Genesis 3-2

Hey, good morning everyone, again it is so good to be here together so that we can start our week off by refocusing on what really matters. I know that there are alot of things going on in our world lately and frankly our culture seems to be going further and further from God. However, we don’t have to worry about our culture, we have to worry about ourselves. And, since we know that kids don’t always understand what is going on, I want to say goodbye to those younger learners as they leave to meet with their teacher and go back to a class that makes sense to them and helps them learn and understand the truths of Scripture. We also want to welcome those of you that are online to our extended spiritual family this morning. We do love knowing that our services are available to you if you are at work, or sick or anything else that may be going on. However, as always we feel strongly that there is no substitute for in person worship with your spiritual family. Whether that is us here at LRBC, or wherever teaches Scriptures in context near you.

We have some pretty cool things going on over the next few months…I am really excited becuase we get to be right in the middle of this epic story that has been going on for centuries. You know, back when I was a kid there was this cartoon that I know you all watched when you were little. As a matter of fact, Im going to show you a little clip this morning to kind of set the mood for us...

road runner clip

So, that was fun...we watched a little clip this morning, becuase it was fun and it made me laugh…I hope you were able to laugh a little and remember a little bit of your own childhood when you would wake up on Saturday morning and go watch something like this. For those of you joining us online, Im not sure if the clip came through, but just imagine your favorite roadrunner vs coyote clip. Well, we watched that for a couple of reasons actually…One was so that we could have a little flashback, but also so that we get into our mind this idea of going out of our way to get what we want, only to have it blow up in our face. You see, you would think that Coyote would learn his lesson, but there is nothing he has ever done, at least not that Ive seen where he actually caught Road Runner…Yet he keeps on trying doesn’t he?

Well, this morning we are continuing our series on Genesis and we are looking at the results of what happened last week. Remember last week was the start of a two part story, so this week we need to finish that story from last week…That story is all about how Adam put

Paradise in Peril (pt2)

So, let’s get a brief recap as to where we are in Genesis 3. We read through vs 13 and in that time we saw that there is an Enemy called Satan. Then we saw that Satan’s strategy was to disguise himself, question God’s Word, then deny Gods word. We also saw that Satan was successful in deceiving Adam and Eve and ultimatly they blamed others for their own failure to obey God. That doesn’t sound familiar at all does it…remember, “if sinners can find some loophole, they’ll run through it as fast as they can!” and blaming someone else makes us see a loophole…So se saw that last week. We also saw that the best way to resist temptation and resist Satan is to stay in God’s Word.

So now that all of this has happened, what happens next? Well, now we will get to see,

The Penalty

You see, whenever you got caught lying at home, I assume your mom and dad had some sort of penalty that you had to pay. Maybe it was a switch, maybe it was a paddle, maybe it was a time out, or the loss of something that you cherished, whatever it was there was also some sort of penalty to the actions that you took. I can remember one of the rules I hated so much growing up was that if I got in trouble at school, then I would get in at least as much trouble at home. Well, let me tell you, I was in Mr. Brandenburger’s office at least once a week. Now, remember this was back with the school was still allowed to use a paddle on you. So, I would get paddled at school, and I would try to keep it from my parents, ,but my friends who knew this rule, always ratted me out…I got so many licks growing up that you would think I would have become immune…or at least would have learned my lesson, but did I, nope…Well, lets look together and take a look at what penalty God gave for the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Turn over to

Genesis 3:14–19 (ESV)

The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” 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; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 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.”

Ok, so we see here that God has said something to Adam, Eve, and Satan, so what is going on with that? You see, God’s love for sinners does not eliminate his holy hatred of sin. You see, a Holy God must deal with sin…its for the good of the sinner, and for the glory of God. Now let’s take these one at a time though, first see see...

The Penalty of the Serpent (14-15)

We see here that as Eve has blamed the serpent, this is the first one that God deals with. Now I should say that Satan was not necessarily a serpent, but that this is what Satan used in order to deceive Eve. With that being said, God spoke to both the serpent, cursing it to crawl on the ground instead of being upright as it was. Then to Satan giving him an ultimate penalty that would eventually be carried out by Jesus. Now, this is pretty interesting thing here. You see, God’s words to Satan here are called the “protevangelism”, which means “the first Gospel”. These words to Satan are the first announcement of the coming Savior that we read about throughout Scripture. In the Old Testament, these words were a beacon of hope that something better is coming. To Satan, this was God’s declaration of war that will result in his destruction. To Eve, it was the promise that she was forgive and that God would still use her, woman, to bring this Savior into the world.

But here is what is amazing…You see, Satan knows what will happen. It doesn’t matter how many times Satan tries to defeat God, it never works out for him, but he keeps on trying doesn’t he....just like Road Runner. Occasionally Satan will think he has a great idea and he will come against someone, and ultimatly he is coming against God, but 100% of the time, we know that God wins…It will always blow up in his face. We know that, becuase thats what God just said when he said that the seed of the woman will crush his head…he will not win.And we know that from the rest of Scriptural events following this promise. So, let’s look at

The Penalty of Woman (16)

To Eve, God clarified to her and explained that she would not immediately physically die. She would live to be able to bring about offspring and she would continue life. However, the privilege of women being the childbearing sex, and yes, I did say that women are uniquely and wonderfully made to give birth. To claim that a man can give birth is to ignore God’s perfect plan and claim that the creation knows more than the creator. The privilege that God has given to women to give birth would not be without difficulties. As a matter of fact, God has multiplied these difficulties as a penalty for the disobedience of Eve. Eve would also be in submission to her husband. Now, this is actually a little confusing so let me just briefly state what is said here. In vs 16 we see that the woman’s desire is to be contrary to her husband. That means that naturally your desire will be opposite of your husbands, I know some of you are like…thats becuase I know better....But you see, your desire will be contrary, it will be against your husband. You will desire to rule over your husband, but by design, he will rule over you. This is the first talk of Biblical submission.

Now, let me be 100% clear right now. Women, I am not talking about you staying in an abusive relationship. Men, I am not talking about permission to be jerks to your bride. Women, I am not talking about you having to shove your wisdom down and be ignored, and men I am not talking about you lording yourself over your wife. No, the opposite is true. You see, submission is not part of the curse, as a matter of fact, if you will notice God has only cursed the serpent so far. I do not see the language of being cursed in relation to Eve. Therefore, we can see through the whole counsel of God’s Word that husbands and wives are to love each other and, when submitting to God, will be mutually submissive to each other. We can read and understand that more deeply in the New Testament.

Now, so far we have looked at the Serpent, we have looked at Eve, I think its time that we see

The Penalty of Man (17-19)

Woman is going to have a massive amount of pain in childbirth. However, that is not the only pain we see described here. Man will also have a unique pain in his daily labor. Life will not be easy as man now has to work the ground in order to eat. By the sweat of his face he will eat. The reason for this is that he has listened to his wife. He ignored his role as the protector as as the guardian of all of creation, and he listened to his wife, instead of to his God. You see men, sometimes as the leader you may have to make decisions that are not popular, but you have to listen to God first. But then here we see another curse take place. Here we see that the ground has been cursed, we see that there are thorns and thistles that will grow and will give pain all of his days. You see, this could not be more opposite of everything he has known so far. Yes, God created Adam to work the garden, but it was a pleasant task. The plants were easy, but now, things are going to be very different from Adam. Why is this though? I mean, why do things have to be so different from what he has known so far? Well, this will remind him of how his disobedience has affected all of creation. In other words, when we ignore God we are not simply hurting ourselves, there are always others hurt by our sin. Creation has been cursed, and Adam the gardener, became Adam the toiler . That is not where it ended though. You see, God reminded Adam of who he is and where he came from. From the ground you were formed, and to the ground you will return…this being the same ground that he is now having to work in a back breaking way.

Ok, so things do not exactly looks good for our original couple here. I mean we have a man and a woman who are going to be experiencing alot of pain from here on out. Is there any hope for the future? What does it mean for Adam and Eve to have

A New Hope

So this idea of a new hope is very telling for Adam and Eve. We are going to get to see what happens after they have been confronted, disciplined, and now, how do they respond. That is a question that can be telling for us as beleivers today. How do I respond when I am called out on my own sin? How do I want to respond. Well, lets take a brief look at what happens to this first family this morning.

Genesis 3:20–24 (ESV)

The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 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—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 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.

So right off the bat we see that Adam has given the woman a

A new name (20)

You see, even though we knew what Adam was going to name the woman, it hadn’t happened yet. Now, Adam has chosen to give woman a name. Adam named woman Eve, which literally means life-giver. This means that Adam has some amount of faith in the future. This name tells us that Adam has chosen to believe God’s promises…Have you? You see, Faith simply takes God at His word, and then acts upon it. Let me say that again, Faith simply takes God at his Word, and then acts based on those Words. So, let me ask you…do you take God at his Word, or are you personally holding back, just incase his promises don’t apply to you? We also see

New Clothing (21)

Remember that Adam had created clothes out of a fig tree in order to cover their shame. However, when God comes along we see that something new is given by God himself. God removed their pitiful excuse for a covering and instead placed a covering of his own making over them. A covering that was pleasing and acceptable to him. An innocent animal had to die, and this is the beginning of the deaths of many many animals cover the sins of the guilty until the day when Jesus was come and take all of the guilt upon himself. However, that guilt is only put on Jesus when we admit that you are a sinner, believe that Jesus died for your sins, and confess that Jesus is Lord. Does that describe you today? Because if not, there is no time like the present to act on Gods Word. Finally we do see something else. You see, God had built a paradise for Adam and Eve and that paradise is the perfect creation. However, now that Adam and Eve have sinned, they no longer are qualified to live in this paradise. Therefore, there is

A New Home (22-24)

You see, God had to remove Adam and Eve in order to protect them. Im sure for them it felt harsh to have to leave the only place they had ever known. However, if they would have stayed there, then there would be no hope for a reconciliation between them and God. Sin required death, and it required their death. We read that in

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If they stayed in the Garden they would have access the tree of life and would not experience death at all. However, in God’s act of grace he removed them from this place and protected them from an eternal separation from him. You see, sometimes what we view as a negative, God is actually working together for our good. We read that in

Romans 8:28 (ESV)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

God removed, or actually drove out Adam and Eve and locked the gate behind them placing an angelic guard between us and them. Thats a pretty big deal…But you know what…there is a way back into the garden…Paradise is not lost forever.

Revelation 22:1–4 (ESV)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

Daily life will be a struggle for man and woman outside of the garden. Everything they have known will now change. They will still have fellowship with God, but they will daily suffer the consequence of their sin, as will all of humanity…meaning you and me are still suffering these consequences. However, that is not the end of the story…this is just the beginning and the rest of the story is magnificent!

Listen, if you are here this morning and are curious about what it means to admit that you are a sinner, please reach out and lets have a conversation. You can call/text/email whatever you need to do, but let’s get together and see what it would look like for you to bring your life in line with Scriptures. If you are here this morning and have experienced this gift of redemption then I want to ask you to come to communion today thanking God for the end of the story that we read this morning. Thank God for the promises of eternity with him, but then don’t just stop there…act on those promises in your life…put your faith into action this week.

Communion

Now Im going to ask the Elders to come forward and prepare for communion.

This morning we get the privilege of partaking in communion and both remembering Jesus’ sacrifice, as well as proclaiming his sacrifice to all of those around us. This morning as we take this time I want to encourage you to remember the promises that have been given to you. The promises that are available to you, and ask yourself if you are properly responding in faith with whatever you are experiencing at home or work.

This morning the Elders will bring these elements to you as you sit and reflect on your relationship with the Lord. Spend a moment preparing your heart to receive these elements that are a testimony to the ultimate promise of life we have in Christ Jesus.

Let’s pray and then we will come and take your elements.

Prayer then Elders pass out elements

Prayer for the bread—elder

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Prayer for the cup—elder

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Prayer to close—pastor

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (ESV)