Good morning. My name is John as well. I'm a regular member here for about 25 years,
and I've been on staff for about the last few years.
We are currently in a series that looks into chapter 1 to 11 of Genesis, the first book of the Bible,
which starts with this word, in the beginning, God.
These words tell us that Genesis, and in fact, the whole Bible is about God,
the creator of the world, and his interaction with his creation.
So what comes to your mind when you think about God?
What about God can we expect from reading Genesis or the Bible?
The beginning of Genesis shows us that God created a perfect environment in the Garden of Eden,
a paradise for Adam and Eve,
the very first pair of humans made in the image and the likeness of God.
They were put into the garden to rule over all God's creatures,
in the sea, in the sky, on the ground, while enjoying a relationship with God.
God gave Adam and Eve specific instruction to follow,
but instead they disobeyed and rebelled against God.
They followed the serpent's voice and each other's voice and twisted God's word.
They were made in the image and likeness of God, and God treated them as equal,
but they sought to be equal with God on their terms.
They want to live their life in their own way as they see fit.
And that's how sin enters into God's creation.
Sin is not just law-breaking.
It is a deep-rooted rebellion in the hearts of humans
to reject God as their ruler and want to rule on their own terms.
In responding to this serious transgression,
God certainly could have destroyed Adam, Eve, and the serpent and start anew.
However, through his gracious actions in response to and on behalf of these people,
we see the grace of our Creator.
The fact that God instead chose to allow them to live is a manifestation of his grace.
Running through Genesis and all through the Bible
is the theme of grace showing God's mercy despite human sin.
Genesis 1-11 forms a foundation of how we understand God
and his works from creation to a new creation.
The Bible is about God, our Creator and our Redeemer.
What we can and should expect to learn about God from reading Genesis in the Bible
is that God is gracious and merciful.
The amazing things we can see from these chapters and all through the Bible
is that God's grace increases as sin increases.
Our short passage today illustrates God's grace perfectly.
It demonstrates how God brings in his grace to alleviate the mystery that sin brings.
Grace is God not treating his creatures as they deserve,
but with kindness and mercy,
providing something far greater than any expectation.
God provides a couple of things in our passage today.
The covering and the sword,
and Adam and Eve ends up being outside of paradise.
If you have the St. Paul's app,
you can see these three points,
and please follow along with your Bible open to the end of chapter 3.
Today's passage from Genesis 3.20 begins with this word,
Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all living.
The Lord God made garment of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Previously in this chapter,
Adam and Eve sinned against God
by not trusting and following what God commanded.
Instead, they listened to the serpent
and each other without careful consideration or discussion.
Humanity fell into sin because Adam's attitude towards God
and his command and the action that followed.
The immediate consequences was that Adam and Eve were filled with shame
about their nakedness.
In chapter 3, verse 7,
then the eyes of both of them were opened
and they realized they were naked.
So they sewed fig leaves together
and made a covering for themselves.
That's the best I can do.
They hide from the Lord when they visited them.
In verses 10,
they were fearful and ashamed
and they pulled further away from God,
the one who created and loves them.
They tried to cover themselves
by sewing up fig leaves together,
which is only temporary and uncomfortable.
So the very first act of grace after human fall
was in verse 21.
The Lord made garments of skin for Adam and his wife
and clothed them.
When it says God made garments of skin,
what imagery do you have?
Hopefully it's not God waving his hand like
a magician saying abracadabra.
That would be very far from the truth.
The image behind this verse is very bloody
because the animal was slaughtered
to make that happen.
God graciously provided for humans' needs
in a way superior to what Adam and Eve
had done with fig leaves.
But in order to do that,
something or someone else
had to be the substitute.
A life for a life.
The consequence of Adam and Eve's sin
is that God had to sacrifice
some other of his creatures
to cover for them.
The use of animal skins
anticipates the Old Testament system
of animal sacrifice,
which is another demonstration of God's grace.
Why do I say that?
Because without God's willingness
to forgive and allow humans
to approach him,
no amount of sacrifice is enough
to fulfill the righteousness of God.
No amount of sacrifice by humans
can buy God's forgiveness,
which is what so many religious people
wrongly think that they can achieve.
Anyone who thinks they can do enough good deeds
to repay for the wrong they have committed
in thought and deeds
against a creator God is delusional.
The best man can do
is to cover for our sins against God
is a covering that's made with fig leaf
against our naked body.
We'll have to keep sowing the covering
every couple of weeks,
and it will only partially cover you.
What God has made with animal skin
will last forever
and be much more fitting.
The good news is that
God covers Adam and Eve,
and he will also provide cover
for his people in the new creation.
Paul spoke of a day
that God will do that
in 1 Corinthians 15, 53-54,
and 2 Corinthians 5, verse 4.
God will clothe his people
with immortality,
providing the complete
undoing of the curse
of human sins.
For the perishable must clothe itself
with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed
with the imperishable,
the mortal with the immortality,
then the saying that is written
will come true.
Death has been swallowed up
in victory.
For while we are in this tent,
we're grown and unburdened
because we do not wish
to be unclothed,
but to be clothed instead
with our heavenly drawing,
so that what is mortal
may be swallowed up by life.
Last Sunday,
we explained how this victory
covers sin
and its curse comes about.
Please check our website
or our channel on YouTube
for a further explanation,
a fuller and further explanation.
But in short,
this victory over sins
and its curse
was made possible
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God,
and he became the once
and for all sacrifice
that fulfilled God's requirement
in dealing with the consequence
of humanity's sin.
Jesus was a substitute
that God sacrificed
to provide a covering
for humans.
Because of his death
and resurrection,
Christ has overcome
the stain of sin,
and he clothes all
who believe and follow him
with his perfect obedience
and pure love
towards the Father.
Galatians 3, 26-29 says,
So in Christ Jesus,
you are all children of God
through faith.
Clothe yourself with Christ,
for you are all one
in Christ Jesus.
If you belong to Christ,
then you are hers
according to the promise.
Last Sunday,
we also talked about
God empowering people
to resist the lies
of the serpent
to become Eve's offspring.
God grants faith
to those he chooses
to enjoy eternal life
with him.
Colossians 3, 12-14 tells us,
Therefore,
as God's chosen people,
holy and dearly loved it,
clothe yourself
with compassion,
kindness,
humility,
gentleness,
and patience.
Bear with each other
and forgive one another.
If any of you
has a grievance
against someone,
forgive as the Lord
has forgave you.
And over all these virtues,
put on love,
which binds them
all together
in perfect unity.
God in his grace
has provided the covering,
the clothing of compassion,
kindness,
humility,
gentleness,
and patience.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians,
chapter 5, verse 5,
Now the one who has fashioned us
for this very purpose
is God,
who has given us
the Spirit
as a deposit
guaranteeing
what is to come.
God has fashioned us.
He is our style.
And God's style
and fashion for us
is Christ,
who is the only person
who has all this virtue
plus love and forgiveness.
When you are clothed
with Christ,
you will no longer
be found naked
and ashamed.
God has forgiven humanity
because Jesus
took upon himself
the punishment
for all our rebellion
towards our Creator.
Jesus was clothed
with our wrongs
to cover for us.
And as we put on Christ
and be in Christ,
and when God see us,
he no longer see
our trespasses,
but we only know
the honor and glory
of his beloved Son.
That is God's grace.
After God made garments
and clothed Adam and Eve,
it says in verse 22,
And the Lord God says,
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.
So the Lord God
banished him
from the garden of Eden
to work the ground
from which he had been pecan.
After he drove the man out,
he placed in the east side
of the garden of Eden,
cherubim,
and the flaming sword
flashing back and forth
to guide the way
to the tree of life.
This banishing
and stopping of humans
from reaching
for the tree of life
is a second act
of God's grace.
Because of sin,
humans now know
good and evil
experientially.
Humans will continue
striving to define
good and evil
through voluntary
and involuntary means.
Humans will continue
to sin
and misuse
their ability
to define good
and evil
selfishly
to benefit themselves.
And they will keep
incurring a penalty
of death
for their disobedience
towards God.
God stopping humans
from reaching out
to take and eat
from the tree of life
and live forever
is an act
of God's grace.
The banishment
and the expulsion
were at the same time
and act of mercy.
Banning humans
from the tree of life
putting a limit
to their physical life
allowed for their redemption
rather than for them
to live in a life
of perpetual sin
in an unredeemed condition.
The time limit
on our life
is God's gracious action.
It's not just
a reactive punishment.
Paul tells us
in Acts 17
verse 26 to 27,
from a man
God made all the nations
that they should
inhabit the whole earth
and he marked out
their appointed time
in history
and a boundary
for their lands.
God did this
so that they might
seek him
and perhaps
reach out for him
and find him
though it's not far
from any one of us.
God put a limit
to our physical life
so that we no longer
reach for the wrong thing
that will bring us curses.
But instead,
we can use the limits
of our time
to promise
to seek him
and reach out for him
for he's not far
from any one of us.
Do you agree that
when there's a deadline
you are far more motivated
and to get things done?
A sword
is often also
related to judgment
in the Bible.
Knowing that
there's a time
we'll all give account
can be scary
or encouraging
at the same time.
Depends on how you
have been living
your life.
At the end
of his second letter
Peter reiterated
in chapter 3
that God is not
limited by time
but he gave us
an understanding
of time
and its limit
so that everyone
can come to repentance.
And with repentance
and the help of Christ
we'll regain
our access
to the tree of life
in the new creation.
That is the picture
we are given
in the beginning
of Revelation 22
the last book
and last chapter
of the Bible.
On each side
of the river
stood the tree of life
and the leaves
of the tree
are for the healing
of the nations.
No longer
will there be
any curse.
The leaves
of the tree of life
are for the healing
of the nations
and no longer
will there be
any curses.
What a tremendous picture.
The banishing
and the flaming sword
are both acts
of God's grace.
Since human sin
the garden of Eden
is no longer
a paradise
but a place
remembered
as where
the first human foe fell.
God had a new heaven
a new earth
prepared for those
who he choose
to be Eve's offspring
to share in the victory
over the crushing
of the shepherd.
God makes sure
we do not get
to the tree of life
through the old way.
So he put a flaming
flushing sword
to guide the way.
The flushing
flushing sword
is a warning sign
saying
wrong way
turn back.
The word of God
is described
as a sword
in the New Testament
in Hebrews 4
and Ephesians 6.
The word
becomes fresh
in Jesus Christ.
Jesus opened
a new way
to God
for he is
the only way
for anyone
who wants access
to God
and eternal life.
Now that Adam
and Eve
have been sent
out of paradise
we see God's grace
once again
in chapter 4
verse 1 to 2.
Adam made love
to his wife Eve
and she became
pregnant
and gave birth
to Cain.
She said
with the help
of the Lord
I have brought forth
a man.
Later she gave birth
to his brother Abel.
Now Abel
kept flocks
and Cain
worked of soul.
Eve gave birth
to Cain
outside of paradise
but she said
with the help
of the Lord
I have brought forth
a man.
God went
with them
into the banishment
and expulsion.
They were sent
outside of the paradise
but they were not
cut off from God.
God was there
with Eve
helping her
in the midst
of severe
painful labor.
Eve knew
her child
came into being
with the Lord's help.
God did not
leave her alone
outside paradise
to face
a consequence
of her sin
all by herself.
God was there
with Adam and Eve
outside paradise.
God is with them
in every moment
of their life
and God will also
be with you
in your life
and will not
leave you alone
to face your life
and difficulties too.
The experience
of Adam and Eve
is enlightening.
They have sinned
and when they sinned
they recognized
they were naked.
They have been
naked beforehand
in a pure
physical sense
but they had not
yet seen so
they were not ashamed.
After they become
a sinner
their nakedness
becomes something
more than merely
physical.
It becomes
a psychological
nakedness
connected to
their moral guilt.
They were guilty
before one another
and before God.
And what happened?
God came
walking in the garden
to confirm them
in their nakedness.
He exposed the sin
for sin cannot be
hidden in his presence.
But then he did
something tremendous.
He clothed them
using skin
from animals.
He sacrificed himself.
He kept them
from reaching
for things
that would bring
them curses
and kept them
from going back
to their old way.
This is the message
of Christianity.
We can be fully exposed
and yet clothed
and covered
at the same time.
Being clothed
is not accomplished
with the skin
of animals.
When God sent
Jesus Christ
to die for sins
so guilt may be removed
he made the most
perfect covering
for all humanity.
Based on Jesus'
perfect and
atoning sacrifice
God would then
clothe all
who believe in Christ
with the Lord's
righteousness.
Because of Christ's work
God no longer
looks at us
as sinners
but as those
who have become
righteous in Christ.
now we can stand
before him
rather than hide
not because God
has been in ignorance
of our sin
or has refused
to care about it
but because he has
known about it
and has dealt
with it perfectly.
Now we can cry
with Messiah
the prophet
I will greatly
rejoice in the Lord
my soul
shall exude
in my God
for he has clothed
me with the garments
of salvation
he has covered me
with the robe
of righteousness
with the Lord's help
in God's grace
we are no longer
naked
and no need
for shame
let's rejoice
in the gracious God.
for you
You
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