Sermon 081097

Gen. 3:7,21                               The Lord’s Covering for Sin                                           8/10/97

                                                                                                                             ABCC

I.    Introduction                                                                                                                      584

·        The Lord God created the ideal environment in which man could live (ch. 1) – “…very good”

·        The Lord God placed Adam, whom He created, in this ideal environment (2:15-17)

·        The Lord God created an ideal companion for Adam (2:18-25)

So there we have it; a man & his wife ideally suited for each other, living in an ideal environment with all their needs & probably desires met & fulfilled, in communion & fellowship with God – yet they are tempted by the craftiness & subtleties of Satan, blatantly disobey God their creator & give allegiance to Satan.  (1Jn. 2:16; Jas. 1:13-15)

·        Consequences:  shame (2:7), dreadful fear & broken fellowship with God (2:8), broken fellowship in marriage (2:16c), pain in childbirth (2:16a-b), difficulty in earning a living (2:18-19a), physical death (2:19b), eviction from the ideal environment (2:23-24), the curse of sin on all future humanity (Rom. 5:12) = helpless, enemies of God, etc.

II.  Man’s Attempt to Cover Up His Sin (v. 7)

A.      Unexpected consequences of sin (v. 7a)=Shame (Rom. 6:21), fear of God & death (Heb. 2:14-15)

B.      Attempting to deceive God (v. 7b-8)

q      Covering up the evidence or consequences of sin with human wisdom (v. 7b) - SHAME

q      Hiding from God (v. 8) – they have now become cunning & crafty just as the Deceiver! - GUILT

q      Blaming others for sinful acts, EVEN GOD (v. 12-13) - PRIDE

The sinfulness of sin = those who were honest, holy & honorable, have now become cunning, crafty, accusers, liars, self-centered, etc. = see how far they fell; dead in trespasses & sins, blind..

The Lord’s Covering for Sin, pg. 2

III. God’s Covering for Man’s Sin (v. 21)

A.      After He confronted them with & convicted them of sin (v. 11)

B.      After He declared the gospel truth (v. 15)

Ø      Before enacting judgment, God is gracious & merciful toward them – giving them hope in the gospel

C.     After He had declared the consequences of their sin (v. 16-19)

D.     The Lord God made a covering for their sin (v. 21)

- an innocent animal had to die for the guilty ones; the shedding of blood – the 1st death was for sacrifice

Though God covered their sin (a sign of forgiveness), the consequences of their sin was not changed or minimized (v. 16-19,23-24).

IV. Christ is the True Atonement (v. 15)

A.      God allows Satan to persecute saints & even Christ – “And you shall bruise him on the heel”

B.      Christ & the saints are the true victors – persecution from Satan is temporary

(Gal. 3:16; Mt. 1:21; 26:26-28; 28:28; Rom. 16:20; 5:1-2,8-11; Rev. 19:11-21)

C.     Believers are clothed in the righteousness of Christ (Isa. 61:10; Rev. 7:13-14)

Consider the blessed privilege my brother/sister of no longer being naked, guilty & ashamed before God; no longer hiding behind fig leaves & trees of good works in the church, community, on your job – pointing to your tithing, attendance at bible study, worship, singing, fasting praying, etc. as your justification.  But now we are justified by the perfect life, death & resurrection of Jesus Christ   (Rom. 8:1).  Rejoice, rejoice O’ Christian!  Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love…