubim on it, protecting the Holy of Holies)

The cherubim were there to symbolically say, “You can’t come to God on your own. You can’t make it up as you go along. You must come to God in his way, or you can’t come at all.”

So now Adam and Eve have been cast out of paradise. They are gone forever, never to return. The flaming sword flashed in all directions to remind them (and anyone else who might come later) that the way back to paradise was blocked. The door was closed and they could never return on their own.

As a result, man is now separated from God because of sin.

All appears hopeless and lost until we consider one important fact.

As the curtain lowers for the final time on Eden, our last view is of the cherubim and the flaming sword guarding the entrance, but somewhere in the distance we see the Tree of Life

Take Away: Eternity with the Creator is available once again

The Tree of Life is guarded but it is not destroyed. The whole truth of salvation hangs on that point. If God had destroyed the Tree of Life, none of us would ever be saved. We would live, die, and enter eternal punishment.

Eden as a place disappears after Genesis 3. No one ever goes there again. It vanishes from the face of the earth, apparently destroyed in the great flood of Noah’s day.

But what about the Tree of Life? What happens to it? To get the answer to that question, we have to go all the way to the last chapter of the last book of the Bible. This is how Revelation 22 begins:

Revelation 22:1–2 NIV

1 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 2 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.

When John gets his final glimpse of the heavenly city of God, he sees the throne of God, and from that throne he sees a mighty river of water–the water of life!–flowing through the midst of the city.

And there on each side of the river stood the tree of life. The Tree of Life is now everywhere. Each month it brings forth a fruit. And its leaves are for the healing of the nations, meaning that God intends that vast multitudes should come to this tree and find strength, life, help, hope and healing.

What was once a single tree for just two people to enjoy has become a vast heavenly orchard with fruit for billions of people.

How has this happened? What made the difference?

When Jesus died on the cross, the great veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom.

That veil–the one with the cherubim on it–the veil that constantly reminded the Jews that they could not come into God’s presence on their own, was torn in two.

The message is clear as crystal. Through Jesus Christ, the way to God is now open to anyone, anywhere, any time.

That’s why the Tree of Life appears at the end of the Bible. Christ has opened the door to heaven, and through him and by him and in him anyone who wants to, can come in.

Through Jesus, all things are made new. Through Jesus we can once again be in the presence of God

Revelation 21:1–5 NIV

1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

And this is all because of Jesus. It’s all because he was able to succeed where Adam couldn’t

He defeated death and He defeated sin on our behalf

The band is going to come up and play us out but I want tor read this Scripture so that we may ponder over this as we worship

Romans 5:17–21 NIV

17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.