Grace Greater Than Sin - Genesis 3:1-24

Genesis 3 Grace Greater Than Sin 20210613 God has a gracious plan of redemption All that God has created was very good (1:31). Adam and Eve have a beautiful land to tend, and a gracious command to exercise dominion and multiply over the earth. And they’re in perfect marital harmony. That’s where we left off last week, as Seth led us through Genesis 2 and we saw God’s perfect plan from the very beginning. But this week there’s trouble… Scripture Passage: Genesis 3:1-24 Deceptiveness of Sin (vv.1-6) 1. v.1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made…” 1. As we deal with the very first sin this morning, I want you to recognize a pattern for temptation leading to sin. It’s present here in our text, and you may recognize the same pattern, or parts of it, in your own life. 1. First is Diminished Provision - Notice what the crafty serpent says to the woman in v.1 - “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden.’?” That’s an interesting twist on what God really said, isn’t it? What did he really say? Look at Gen. 2:16. God actually said you can eat of any tree, except one. But the serpent frames it in such a way as to diminish the provision of God. Then, look at the woman’s response in v.2. “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden…”. But God said you may surely eat of every tree. The woman, listening to the speech of the serpent, has at this point departed from the Word of God spoken to her. It might seem small, but it is not insignificant. This will lead to the woman then magnifying the prohibition, but we’ll get to that shortly. Before we leave this first point, I want us to consider God’s gracious provision, and if we have any tendency to diminish that provision in our own lives. 1. Think on what God has provided. In our Community Group Thursday night we talked about this fact, that we’ve somehow become further detached from recognizing God’s provision. Adam and Eve would look around and see everything as God’s provision, and rightly so. But today we take so much for granted, or assume too many provisions. From the food on our tables to the tables themselves, to the stuff that makes up the tables, all the way down to the molecular level. But not just material provision. Peter goes beyond the material provision to the spiritual provision. 1. 2 Peter 1:3–4 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” 2. A perspective of Diminished Provision naturally leads to a view of Magnified Prohibition. This is precisely what we see Eve do. Notice what she does in v.3, as she adds to God’s Word. See that phrase toward the end of the verse, “neither shall you touch it”? Where did that come from? From Eve’s own head; certainly not from God’s Word. The focus is less on what God has provided and more on what God has prohibited. Like looking through a pair of glasses that magnify every prohibition and put them far out of their real proportion. Suddenly all you can see is prohibition. 3. The third step in this pattern toward sin is Minimized Penalty. Notice what the serpent says to Eve in v.4, “You will not surely die.” Beguiling Eve and changing her focus from what God actually said to a distorted view of God’s Word, the serpent can now directly contradict God, and Eve entertains the serpent’s ideas. The penalty is minimized. The serpent goes on, saying that, not only will you not die, but by not eating you’re missing out on having what could be yours (v.5). 1. Church, please don’t minimize the penalty of sin. Satan wants you to be ignorant of his devices, and this one is key. Remember what the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 84:10? “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Even more, do you remember what the author of Hebrews says about Moses in Hebrews 11:24-26? “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” These men recognized that even the lowest place or the worst day in fellowship with God was better than indulging in sin. 2. So we’ve seen the pattern of temptation that comes from the serpent, and now Eve acts as a result of her conversation. 3. v.6 “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise…” - Was Eve wrong in her assessment? You could eat the fruit. It was nice to look at. It would make her wise concerning good and evil. But what’s missing from this equation? What has Eve failed to factor in? God’s Word! What God said about this fruit. She acts on her desires, without factoring in what God has said. She suppresses the truth of God’s revelation, and it’s precisely here that sin exercises dominion. 1. We should never act on desire alone. Our desires must be shaped and informed by God’s Word. This is a call to trust in the goodness of God’s Word; even when something looks good or feels right, but it’s contrary to God’s Word. Transition: Eve was deceived, and she ate. She then turned and gave to her husband, and Adam ate. Next we see the huge impact of their sin. Impact of Sin (vv.7-19) 1. v.7 “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together…” 2. v.8 “…and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God…” - We recently went through Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” 1. What’s the Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A #1 - What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and to enjoy him forever. This is what we’re created for. Where we allow sin to come in, it robs us of joy and steals away our purpose. 3. v.10 Adam admits his fear, and confesses his nakedness and shame. 4. vv.12-13 Now there is a shifting of blame, first from Adam to Eve (and God), then from Eve to the serpent. 5. vv.14-15 The serpent is cursed. 6. v.16 Eve will have pain in childbearing, and the fracture already present in the relationship between man and wife will only increase. 7. vv.17-19 Adam will find great difficulty in work. No longer will it be only delight, but instead it will be full of toil and blisters and blood, until Adam dies and returns to the dust from which he was taken. 1. Please understand, these conditions weren’t to be only for Adam and Eve, but continue to this day and will continue until the new heavens and the new earth. And not only is there a curse on the physical world, but this sinful nature that Adam welcomed in when he ate of the fruit is also passed along. In fact, in Romans 5, Paul makes clear that death has now spread to all people through Adam, and all are condemned in Adam. Transition: Time doesn’t allow to express just how greatly impacted life is because of this first sin. But let me point out that everything in the Bible from this point on is responding to that sin, and showing God’s work of redemption and reconciliation. And that is a work of grace covering sin. Grace Covering Sin (vv.20-24) 1. I want us to see how gracious God is to Adam and Eve. In v.9 he calls to Adam, “Where are you?” Not because Adam was hide-and-seek king and God couldn’t find him, but God is drawing Adam out. Again in v.11, God asks to draw out Adam. This is a gracious response to a heinous sin. 2. But there are four displays of God’s grace that speak to God’s plan of redemption that I’d like to draw your attention to. 1. v.15 Offspring of woman to bruise head of serpent. This is understood to be the first proclamation of the gospel in the Bible. In Luke 3:38, Luke takes the genealogy of Jesus all the way back to Adam, because Jesus is this offspring of the woman who would bruise the head of the serpent, and in the process he would be bruised as he suffered at the cross. 2. v.20 Adam named his wife Eve, the mother of all living, which is related to the first display of grace from God. 3. v.21 Animal skins for Adam and Eve. This would have required the death of an animal, in which we see a foreshadowing of the sacrificial system, and ultimately of Jesus’ death (not to cover sin but remove it). 4. vv.22-24 Adam and Eve are driven out from the Garden and guarded from eating from the tree of life. Rev. 2:7 tells us that the tree of life is in the paradise of God. Rev. 22:2 tells us that it’s in the New Jerusalem, bearing 12 kinds of fruit, and that its leaves are for the healing of the nations. Conclusion Do you see how God, in his grace, is working out his eternal plan of redemption, even from this early point in human history? We can’t cover our sins or achieve perfection, but God is full of grace. Romans 5:20–21 “…where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”