In this lesson, Pastor Dave Capoccia looks at Genesis 3:8-24 to discuss the effects of man’s fall into sin. Pastor Dave examines the curse on the Serpent, on the woman, and on the man, but also how these curses are fulfilled or reversed by Jesus Christ.
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good morning welcome to Sunday school it’s 9:00 so we’re going to get started with a word of prayer let me pray Lord open your word to us and Lord show us more of your glory so that we may be transformed in Jesus name amen we’re continuing our new Sunday school series the consequences of sin steud on Genesis 3-1 and last week we stopped right in the middle of the tragic action of Genesis 3 our first parents ate the forbidden fruit and they fell from innocence into sin the woman was deceived by the serpent like so many are today according to the same cunning strategy the man was not deceived but he willfully chose to disobey anyways and follow his wife into sin the serpent had promised great gain by sin even something like Ascension to godhood but the ancient pair found the opposite just as every person does today who chooses sin over God today we’re going to examine the aftermath of their calamitous choice hence the title of the lesson the effects of the fall and our agenda will be to oh I don’t have it in the slides today but our agenda will be to examine the initial confrontation of the man and woman with God then we’ll examine the curses that God pronounces then finally we’ll examine the reaction of God and man to those curses let’s begin by examining the initial confrontation with God so please take your Bibles and open to Genesis 3 once again and we’re looking at verses 8 to 13 to start page three if you’re using the few Bible we’re picking up our reading right after the men and wom have both eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil their eyes have been opened they’ve seen that they are naked and they have sewn fig leaves together for themselves as loin coverings so let’s start reading from verses 8 to13 they heard the sound of the Lord that is they heard the sound of Yahweh God Walking In The Garden in the cool of the day and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God Among the Trees of the garden then Yahweh God Called To The Man and said to him where are you he said I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid myself and he said who told you that you were naked have you eaten from the Tree of which I commanded you not to eat the man said the woman whom you gave to be with me she gave me from the tree and I ate then Yahweh God said to the woman what is this you have done and the woman said the serpent deceived me and I ate Yahweh oh I went a little bit too far okay just verse 13 stop right there all right like I said last time we want to follow our inductive Bible study method and that means starting with just simple observations of the text so let’s see what we notice notice in verse eight Adam and the woman I’ll probably call her Eve again but remember that that comes a little bit later Adam and the woman heard the sound of God walking in the garden this implied that God appeared some kind of visible tangible form did he look like a man was it the shikina glory of God I don’t know but there was some visible form and they heard him moving through the garden now notice in verse 9 the reaction of the man and his wife they hide from the presence of God and where did they hide among the Trees of the garden the garden which God himself had planted created for them did they really think that they could escape from God in God’s Own Garden notice in verse 9 who calls out you don’t see the man calling out to God but what instead God calls out for the man God calls out to man and asks where are you I notice how Adam responds in verse 10 he does not ignore God’s call but responds but notice how he responds he doesn’t say I’m over here it doesn’t emerge from his hiding come to God and say I guess there’s no use trying to hide from you here I am but what does Adam say he explains why he’s hiding he says I heard you in the garden and I was afraid why would Adam be afraid is it because he sinned that’s not what Adam says he says I was afraid because I was naked getting the sense that Adam is trying to avoid admitting something avoid mentioning something but this only brings more questions from God in verse 11 okay who told you you were naked uhoh Adam you just admitted something that proves something is terribly out of order godam asks Adam God asks Adam straight out have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat basically Adam that’s the only explanation as for why you’re suddenly concerned about your nakedness have you disobeyed have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat no more room to maneuver Adam it’s time to come clean but is that what Adam does notice verse 12 the woman whom you gave to be with me she gave me from the tree and I ate so does Adam admit his sin here and take responsibility for his Disobedience no what does he do instead he passes the blame whom does he blame he blames the woman first of all the woman Isa she made me do it it’s not my fault I was just doing my own thing in the garden she gave me the fruit yes I did eat it but if it weren’t for her I wouldn’t have done so but some of you already noticed Adam doesn’t just blame the woman because the way he describes her is the woman whom you gave to be with me does God need to be reminded about which woman Adam means oh that woman no why does Adam include this statement because he not only blames the woman but he also blames God I did what you told me not to it’s true but it’s not my fault the woman made me do it and come to think of it you gave me this woman if you hadn’t given me this temptress woman then she wouldn’t have made me eat so God really my disobedience is actually your fault and by the way notice grammatically that Adam’s admission of sin appears only at the very end of the sentence only those two tiny words at the end I eight and yet there’s so much explanation qualification excuse giving in the front it’s basically the same in the original Hebrew but God notice doesn’t respond to Adam right away he turns to the woman and hears her explanation and how does her response compared to Adams it’s not that much different the woman also passes the blame though maybe she’s not quite as bad as Adam doesn’t D doesn’t indirectly blame go God but she says the serpent deceived me and I ate yes it’s true God I did what you forbid but it’s really the Serpent’s fault if it weren’t for the serpent I wouldn’t have done it so those are just basic observations let’s take a step back now and interpret what is man displaying for the first time after the fall man has now become afraid of God man cannot bear to be in God’s presence but instead hides from him man cannot take responsibility for his own evil but he blames others and man even has the gall to blame God for man’s own failure but how can this be how can they blame god consider how good God has been to them God as their creator has only lavished gifts on the pair since the dawn of creation he appointed man and woman as his under rulers made them in his own glorious image he gave them a very good world with no pain no futility no sin he planted for them a wonderful garden filled with a variety of delicious fruit trees he gave them precious companionship and their marriage relationship he himself communed with them as their God and friend and he warned them he warned them in no uncertain terms about the path that would destroy them God has only been good to them why should they blame him has been well pointed out by different theologians that from the beginning God has shown himself to be fundamentally a god of Grace of undeserved favor he’s not simply a god of law who says okay we’re starting neutral obey me and you’ll experience good disobey me and you’ll experience bad it’s not the way God does it God starts out with good he pours out abundant blessing first and then says consider who I am and what I’ve done now trust me and Obey this was true in Israel’s law when God gives the law through Moses to Israel it’s only after God has accomplished this gracious Redemption and that’s true for us too with such a God how should men have reacted to their tragic fall not blame God but what say that again they definitely should take responsibility but where are they going to find a solution to their problem with God Don’t Run Away From God don’t put the blame on God go to God own your sin and ask him for his help he is the source of all goodness kindness and Grace he’s shown that to you already he’ll know how to help you God we’re sorry that we’ve sinned against you in such a heinous way please have mercy on us and provide us some way to be reconciled to you but this is not man’s attitude they do not treat God as their savior but as their what their enemy God is the Boogeyman out to get them he’s too holy and frightening to even get near he’s the real source of our problems even our evil the solution then is not reconciliation with God but escape from him or even elimination of him how could they think such about their good God there’s only one explanation man has experienced a radical change of heart a man’s heart has become hopelessly corrupted by evil and rebelling against God and saying we’re going to live independently from God we’ll even disobey God man experienced spiritual death his mind has been fundamentally altered he now sees everything from a wicked self-exalting worldview this is what theologians call the doctrine of total depravity total inability radical corruption I have more to say about this biblical truth in the coming lessons but we already see it on display immediately after the fall and so we see the way that Adam and Eve react to God and we say why would you do that it’s because their hearts have been corrupted by the way why does God ask the questions that he does In this passage it’s not as if the Sovereign omnipotent omnicient God doesn’t know exactly what happened so why does he ask where are you and what have you done that’s right it’s providing an opportunity for confession and repentance this is more of the god of Grace on display he is so gracious in the way he approaches this sinful pair and we can think of how he might have come to them as soon as they sin fire storm wrath instead God comes walking apparently slowly calling after them asking questions I mean how could God have been Kinder and more gentle and confronting sin in undeserved Mercy he goes after them despite their high-handed evil against him the one who was terribly offended goes after the offenders in a gentle way and yet what is their reaction it is avoidance it is blame even of God but as much as we might one at Adam and Eve doing this don’t we see the same behavior today both in others and in ourselves we not only do evil as people but we do our best to hide and excuse our evil and blame it on others now I’m not saying that outside factors or other people they don’t affect us they don’t broke us even into sin they do but the Bible makes abundantly clear even here in this passage that we are responsible for our own evil we’re responsible for our own thoughts our own words our own actions no matter what other people are doing or what circumstances we find ourselves in so take a moment to think about yourselves today do you do the same with your sin are you still doing the same with your sin are you hiding them are you ex excusing them are you blaming others even blaming God do you treat God as your enemy still rather than run to him as your savior this is the first section let’s now examine the next section of our text the curses having conducted his investigation and give an opportunity for man and woman to repent God now pronounces judgment let’s read verses 14 to 19 then Yahweh God said to the serpent because you have done this cursed are you more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field on your belly you will go and dust you will eat all the days of your life and I will put Emy between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel to the woman he said I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth in pain you will bring forth children yet your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you then to Adam he said because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you saying you shall not eat from it cursed is the ground because of you in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you and you will eat the plants of the field by the sweat of your face you will eat bread till you return to the ground because from it you were taken for you are dust and to dust you shall return let’s make observations on the second section in these vers as we see the curse or rather curse is pronounced on the serpent on the woman and on the man notice four pronouncements made to the serpent in verses 14 and 15 you are cursed more than all other animals God says you will crawl from now on on your belly and in the dust I will put emnity between you in your seed and the woman in her seed and the seed of the woman will bruise your head and you shall only bruise his heel so that’s the summary of the pronouncements made to the serpent two pronouncements are made to the woman in verse 16 you’ll have greatly multiplied pain in having children God says Now understand that that word translated multiply it does not indicate that pain was already part of the World Part of childbirth part of parenting and the Hebrew is literally I will make greatly or I will greatly make great your pain I will make much I will make abundance I will greatly make great so this is new but incredible pain compared to other new pains in creation also the word translated childbirth and you might remember this from our marriage and family class the word translated child birth here is more literally conception or pregnancy and is likely figurative for the whole child rearing process after all conception itself is not painful but we’re talking about the whole process of raising a child we’re not just talking about Labor though that is painful motherhood as a whole has great pain as a result of the fall of course many mothers and those who desire to be mothers can testify about that but there’s another announcement made to the woman your desire will be toward your husband but he will rule over you what’s that about we’ll come back to it in the interpretation step and finally in verse 17 we hear God’s pronouncements to the man first notice what God specifically cites as man’s fault he says because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you saying you shall not eat from it God reminds the man of his exact responsibility to obey God’s commands and not to excuse your actions by simply listening to your wife’s counsel and then notice three pronouncement God makes to the man specifically cursed is the ground because of you you will work hard and with pain to get food from the ground and you will die and return to dust all right so these are just the basic observations let’s pull them together into some conclusions and some answers to interpretation questions did snakes crawl on their belly before the fall yeah apparently not apparently they did not crawl on their bellies before the fall now some Bible interpreters will say well God was just assigning a meaning to something that was already happening but that doesn’t make any sense because the rest of the curses in this section they describe new realities as a result of the Fall God’s Not Just assigning a meaning to something that was already true so apparently the snake crawling on its belly is a new thing so we might ask well what was it like for snakes before did they have legs did they have wings something else well we don’t know the Bible doesn’t give us enough information it’s possible that snakes didn’t lose any appendages in this curse but they just changed posture maybe before the snakes held their heads high as they traveled along the ground but they would do so no longer interestingly according to the description of Leviticus 11 of unclean animals that Israel was not supposed to eat both great and small lizards are included in the category of swarming things even those that crawl on their bellies if you think about reptiles actually most of them are extremely low to the ground at least when they travel so it’s not necessary that the snake would have had to have legs and then lose them because even those that do have legs still crawl on their bellies but you might be wondering why cursed the snake I mean that snake was just a means an instrument a tool of Satan I mean we know that from the rest of scripture snake’s just a snake it it’s an animal it doesn’t have any comprehension of the change brought about by this curse so why punish the snake well the answer is what this posture is going to figuratively communicate and to help see this consider Micah 7:17 you don’t have to turn there I’ll just read it to you but Micah 7:17 in this context God is talking about Israel’s enemies and what it’s going to be like for them once God restores the nation of Israel and exalts it and listen to What God Says in Micah 7:17 they will lick the dust like a serpent like reptiles of the earth they will come trembling out of their fortresses to Yahweh our God God they will come in dread and they will be afraid before you and you see what God’s saying there in that verse and Micah God says Israel’s enemies will have the posture like The Serpent and how is the Serpent’s posture characterize in that verse full of dread yeah full of dread it’s extremely low what other words could we use it’s a defeated posture it’s a humiliated posture it’s a submissive posture it’s a lowly posture the face is practically in the dust how lower can you go how much lower can you go so coming back to Genesis why this change in the snake’s posture after the fall especially if the actual animal cannot con comprehend any of its humiliation and I would say it’s a message about Satan’s own defeat you see after Satan uses a tool in an effort to corrupt man mankind to acquire glory for himself to frustrate God God turns that tool into a symbol of Satan’s own humiliation defeat and downfall God essentially says through the curse Satan do you see the posture of this snake this will be your posture and I want all creation to know it after all doesn’t this fit with the context of the Serpent’s head also being crushed to have a bruised head is a mortal blow it is a smiting that results in total defeat so it makes sense that the other part of the curse would fit with that same Revelation in this first pronouncement God is making abundantly clear that Satan has accomplished no victory in the fall of Man Satan’s Doom is as sure as it has ever been an animal the snake is now going to be a symbol of those realities for the rest of its existence so when you see a snake today and you see it crawl really you can think of what God is promising about Satan now also says that he will place enmity between the woman and the snake and between the seed of the woman and the seed of the snake what’s that talking about at first we might think that this is about people being afraid of snakes and snakes being afraid of people but this is also true of many other animals I mean it’s true of bears it’s true of squirrels it’s true of Creation in general so this would hardly be unique pronouncement on the snake however some people really like snakes I don’t know how but they do so this has to be about something else we’ve already seen that the other curses on the serpent have to do with Satan and while Satan does not procreate he is said in the scriptures to have seed to have children who are the children of the devil unbelievers though those who do sin Wicked ones so then what is what God is promising here is two kinds of seed going forward there’s going to be a group that belongs to Satan and is like him and there’s going to be another group that comes from Eve and what is the relationship between these two groups according to this verse it’s enmity what does that mean yeah hatred conflict hostility War even which group of people then would experience conflict with Satan’s brood of wicked ones Believers those who want to do right and notice this enity does not arise all by itself but from where does it come specifically God says I will put enmity God puts the hostility between them and then finally note that the seed of the woman is said ultimately to deliver a mortal wound on the serpent himself while only only suffering a minor wound in return so then what two other triumphant promises is god making against Satan the power behind the serpent in Genesis 3:16 well it is first that God will save the woman he will save the woman and preserve a Godly line of humanity through her who will oppose Satan and those who follow him and second it is that one from this Godly line will ultimately defeat and Destroy Satan and we now know who that is who is that the rest of the scriptures have revealed that this is Jesus Israel’s Messiah Son of God and son of man who intriguingly was born of a virgin and therefore in the most direct way is the seed of the woman so with this first curse is actually a wonderful message about the triumphant sovereignty of God in Salvation God promises the serpent the most utter defeat Satan you may think you have corrupted and destroyed mankind that they all now belong to you they all now will serve you but let me tell you that I will cause the woman the very one you deceived and I will cause many from among her physical seed to come back to me I will cause them to repent they then will hate you and there will therefore be at odds with all those who are your children I will cause this to happen there is nothing you can do Satan to stop me in fact one righteous descendant from the woman will not only war against you he will lay the finishing blow he is my son he will come from the very race Humanity that you thought you had conquered and captured you will be able to do nothing against him except to give him a minor bruise you will kill and crucify him but he will rise triumphant from the grave to give life to all who believe in him this is your doom oh serpent oh deceiver what an awesome God what a powerful savior that we see proclaimed right here these curses on the serpent in Genesis 3:15 and 16 they are triumphant declarations on behalf of mankind and as many have identified there the first proclamation of the saving gospel in the Bible of course we only see the bearest outline of the Gospel here I’ve I’ve filled in a number of the details that only come by the rest of scripture but this was the beginning basic hope that the first pair would be able to hold on to and to pass on to their descendants from the beginning our good God gave all Sinners hope return to me I will will provide you a rescuer and deliverer in the future of course that same process or that same promise extends to all today who listen to this word though we see the work largely accomplished they were looking forward to it and that was all in the first part the curse on the serpent but what about the second part what about what God says to the woman we do see of course that there will be pain particularly for women in the raising of children but what about that second statement that your desire will be for your husband and yet he will rule over you this is a somewhat puzzling declaration there’s debate over its exact meaning especially because the word desire is very rare in scripture only appears in three places is God merely saying that or this particular word translated desire there’s other words is God merely saying that after the fall despite the many Pains of motherhood despite the sin marred rule of her husband in the home that a wife will still love and sexually desire her husband is that the pronouncement well a key interpretation clue appears in Genesis 4 leading us to a more likely interpretation just turn over to Genesis 4 for a second verses 6 and 7 You’ probably heard this explanation from me before context here is C’s jealousy over Abel’s accepted sacrifice and then we read in verses 6 and 7 then Yahweh said to Cain why are you angry and why is your countenance Fallen if you do well will not your countenance be lifted up and if you do not do well sin is crouching at the door and its desire same word is in Genesis 3 is for you but you must Master it we not only have the word desire repeated here but the whole construction is very similar to what we see in Genesis 3 in what sense does sin desire Cain does it want to love him does it want to seek him in a positive way no how does sin desire Cain ultimately destroy him but via becoming his master It Wants to Rule him it wants to control him therefore you can see what is saying to Cain you must master or rule the sin that desires to rule you and if we take this understanding in Genesis 3:16 then God is pronouncing a warning to the wife as a result of sin the warning is now you will experience marital Strife you will desire to rule your husband but he will rule over you in other words because of the Fall the marriage relationship is now cursed the woman will tend to desire to control her husband or to be independent of him while the man will tend to desire to be sinful in his rule even to dominate his wife or abuse her and isn’t this what we see today in pretty much every place on the one hand you have at least in our country the feminist movement that seeks to liberate women from being submissive to husbands and to men in general but this movement unfortunately only makes women more vulnerable than ever on the other hand man men continue to mistreat their wives and women in general certainly in America but also around the world in the most modern Nations the most backward tribal settlements just as the marriage Paradigm was was broken in the garden in Adam and Eve sin in the Sin there was a reversal of roles so now that Brokenness is reflected in the post-fall world in the many misunderstandings and fights and domestic abuse cases and divorces and even domestic murders around the world now though marriage was originally a gift man’s own sin the fall it brought a curse on marriage now we should ask well why these curses on the woman God could have cursed anything related to women and there are plenty of other things that were cursed in the world besides the things that are highlighted to the woman or even to the serpent and to the man so why did God specifically pronounce these curses to the woman that is curses related to raising children and navigating a wife’s relationship with her husband why these two curses what do you think okay so that’s a good point it’s appropriate because the punishment fits the crime what you did in leading your husband into sin this is now going to be the curse that results were you going to say the same thing Mike I was say because that’s the woman’s essal Ro direct right so these are not just any old curses that God could pronounce these are pronouncements these are sad pronouncements on the woman’s primary sphere and her main sources of fulfillment outside of God of course the curse on the woman that is it hit women in the most relevant sphere the home and the family and we see the same thing in the curse that is pronounced on Adam it would hit his most relevant sphere his work God’s pronouncement on man is that man’s work would now become hard full of painful toil and futility rather than satisfying himself in the food that God provided for him man would now have to work painfully and frustratingly for his food he would become a farmer dealing now with thorns and weeds plants that did not exist before his sin these would flourish as God changed the watering system of the Earth from underground nourishment to rain and these of course are emblematic of all sorts of new impediments to man in the world I sometimes think about this when I’m just trying to untangle some cords that you know are in the side of the room or something like that of course we can see it even in the Daniel lines that are popping up everywhere now lots of new impediments to working and living in this world and just as the pain of raising a family would be with a woman constantly all her days so will the pain of man’s work be with him all his days he will toil God says until he dies man will return to the ground from which he was made he will die and so will his wife and so will all his descendants thus the fall is when death entered the world even though animals did not sin even though the ground had no part in Adam’s Rebellion no active part the world the whole world fell under the curse of death when its appointed ruler was cursed just as Romans 5 and 8 also say Romans 5:12 therefore just as as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all sinned Romans 8: 20-22 I read this verse to you before but Romans 8: 20-22 for the creation was subjected to futility not willingly but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God for we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the Pains of child birth together until now I bring those verses just to emphasize to you that sin I’m sorry death was not something that already existed in the world this is one of the assumptions that an evolutionary Big Bang worldview has to maintain you have to say oh there was death before the fall the Bible speaks differently death is a result of the fall and it was put on all creation because of man’s sin these curses of course are severe and we feel their effects every day all of us experienced the curse on work the curse on the ground have you ever tried to raise a plant em and I planted Two Roses one time and we were amazed at how many thing in God’s creation just sought to destroy that destroy those plants I think by the time they died there were like four different parasites consuming one of the Roses all of us experienced the curse on work and the ground all of us experienced the curse on home and family all of us experience the curse of death unless Christ returns s soon each one of us each one of you listening will die you will return to dust and what a tragic change from man’s original state God didn’t make man that way what a terrible marring of God’s original design what a what a downfall man had this exalted position as an under ruler and then death and the curse it’s it’s laid man in the dust but this is the price of sin the wages of sin is death this is what man and evil and proud Rebellion chose for himself God was not unjust in anything he decreed he showed himself to be holy as well as good a good God doesn’t treat evil like it’s no big deal and God didn’t do that at the beginning yet there is Grace in the middle of this these punishments were appropriate considering the severity of the offense rejecting God exalting self but they would serve an important gospel purpose they would remind people they still remind people of their need for rescue their need for Redemption their need to be set free from the bondage of the curse surely you have felt oh I wish things weren’t like this if only something or someone could change it same word about that in just a second now as bad as these curses are there are still there are still two other tragic results that we have not discussed yet but they are alluded to in the final section of chapter 3 so let’s briefly read and comment on Genesis 3:20 to 24 starting in verse 20 now the man called his wife’s name Eve because she was the mother mother of all the living Yahweh God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them then Yahweh God said behold the man has become like one of us knowing good and evil now he might stretch out his hand and take from the Tree of Life and eat and live forever therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken so he drove the man out at the east of the garden of Eden he stationed the cherubim and the Flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life let’s observe a few items in these last verses notice that the immediate reaction of man to these curses is that Adam names his wife Eve verse 21 she already had a name woman Isha but he gives her a new name Eve the reason is given to us in the text and it makes more sense once we have a an idea of what the name Eve means a name is and Hebrew and apparently comes from the same route as which means life you’ve heard it’s the same route to life but why would Adam do that after all these curses Adam you name your wife life or living come back to that moreover in verse 21 we see God making clothes for Adam and Eve from animal skins as we said before this implies that God killed an animal or maybe animals in order to clothe these two humans if that is the case then here would be the first physical death in creation not only did this measure meet Adam and white Adam and Eve’s physical needs it also served as the first picture of covering by blameless sacrifice finally notice how man is driven out of the garden with no ability to maintain access or come back God places a guard of cherubim at the east of the garden as well as an Evert turning flaming sword to prevent man from returning we could observe more but just for the sake of time we’ll have to just use those so a few questions of interpretation now why did Adam give such a hopeful name to Eve after hearing the curses what do you think yeah Jody yeah so that’s really interesting Jody you’re making a an assertion an application to a broader principle that in life we really shouldn’t focus on the trials but we we always need something to Hope in Hope for and it’s amazing that even in the curses with their terrible pronouncements God was still giving man something to Hope in not just the curses on the serpent but all throughout that section we have mercy in the midst of Wrath God said man would die when man ate the fruit but God did not immediately enact that sentence true man started to die physically and he eventually would die but God also proclaimed in their curses that man would continue to live for a Time Adam would toil there would be new impediments but he would also get bread he would get bread from the ground to sustain him and his family as for Eve she would have new terrible pain and child rearing but there would be child rearing she would have children the human race would not be wiped out but would mercifully continue thus the name Eve it is an expression of Hope in God’s promises and it is a memorial to God’s mercy despite man’s terrible sin we still have life though we deserve death yet what did man lose by being driven out of the garden no more dwelling in God’s presence no more access to the tree of life that grants eternal life and to these not represent the greatest problems that man faces after the fall the painful curse on the earth is a problem conflict in relationships is a problem temporal death is a big problem but a bigger problem is how do we return to God how can we experience eternal life with him more information to answer these questions would be unveiled as the scriptures progress it does have something to do with God declared in Genesis 3:15-16 but today we know in full what they didn’t know in those days eternal life intimate fellowship with God would indeed be restored by the promised savior the seed of the woman Jesus Christ for all those who repent of sin and believe in Jesus as Lord and savior they are not only granted eternal life and rescue from God’s holy wrath but they are granted to Behold The Glory and the good of the Lord in his presence forever in some ways it’s returned to the Garden in some ways it’s something way better than the garden ever was so for all of you listening to this class today I pray that this is the destiny to which you are Marching toward all really all the Terrible effects of the Fall they are reversed and will one day be fully reversed for those who have been joined to God’s savior Jesus Christ and like I said not just so that we’re restored to our original state but we actually are brought to something even better during our days of the soj of Earth we will experience the curses in part but in important ways the sting of these curses is removed in Christ the pain of bringing forth children is still felt but this pain is overpowered by the hope and trust that each Christian mother each pair of Christian parents has in God in Christ there is still conflict in marriage but both husband and wife work toward Greater Joy and unity together as they submit to God’s original design for marriage in Christ there is still to oil and trouble and work but Christians can do their work hardly as unto the Lord knowing that even though this world passes away even though the work you do in the grand scheme in a temporal sense is not going to matter it matters to God God sees your obedience in your work and he has promised to reward you and in Christ though all Christians must pass to the river of death unless Christ comes back Christians do not need to be afraid nor should their loved ones weep like those without hope because we know where we are going through Death Christ redeems Believers from the curse of the fall and all the pains and sufferings of Life ultimately are made into a refining blessing for the believer and even much treasure in the world to come the question is do you by faith enjoy these blessings in the midst of a world that is still cursed are those curses reversed for you in the most important ways because you know Jesus Christ or do you only feel the weight of the curse as you can see there is much to declare from this chapter a very foundational text this is important history it’s what makes sense of the evil and suffering that we see in our world today the world doesn’t get it they’re constantly looking for explanations as to why these things are the way they are and sometimes they tell themselves well that’s just the way the world is this is evolution nwork but then when they see a tragedy or when they see evil they say why the Bible gives the real explanation and it points us to our need for Redemption and God’s promised savior well that’s the material that I prepared for you questions about what you’ve heard today yeah GL um was possibility that drove them out of the because he said they turn so right there we see God’s because if they had done that yeah yeah Glenda that’s a good question and I didn’t focus on it in that treatment of the last passage but God’s driving man and woman out of the garden is both judgment and mercy it’s judgment because he says you don’t get life anymore you have no access to the tree of life but it’s also Mercy I think because of the reason that you suggested that now fallen if they had eaten of the tree of life then they would have been doomed to an eternal existence without possibility of redemption so in a way it was good that God drove them out of the garden it was for their good though in another sense who wouldn’t want to have access to the Tree of Life in another sense it was bad it was a punishment it was Justice and that’s why God says you can’t come back yeah it’s good other questions yeah Lena I have a question sure probably can’t answer but when um as all creation fell in the curse along with us um I look at most trees you know that the leaves are going down the branches go down that’s what we got with gravity but I wonder if they were intended to be raised yeah that’s a good question did trees change at all were the upturn branches a symbol of praise to God I don’t know we know creation did change I don’t know if that was one of the ways but possibly other questions yeah uh Lyndon yes so the question is God proclaimed even in the curse on the serpent that he would redeem Eve does that mean he also would redeem Adam believe the answer is yes especially because Adam names his wife Eve right life so Adam apparently believed in the pronouncements of God and he recognized the mercy of God so just because that specific pronouncement was given to the woman about her seed it doesn’t mean that Adam was not included in fact the way that the narrative is going to progress as we go into chapter 4 we get the impression that Adam and Eve have returned to the Lord and that Cain killing Abel is a new terrible tragedy and God is merciful to provide another descendant who is not of the seed of the serpent in Cain and is not the perished one in Abel so they name their next child Seth and they if I can actually okay it’s eve the one who says it but I’m sure her husband was in agreement God has provided a replacement seed for the one that was destroyed so the reason though that the curse says the seed of the woman rather than the SE of Adam don’t exactly can say for sure why that is but it possibly has to do with the fact that when Jesus comes he’s a second Adam he’s not in the he’s not in one sense in the line of Adam he’s starting a new race a new line because if he in a sense was the seed of the man then he ought to inherit whatever that first man had given to the whole race which would be be sin and death but Jesus this the last Adam he comes to bring life to the human race to those who believe in him rather than what the first Adam brought that’s my thought there but that’s a question that we may not be able to fully answer for sure Arthur yeah um know how David in one of his Psalms I believe it was psalm he asked the question what is man that God is mind what is man that you are mindful of him um and then he gives he says you crowned him oh oh you made him a little lower than the Angels but you crowned him with honor and glory and it brings me back to original creation where God said let us make man in our image and in our likeness and I know most people interpret that as when it said when God looked at the creation he saw that it was good and many interpret that that man was complete but if the lamb was slain from the foundation of the world and God’s intention was for Christ to die on the cross um wouldn’t there be a connection indicating that when you ask the question why the curse because in order God to carry out his plan for the lamb to die and um in that way for Redemption to come to the world um wouldn’t that indicate that again that when God said let us make man in our um in our image and in our likeness that that was not a process that was completed at creation that was a process that would um would I if man had chose to eat from the Tree of Life originally then that process would have um been completed but because he didn’t and the lamb in other words God had already ordained that Christ would be the Redeemer wouldn’t again wouldn’t that indicate that um that we are that God is still that God his original intention for man was to be in His image you said a number of different concepts and I’m trying in my brain to keep them all together and answer your question I’m not sure if I totally can I think what tell me if I’m correctly articulating what you’re saying that if man is made in God’s image and God is Redeemer then there should be an aspect of man needing Redemption even in his beginning is that what you’re saying yes so obviously that cannot mean I think that’s largely correct but that cannot mean that man was made Fallen that he was made you you use the term complete in one sense man was perfect and yet he was going to be perfected further it’s kind of like the Old Testament law right was the Old Testament law perfect was it good was it Glory glorious yes but there’s something much more perfect because the law as good as it was it’s from God of course it’s going to be perfect it had in mind the need for Redemption the New Covenant that was going to be better so you could say that because Man was created with the ability to sin maybe that is an indication of even in his perfection in his innocence that something more perfect would come a new creation in which you are actually set free from sin and you can only do righteousness you do see obviously the connection in the pronouncement towards the serpent and Genesis 3:15 and 16 that God’s Plan of Redemption his eternal Plan of Redemption is already set in motion but it would be I think inaccurate it would be unfair to scripture to say that man was created imperfect because God looked at all creation he said he was very good yet he would become more perfect through God’s outworking of redemption you say but how can you be perfect already and become more perfect yeah I recognize that there’s a certain logical tension there but I think that’s the way that scripture portrays it I see that there’s a comment but it’s 10:00 so maybe we opened up a little bit of a uh something that’s for more thought and discussion but that’ll have to be afterwards let me close our time in a word of prayer next week we look at the what I alluded to already the Second Great tragedy in the history of man and that is the first murder and the first manifestation of conflict between the seed of The Serpent and the redeemed seed of the woman let’s pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your history we thank you for this Revelation that not only tells us what happened but shows us you and you don’t just tell us so that we might become intellectually stimulated ated so that we may be transformed is that we would be like Adam and Eve and we would be like the righteous seed of the woman that would come later and say we need to return to God he will provide rescue I pray Lord that would be true for everybody who’s heard this message today and those who are going to continue to be in the service today Lord that they would turn to God and they would find the way back to the Tree of Life To Life which really is God thank you for this time Lord amen amen okay