01-23 The Manifold Grace of God

Genesis 3:16-24

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 2095 Three Wonders in Heaven

2095 Three Wonders In Heaven

John Newton said, “When I get to heaven I shall see three wonders there. The first wonder will be, to see many people there whom I did not expect to see—the second wonder will be, to miss many people whom I did expect to see; and the third and greatest wonder of all, will be to find myself there.”

I want to share with you this morning a truth that most people are not conditioned to hear. It is a humbling truth and one that is essential for you to grasp:

“God is under NO obligation to redeem fallen humanity.”

God is not obligated to save—Adam/Eve/any of us.

He didn’t redeem Satan (or fallen angels)

Hebrews 2:16 NASB95

16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.

The thrust of Romans 9 is to reveal the greatness of God’s character:

Rom 9:15ff

There are many who quietly think “I really do deserve God’s salvation. He owes it to me.” There is a mindset that has developed, particularly in our country, a sense of entitlement—where someone owes us something (whatever).

God is under no obligation to save anyone. In fact, He is truly just to condemn every sinner and abandon him to eternal hell. This is what we deserve (what our sins deserve) what Adam & Eve deserved. But what we’re going to encounter in Gen 3 today is that God is gracious. By its very definition that is what grace is—unmerited favor, getting what you don’t deserve.

God told Moses (when he asked to see God’s glory):

Exodus 33:19–20 NASB95

19 And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” 20 But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”

Exodus 34:6–8 NASB95

6 Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” 8 Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.

Paul explained the God’s compassion and mercy are determined only by His divine will and certainly not b/c of what we deserve. And so if God saves anyone it is b/c He has been merciful and extends the gracious gift to those who truly deserve condemnation (Rom 3:10ff). And it is in this that God’s grace and glory are magnified in His dealings with fallen sinners.

Gen 3—while disappointing for the creation narrative, it serves as an introduction for the rest of God’s revelation explaining how the Creator would bring about His plan of redemption through the promised seed of the woman who would bring an end to death and reverse the curse that came as a result of sin/defiance of God’s commandment by the first couple (Adam & Eve).

Thru Christ—the entire creation will be set free from its slavery to corruption in God’s new creation (a profound truth in Scripture). And it is in Gen 3 where we find in the midst of God’s judgment something completely unexpected—His grace. In fact, His manifold grace (grace that is manifest in many ways). For here, God is gracious toward the woman, toward the man and toward all humanity.

I. Grace Toward the Woman

vs 16

Very important observation: God does not curse the woman or the man. He cursed the serpent (Satan) and He curses the ground—but not Adam & Eve. Now they will find themselves living under the curse (as we all do) and will feel the direct impact of the curse but they were not cursed themselves. The impact of the curse will immediately affect their individual realms (domains)—where they each wield their influence.

For the woman—her domain/realm which bears the impact of the curse is the home. God’s judgment upon the woman focuses on 2 primary areas: Child-bearing and marriage.

Child Bearing

Now, on the surface, it appears that God’s judgment would result in greatly multiplied pain in the birthing process. Wisdom tells me not to say too much about the pain women endure while giving birth. However, unrelieved by modern medicine pain would be the norm after the fall. But this is speaking more than just the temporary pain that is replaced by joy:

John 16:21 NASB95

21 “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.

The language used by Moses clearly entails the whole bearing and child-rearing process. Bringing children into the world and raising them will be painful. That word “pain” speaks of anxious toil, wearisomeness and hardship. It includes physical pain but points to the emotional stress and sorrow with bringing up children in a fallen, sin-cursed world.

Even the mother of our Lord was told that she would endure the pain of childbearing with Jesus.

Luke 2:35 NASB95

35 and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Of course, our children will be born with sin natures (unlike Jesus) that come upon them b/c of our own sin. So learn to be patient and have great understanding when raising your children. Bring them up in the discipline of the Lord. Be faithful, diligent to pray for them, b/c the grace of God is evident even in this judgment. For starters, the woman would live to have children—so what she deserved (as what we all deserve) was immediate death. But the 1st couple would live to have children and fulfill the command of God to be fruitful and multiply—only now their children would bear the mark of corruption that came from their sin.

Marriage

The last part of vs 16 indicates the other area where God’s judgment would impact the home and it concerns the conflict that would be manifest b/t the woman and her husband. But what does it mean that her “desire shall be...”?

To help us understand this...

Gen 4:7—God uses the same words to warn Cain about his own conflict. Sin is crouching at the door—and it wants to control you, consume you and dominate you. But God’s warning for Cain was that he needed to subdue and master sin.

The parallel for the woman is the struggle which would become apparent from now on—that the woman would desire to control, dominate her husband and God adds: “he will rule over you...”

Susan T. Foh describes it like this:

Westminster Theological Journal Volume 37 C. Genesis 3:16b and Genesis 4:7b

The woman has the same sort of desire for her husband that sin has for Cain, a desire to possess or control him. This desire disputes the headship of the husband. As the Lord tells Cain what he should do, i.e., master or rule sin, the Lord also states what the husband should do, rule over his wife. The words of the Lord in Genesis 3:16b, as in the case of the battle between sin and Cain, do not determine the victor of the conflict between husband and wife. These words mark the beginning of the battle of the sexes. As a result of the fall, man no longer rules easily; he must fight for his headship. Sin has corrupted both the willing submission of the wife and the loving headship of the husband. The woman’s desire is to control her husband (to usurp his divinely appointed headship, and he must master her, if he can. So the rule of love founded in paradise is replaced by struggle, tyranny and domination.

Marriage after the curse would be sort of like “king of the hill...” Again, God’s grace toward the woman would be in her submission to the God-ordained headship of her husband. Unfortunately, b/c he too is fallen he will resort at times to sinful domineering, ruling as a dictator, making all the decisions and will at times follow his wife. That is not biblical headship.

Piper writes:

“Biblical headship is a divine calling of a husband to take primary responsibility for Christlike servant leadership, protection, and provision in the home.”

He must love her as Christ loved the church. In Christ, the sting of the curse is greatly reduced, yet this struggle continues for now. God’s grace toward the woman is seen in the protection the woman receives when she has put herself under the loving leadership of her husband. Her tendency will be to follow her heart which becomes very dangerous for her b/c she is setting herself up once again to be deceived. God gives her the protection she needs within the institution of marriage. This holds true for all women and what is now cast by the world as enslavery (traditional, God-ordained marriage) actually becomes God’s compassionate dealing in the curse.

Genesis—Beginning and Blessing Judgment (v. 16)

Augustine praised God in retrospect for this uncomfortable grace, saying, “Your goad was thrusting at my heart, giving me no peace until the eye of my soul could discern you without mistake.”

II. Grace Toward the Man

Note again, God did not curse Adam…but the ground (this is Adam’s realm/domain). God explained clearly why the ground was being cursed “because you have listened...” It might be tempting to ignore the sin here. The sin was eating from the tree which YHWH commanded not to.

But Adam ate b/c he was listening to the wrong voice. Instead of listening to his Creator, Adam listened to the creation (his wife)—and this was not good (she was already under the deception of Satan)—clearly her prompting was not to follow the Lord but the desires of the heart.

1 Timothy 2:14 NASB95

14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.

This is the waywardness of man—to listen to everything else instead of the word of the Lord.

Genesis 16:2 NASB95

2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

1 Samuel 15:23–24 NASB95

23 “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.” 24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.

Jeremiah 7:23–24 NASB95

23 “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’ 24 “Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.

“cursed is the ground because of YOU” In “toil” (same word used for woman’s “pain” worrisomeness, anxious toil, hardship)—both will encounter a great difficulty including toilsome pain associated with living under the curse.

Genesis—Beginning and Blessing Judgment and Grace (vv. 17–19)

“the woman’s punishment struck at the deepest root of her being as wife and mother, the man’s strikes at the innermost nerve of his life: his work, his activity, and provision for sustenance” (Von Rad).

Adam’s realm will be filled now, not with easy work but hard work (work is not cursed—even a gift from God 2:15)—and the ground will actually be against him.

“both thorns and thistles” These are probably not newly created after the fall but from Gen 3 onward, thorns and thistles represent creation which is now untamed and intrusive. God had set Adam in the garden: Gen 2 15

Genesis 2:15 NASB95

15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

And now sin (his own personal defiance) has spoiled his environment. And he will have to earn his keep—pictures the on-going struggle of mankind to rule and have dominion over creation. Creation will now resist humanity’s attempt and what comes “naturally” now will be those things which keep productivity difficult to come by.

B/c of this—it will take toilsome work to bring creation back under control.

Proverbs 24:30–31 NASB95

30 I passed by the field of the sluggard And by the vineyard of the man lacking sense, 31 And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles; Its surface was covered with nettles, And its stone wall was broken down.

You don’t have to do anything to grow thorns and thistles—but you cannot survive until you have “pained” yourself with the work under the curse.

Kent Hughes comments:

Genesis—Beginning and Blessing Judgment and Grace (vv. 17–19)

This applies to all work involved in human culture. Painful toil will assault every soul who attempts to produce in this world. We may imagine exceptions such as royalty or the super-rich. But even the rich are made for work. The bored, indolent Prince of Wales, Edward VI, hitting a thousand golf balls into the sea from the deck of his yacht, knows he is not meant to do nothing. Nevertheless, anyone who works to produce in this world knows pain and frustration. This condition is irrevocable. It is for “all the days of your life” (v. 17), “till you return to the ground” (v. 19).

Apart from God’s grace, no person’s work or achievements will satisfy (now you may thoroughly enjoy your work). But you will never be satisfied since it is a source of hardship (under the curse).

Solomon understood what life apart from God was like:

Ecclesiastes 1:3–4 NASB95

3 What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun? 4 A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever.

Ecclesiastes 2:10–11 NASB95

10 All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. 11 Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.

God’s grace—was evident even in the consequences for sin, being death. Man would die and be relieved of this anxious toil, worrisomeness. Adam’s hardship would continue for 930 years. But it did come to an end. And today our hope lies in the redemption of Christ. Not only are we ourselves redeemed from the curse but all creation longs for that redemption when its slavery to corruption will come to an end. This is the hope of God’s people—that when Christ returns there will be a full liberation.

III. Grace Toward Humanity

Let me just very quickly identify 3 ways God’s grace is manifest toward not only Adam & Eve but to all their descendants (including each once here today).

God’s Promise

vs 20—what appears to me as Adam’s response to God’s judgment, he gives a name to his wife. The woman he just moments ago accused of being responsbile for his defiance against God’s command—really was the object of his affection. So he gives her the name “Eve.”

Her name means “living/life.” And Adam explains why he named her this “mother of all the living.” Even before there was a conception/birth of a child…Adam believed God what He promised in 3:15. Keneth Mathews comments:

Genesis 1–11:26 (4) God’s Judgments Pronounced (3:14–21)

This assumes a prodigious posterity, and it is a tribute to Adam’s faith in the prospect that God had revealed (vv. 15–16). Adam had learned, albeit through the most calamitous lesson, to accept God’s word in faithful obedience.

The naming of Eve is recognition of God’s gracious promise that the human race would indeed survive. This is celebrated in the woman’s name, Eve. The reformer Philip Melanchthon called Eve “the seal of grace.” God’s promise to humanity on the heels of divine judgment.

God’s Provision

The attempt by Adam & Eve to cover themselves with fig leaves was insufficient. God here makes His provision for their nakedness by taking life.

The 19th C Scottish preacher and scholar Marcus Dods observes:

Genesis—Beginning and Blessing Mitigating Graces (vv. 20, 21)

It is also to be remarked that the clothing which God provided was in itself different from what man had thought of. Adam took leaves from an inanimate, unfeeling tree; God deprived an animal of life, that the shame of His creature might be relieved. This was the last thing Adam would have thought of doing. To us life is cheap and death familiar, but Adam recognized death as the punishment of sin. Death was to early man a sign of God’s anger. And he had to learn that sin could be covered not by a bunch of leaves snatched from a bush as he passed by … but only by pain and blood. Sin cannot be atoned for by any mechanical action nor without expenditure of feeling. Suffering must ever follow wrongdoing. From the first sin to the last, the track of the sinner is marked with blood.… It was made apparent that sin was a real and deep evil, and that by no easy and cheap process could the sinner be restored.… Men have found that their sin reaches beyond their own life and person, that it inflicts injury and involves disturbance and distress, that it changes utterly our relation to life and to God, and that we cannot rise above its consequences save by the intervention of God Himself, by an intervention which tells us of the sorrow He suffers on our account.

What grace is demonstrated by God, here, and in what it pre-figures—the sacrificial system of the OT which ultimately foreshadows the death of the LJC (only sufficient sacrifice to remove sin). One can only see in it—God’s grace—His gracious provision for Adam & Eve.

God’s Protection

People do not generally see grace in God’s removal of the couple from the Garden but it truly is.

Man had become like God…though not in the way Satan suggested, nor in what they came to experience. Becoming like God was not glorious but in their desire for moral autonomy, they died (spiritual death/alienation). Their bodies were alive but they were dead and if they had eaten the tree which was the source of life in the Garden, they would live in that condition forever.

God graciously put a stop to that by casting them out of the garden—guaranteeing that they would die physically and not be burdened by the curse for eternity. This was God’s gracious act toward Adam & Eve. But there is also a grace toward each of us...

By stationing the cherubim to guard the way to the tree, He is protecting us from the deception of our own hearts.

Derek Kidner writes: “Every detail of this verse, with its flame and sword and the turning every way, actively excludes the sinner. His way back is more than hard, it is resisted: he cannot save himself. The cherubim, God’s multiform and awesome thronebearers in Ezekiel’s visions (cf. Ezek. 1:5 with Ezek. 10:15), are seen elsewhere as symbolic guardians of the holy of holies, their forms embroidered on the veil that barred access to it, and modelled above the ark (Exod. 36:35; 37:7–9).”

Do you remember what happened at the death of Christ? That veil was torn in two (Mt 27:51) which signified the way to God being open for all would come to Him by faith.

Hebrews 10:19–22 NASB95

19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Ephesians 2:8–10 NASB95

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

To the unbeliever—Believe! (you cannot save yourself)

To the believer—Faith, Fear (worship), Feast (devour these words and be strengthened to go and do the good works)