to the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 3. Today we are looking at the second half of the chapter
starting at verse 14. Last week we looked at the first half of the chapter of the first sin
and the nature of temptation. And today we are looking at the consequences.
Genesis 3 verse 14 to verse 24. Let's read these verses together.
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 were dust, and to dust you shall return.
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.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for how it has been preserved for us
through the centuries, for how it's translated into our language, that we can understand it.
We pray that your spirit would walk with us and guide us as we look into this passage this morning.
Enliven us, guide us, teach us, challenge us, encourage us. We pray this for Jesus' sake. Amen.
But it was just one bite. But I didn't mean any harm. But he hit me first. But she told me to do it.
There are many skills and habits which parents teach their children when they are young,
whether it's getting dressed or washing your hands or clearing your plate from the dinner table,
keeping track of your belongings, speaking respectfully to older adults, looking both ways
before crossing the street. All of these habits require intentional training, often over the course
of months or even years. But one habit that seems to develop quite naturally
without any parental instruction or intention is self-justification.
Self-justification comes in many varied and varied forms, minimizing, blaming, excusing, avoiding,
making a scene, or making it all a joke. And human beings of all ages seem quite adept
at this skill. Though we tend to recognize it and point it out more quickly in others than we do in
ourselves. And isn't that another form of it? Now, the Bible traces this deeply rooted pattern back
to our earliest beginnings. Last week, we looked at the first half of chapter 3, when Eve listened to
the voice of the serpent and Adam listened to the voice of Eve, and they both ate of the one tree that God
had prohibited them. And then they hid, they blamed, they minimized, they tried to evade God's probing
and persistent questions. And ever since, have we not continued down that same road?
We want to say that our problem is not that serious, or that somebody else is really at fault,
or we can fix things on our own. But this morning's passage confronts us with the pervasive
and disastrous consequences of sin. What is sin? Well, this very chapter depicts sin as distrust of
God's promise and disobedience to God's command. We could also describe sin as putting ourselves in the
center of the universe instead of God. And according to the Bible, sin is now the default condition of
humanity, and it is at the root of all our troubles. See, the first thing we see in this morning's passage
is that sin has consequences. And we see that sin has consequences in three areas. Now, this section of
Genesis 3 that I read and before that is structured as a courtroom scene. So, verses 8 through 13, God is
questioning Adam and Eve. And then in verses 14 through 19, God declares His verdict on the situation.
And then He carries out the sentence in verses 22 to 24.
But in the course of this section, we see that sin has consequences in three areas.
In our human relationships, in our human endeavors, and in our relationship with God.
First, sin has consequences in our human relationships. We see this particularly in verse 16.
God's word to the woman, He says,
I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, and he shall rule over you.
Now, that verse does not describe how human relationships are intended to be,
or how they should be.
No, Genesis 2 gave us a picture of what marriage was intended to be,
an intimate, trusting, one flesh alliance, male and female,
corresponding to one another, and carrying out God's mission together.
Verse 16, rather, describes how relationships between husbands and wives and parents and children,
by extension all sorts of human relationships,
how they tend to decay on this side of the fall.
How they're hard and difficult and full of tension and conflict.
The first half of the verse emphasizes the pains of childbearing,
and by extension, childrearing.
Children are a great gift and blessing from God.
The Bible says that over and over.
But the Bible is also very realistic,
that bringing children into the world and raising them to become healthy and functional adults
is now costly and difficult and painful.
The second half of the verse emphasizes the struggles that attend marriage in a fallen world.
Again, the Bible says marriage is a good gift from God.
It says that in many places, but the Bible is also very realistic.
Marriage in this fallen world is hard and difficult.
Why?
Because people are naturally selfish.
It's that simple.
And self-centeredness is the greatest enemy of marital happiness.
Now, some translations of verse 16 say,
your desire shall be contrary to your husband.
I think that's what the Pew Bibles say.
Other translations, even if you have an earlier version of the ESV,
say your desire shall be for your husband.
And you might think, well, wait a minute.
What does the verse mean?
If you can translate it both of those ways.
Well, however you translate it, the meaning is actually quite clear
because the same phrase appears in the next chapter,
in chapter 4, verse 7,
when God is speaking to Cain,
and God says,
sin is crouching at your door.
Its desire is for you or contrary to you,
but you must rule over it.
Okay?
However you translate the preposition for or contrary,
it's a picture of a power struggle.
In chapter 3 and in chapter 4.
It's a picture of hostility and conflict.
Derek Kidner put it this way,
to love and to cherish becomes to desire and to dominate.
The picture we get in verse 16 is the woman and the man vying for control,
putting their own self-interest first,
and the result is frustration and conflict,
manipulation and abuse.
And of course,
these dynamics are not only limited to human marriages.
Adam and Eve represent all human relationships.
No human relationship is free of pain and sorrow,
tension and misunderstanding,
alienation and conflict.
All human relationships are vulnerable to those things.
Even the closest ones.
And at some level,
I think we can all recognize this.
Whether you're a Christian or not,
don't we all look at the world
and see that human relationships are very often
not what they should be?
Just read the news.
Or just look around at our own families,
our friends, roommates.
Sometimes we struggle most to love the people who are closest to us.
And the Bible says that our fractured and fraught human relationships
are a sign and a consequence of our broken relationship with God.
But sin doesn't just affect our human relationships.
Sin also has consequences in our human endeavors.
We see this in verses 17 to 19.
Our human endeavors are subject to frustration and disappointment.
Or as we say, blood, sweat, and tears.
Cursed is the ground because of you.
In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
Thorns and thistles that shall bring forth for you.
Now originally, according to Genesis,
human beings were given dominion over the earth
to cultivate it, to care for it, to order it,
to bring forth life from it.
God put Adam in the garden to cultivate it,
to bring it out to its fullest potential,
and to guard it against any hostile intruders.
In other words, work was meant to be a good thing
and an aspect of our human growth and flourishing.
But what do we see in chapter 3?
We see Adam fail to do his job.
Instead of recognizing the serpent for the deceitful enemy that he was,
instead of taking up his rightful authority
and kicking him out of the garden,
Adam did nothing.
He watched Eve fall under the serpent's sway,
and then he joined right in with her
and ate the fruit that God had said not to eat.
And so God said to Adam,
you will no longer have dominion over the earth.
Now it will fight back against you,
and one day it will swallow you up.
To dust you shall return.
Meredith Klein put it this way,
human existence has become a struggle for survival,
a perpetual conflict,
a vain history unto death.
There's an entire book of the Bible that reflects on this theme.
It's called Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes is really an extended meditation
on these first three chapters of Genesis,
especially the end of Genesis 3.
Ecclesiastes is written in the voice of someone
who has achieved every form of earthly success,
who's climbed to the top of every ladder,
who's experienced everything the world has to offer,
and who says in the end,
it's all empty and fleeting and futile.
What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
A generation comes and a generation goes.
The sun rises and the sun goes down
and hastens to the place where it rises.
All things are full of weariness.
I've seen everything that is done under the sun,
and behold, all is vanity.
Literally, it's all a breath of vapor
and a striving after the wind.
And once again, don't we all feel this
at some level or another?
Whether or not you believe in the Bible,
don't you see and feel the fleeting
and frustrating nature of our human endeavors?
Just a couple months ago,
The Atlantic published an article by Arthur Brooks
with the title,
Your Professional Decline is Coming Sooner Than You Think.
Most business entrepreneurs hit their peak
in their 20s and early 30s.
Most poets and writers in their 40s and 50s.
For research scientists,
the likelihood of a major discovery
begins to decrease after age 40.
The highest performing major league baseball umpires
are on average 33.
The older guys are not so good.
Brooks writes,
If your profession requires mental processing speed
or significant analytic capabilities,
most of the jobs that college graduates pursue,
noticeable decline is probably going to set in
earlier than you imagine.
And he says,
Most of us are not ready to face that reality.
Whole sections of bookstores
are dedicated to becoming successful.
There is no section marked
managing your professional decline.
Work is frustrating.
Work is toilsome.
And it doesn't just get better
with the passage of time.
The Bible is very honest about this reality.
And again, it says,
The frustration that we experience
in our human endeavors
is a sign and consequence
of our alienation from God.
Sin has consequences in our human relationships.
Sin has consequences in our human endeavors.
And sin has consequences
in our relationship with God.
We see this in verses 22 to 24.
The chapter ends with Adam and Eve
being exiled from the garden.
Banished from the temple of God.
They are now defiled
and they can no longer live
in close communion with God.
They can no longer eat of the tree
of eternal life.
David Atkinson wrote,
The joyous dance of creation
becomes a dirge
as a shadow falls
over all things.
And the shadow cast
by the end of this chapter
hangs over the rest
of the Old Testament.
Now there are some scholars
who say
that the story of Adam and Eve
is unimportant
or even unknown
to the rest of the Old Testament
because Adam and Eve
are rarely referred to by name
after Genesis 5.
But that statement
is very misleading
because the imagery
of Genesis 2 and 3
reappears constantly
throughout the Old Testament.
So when God brings
the people of Israel
into the promised land
he says
it will be like
a fruitful garden.
A place of eating
and flourishing
and joy.
Like a renewed
garden of Eden
and in the center
of that land
would be God's holy temple.
And the priests
were to do exactly
what Adam does
to work
and guard the temple.
And the people
would meet with God
like Adam and Eve
did in close communion.
And there was a hope
of renewed Eden
renewed fellowship
with God.
And yet throughout
the Old Testament
we see the same pattern
of Genesis 3
happening over
and over again.
The garden
the temple
is spoiled
by the people's
idolatry
and disobedience
and the result
is shame
and defilement
conflict
and disarray
exile
and death.
They can never
make it
back in.
The shadow
of Genesis 3
hangs over
the rest
of the Old Testament
and in one
particular place
it's very evident
in the very
center
of the temple
that God
commanded the people
to build
there was a constant
reminder of the end
of this chapter.
Genesis 3
ends with
the cherubim.
The cherubim
are fiery
warriors of light
angels
who are
standing guard
at God's throne.
So the cherubim
stand guard
at the east gate
of the Garden
of Eden
with a flaming sword
barring the way
to the Tree of Life.
In the temple
the cherubim
were also there.
They guarded
God's throne.
So the center
of the temple
was the Holy of Holies
and in there
was the Ark
of the Covenant
and on top
was the mercy seat
or sort of
representing
the throne
of God
and there were
two cherubim
one on each side
overshadowing
that throne
of God
in the center
of the temple.
Guarding the way
to God's presence
and then
there was a curtain
surrounding
that central place
that represented
the presence
of God
and only one person
only the high priest
could go in there
only once a year
but on that curtain
there were woven
into it
pictures
of these
warrior angels
the cherubim.
Exodus 36-35
is the reference
if you want it.
They were beautiful
but also terrifying
reminders
that the way
into God's presence
the way
into the garden
was not
yet
open.
You see
sin
separates us
from the presence
of a holy God
and according
to the Bible
that is the most
serious consequence
of all.
It's not just
that our human
relationships
are fractured
and fraught.
It's not just
that our human
endeavors are
fleeting and frustrating.
It's that we
are at odds
with the very
God who made
us.
Why are human
beings all
over the world
haunted by guilt
and fear
and anxiety?
Why is the history
of religions
littered with
attempts to
atone for sin
somehow or other
and appease the
deity in some
way or other?
Why are even
non-religious people
driven to worship
something?
Whether it's
their work
or children
or politics
or a relationship
it's because
at the deepest
level we are
not right
with God.
Sin
has consequences
in our human
relationships
in our human
endeavors
and ultimately
in our relationship
with God.
That's the first
thing that we see
in this passage
this morning.
But thankfully
there's another
thing that we see.
We also see
in this passage
that God
has mercy.
woven into
God's
judicial
verdict
on sinful
humanity
are glimmers
of mercy.
You see
God doesn't
just dish out
all the
consequences
that we deserve
for our rebellion
against him.
We see
the first
glimmer of mercy
in verses 14
and 15
in the hope
of Satan's
ultimate defeat.
Now verses
14 and 15
are not
intending to
explain
why snakes
crawl on the
ground
nor are they
implying that
snakes previously
had legs.
No,
this is a
figure of
speech.
When you
say the
New York
Jets are
going to
eat the
dust,
everybody
knows what
it means.
Right?
They do that
most of the
time.
Okay,
in the
story,
the serpent
represents
or symbolizes
or embodies
the devil,
the source
of temptation
and the
father of
lies.
That's how
many Jewish
and Christian
interpreters
throughout history
have understood
it.
So what we
have here
is God's
verdict upon
Satan,
and he is
cursed,
consigned to
crawl on the
ground,
a picture of
humiliation
and eat the
dust,
a picture of
ultimate and
total defeat.
And then
the glimmer
of mercy
comes in
verse 15.
I will put
enmity between
you, the
serpent,
and the
woman.
Now what
does that
mean?
What it
means is
that the
unholy
alliance of
Eve and
the serpent
will not
last.
That's what
Eve did in
the beginning
of the
chapter.
The serpent
said,
hey,
listen to
me.
Why?
You know,
no,
no.
What God
said,
put that
to the
side.
I'm going
to frame
the way
you think
about the
world.
And Eve
allies with
him.
But here
it says
that alliance
won't stand.
Why?
Because Eve
will once
again come
to love
God and
therefore hate
Satan.
You see,
it is God's
mercy when we
begin to see
our sin for
what it is
and to
hate it.
Now,
hating our
sin is not
the same
thing as
hating ourselves.
Self-hatred is
not the way
to atonement,
but neither is
self-justification.
It's God's
mercy when we
are no longer
comfortable
hiding and
minimizing,
blaming,
and excusing,
and deflecting.
it's God's
mercy that
leads us to
say,
I was
wrong and
I need
help.
It's God's
mercy when we
begin to see
Satan's lies for
what they are
and to resist
them.
It's God's
mercy when we
want to be
free from
our addictions
and habitual
patterns of sin
and self-contradictions
even if we
don't know how
to get rid
of them.
That's where
God's mercy
begins.
Now the rest
of verse 15
describes an
ongoing struggle
culminating in a
decisive battle
between the
offspring of the
serpent and the
offspring of Eve.
Now there's
certainly mystery
and ambiguity
in this verse.
In particular,
grammatically,
offspring could
refer to an
individual
descendant of
Eve or
the serpent
or a group
of descendants
or both.
But regardless,
the end of the
verse says that
the offspring of
Eve will bruise
the serpent's
head but the
serpent will
bruise his
heel.
Now the verb
is the same.
Some translations
translate the verb
differently but the
verb in Hebrew is
the same.
It can be
translated bruise,
crush,
or strike.
But the body
parts are different.
The head of the
serpent, the heel
of the woman's
offspring.
So in other
words, there's
hope that the
serpent will
ultimately be
defeated with a
blow to the
head.
But the
victory will be a
painful one for
the offspring of
the woman, a
blow to the
heel.
So it's a
puzzling prophecy
but in it we see
God's mercy in the
hope that the one
who led humans
astray in the
first place will
ultimately be
defeated.
So that's a
first glimmer of
hope and
mercy.
The second
aspect of God's
mercy that we see
is in verse 16
to 21 we see
God's present
provisions for
humanity.
Adam and
Eve are not
immediately wiped
out.
God does not
personally curse
Adam and Eve.
Do you notice
that?
He curses the
serpent in verse
14 and he
curses the ground
in verse 17 but
he does not
directly and
personally curse
Adam and Eve
because he's not
done with them
yet.
He doesn't say
you will be
eternally cursed.
He also doesn't
say they're not
condemned to
immediate destruction.
They will not
starve to death
imminently.
They will not
remain childless
forever.
There's still a
future for the
human race.
Marriage and
childbearing work
and eating will
all continue
despite the pain
and conflict
sweat and sorrow
involved.
You see in
every moment of
marital joy,
in every birth of
a new child,
in every satisfying
human achievement,
in every good and
nourishing meal,
in all those
ordinary yet at
times breathtaking
gifts,
the mercy of God
is sustaining us
and even reaching
out to us.
God's daily
sustaining graces
are His mercy.
And in verse 21,
we see even a
further expression
of God's
sustaining mercy.
The Lord God
made for Adam
and for his wife
garments of skins
and clothed
them.
Walter Brueggemann
wrote,
God does for the
couple what they
cannot do for
themselves.
They cannot deal
with their shame.
The fig leaves
that they try to
cover themselves
with,
in verse 7,
do not suffice.
They cannot deal
with their shame,
but God can,
will,
and does.
In the Old
Testament,
clothing is often
a sign of a
covenant bond,
a promise of
provision and
care.
That's why when
Ruth asks Boaz
to marry her,
she says,
spread your
garment over
me.
That's why
Joseph's father
gives him a
coat of many
colors,
a robe of
honor,
a sign of
his sonship.
And here
God clothes
Adam and
Eve,
symbolically
restoring their
relationship with
him and
reuniting them
with one
another,
promising his
ongoing care,
protection,
and provision.
Isn't that a
picture of God's
tender mercy?
Now you might
wonder how
does verse
20 fit into
the flow of
this passage.
The man
called his
wife's name
Eve because
she was the
mother of
all living.
That seems
to come out
of nowhere.
What's that
verse about?
Well,
look up at
verse 12.
Adam's last
words toward
his wife,
before verse
20,
are in verse
12,
and they
are,
the woman
whom you
gave to
be with
me,
she gave
me fruit
of the
tree,
and I
ate.
In other
words,
Adam was
saying,
she's the
source of
my problems,
and God,
you gave
her to
me.
But verse
20 displays
a very
different
attitude on
Adam's
part.
Adam calls
his wife
Eve.
The word
means life
giver.
Eve is not
the source
of Adam's
problems.
Eve is now
the source
of life.
You see,
Adam in
verse 20
is responding
to God's
promise in
verse 15
with faith
and hope
and with
renewed
love
for his
wife.
You see,
that's what
happens
when God's
mercy
starts to
get a
hold of
us.
Our
faith
in God
is renewed.
We see
hope for
the future
because of
God and
his promises,
and our
love is
also renewed.
attitude toward
other people
begins to
change.
Even people
who have
caused us
problems and
dragged us
down, and
previously we've
just pointed the
finger at them
and blamed them
for everything
bad that's
come into our
lives.
And now we
long for them
to turn to
God and
experience the
same mercy
that we
have.
Sin has
consequences,
but God
has mercy.
we see
that in
how God
deals with
Adam and
Eve in
Genesis,
but as we
look at the
rest of the
Bible, we
can see
that even
more clearly.
When we
turn to the
New Testament,
we see the
fullest display
of God's
mercy in
his son,
Jesus Christ.
The New
Testament shows
us that
Jesus came to
conquer our
greatest enemy.
He's the
fulfillment of
verse 15.
Hebrews 2
says,
since the
children share
in flesh and
blood, that is
the human, we
share in flesh and
blood, the son of
God partook of the
same things.
That through
death he might
destroy the one
who has the power
of death, that is
the devil, and
deliver those who
through fear of
death were subject
to lifelong slavery.
You see, what the
verse is saying is
Jesus came to
destroy the power
of Satan and
deliver all those
in captivity to
his lies.
The New
Testament says
Jesus is that
offspring of
Eve who
came to
fight the
decisive battle
over the
serpent and
triumph even
through a
painful ordeal.
And the
Apostle Paul
assured the
Christians in
his letter to
the Romans that
they too would
share in that
victory of
Christ.
He says the
God of peace
will soon crush
Satan under
your feet.
In other words,
because Christ has
won the victory
through his death
and resurrection,
everyone who is
joined to him,
by trusting him
and giving
ourselves to him,
we too will
share in that
victory over
Satan and all
his lies.
Jesus came to
conquer our
greatest enemy
and also he
came to clothe us
in his very own
righteousness.
He's the
fulfillment of
verse 21.
He came to
take away our
filthy rags of
sin and give us
a robe of
righteousness and
honor.
He gives us a
new identity.
He calls us
God's beloved
children.
And he has
promised himself
to us.
He said,
never will I
leave you.
Never will I
forsake you.
Just as God
clothes Adam
and Eve,
we're
closed by
Christ.
We have the
promise of his
ongoing care and
protection and
provision and
love.
So Jesus came to
conquer our
greatest enemy.
He came to
clothe us in his
righteousness.
And third, he
came to do what
nobody else in the
Old Testament could
do.
He came to lead us
back into the
garden.
You see, for
centuries, that
curtain in the
temple stood there
with the cherubim
embroidered on it.
It hung there as a
perpetual reminder to
the people of
Israel that sin
separates us from
the presence of a
holy God that we
cannot enter in to
that place of
intimate fellowship
with God.
Only the high
priest could go in
there and only once
a year and only with
a sacrifice and then
he had to leave.
But when Jesus was
crucified, when he
breathed his last,
the curtain in the
temple was torn in
two, from top to
bottom.
God had opened the
way through the
death of Jesus.
Jesus had gone in
his death.
He had passed under
that flaming sword.
He had endured the
consequences that we
deserved so that he
could make a way for
us to enter in and
have eternal life,
freely and
forgiven.
God has made a way
where previously there
was none.
Have you entered in?
Have you come to God
through Jesus?
Turn to him and
trust yourself to him
and you will know
God's mercy for you
today.
Sin has consequences,
but God has mercy.
If you've come to
Jesus in faith,
listen to this word of
encouragement from the
book of Hebrews.
It says,
Therefore, brothers and
sisters, since we have
confidence to enter the
holy places by the blood
of Jesus, by the new and
living way that he opened
for us through the
curtain, through his
flesh, and since we have
a great priest over the
house of God, let us draw
near with a true heart and
full assurance of faith.
With our hearts
sprinkled clean from an
evil conscience and our
bodies washed with pure
water, let us hold fast
the confession of our
hope without wavering for
he who promised is
faithful, and let us stir
up one another to love.
Faith, hope, and love
because of God's mercy to
us in Jesus Christ.
Let's pray.
God, we thank you that you
have not simply left us to
experience all the consequences
of our sin that we deserve, but
we thank you for your
intervening mercy.
We pray that we would, that
each one of us would know your
mercy for us.
Lord, that we would see your
mercy even in your daily
provisions for us, and that we
would ultimately see your
mercy in your son Jesus,
overflowing, despite our sin,
despite our undeserving.
Lord, may we be people who, who
take our sin seriously, who do
not live in denial, or in
excuse, making excuses for it.
May we be people who hate it and
fight against it.
May we be people who are
strengthened to do that because
we rest in your merciful love and
provision for us.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.