Life Out Of The Garden

Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to the book of Genesis.

We're in Genesis chapter 3 this morning, and if it's your first time joining us,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

or your first time joining us in a while, we've been walking through the book of Genesis.

We've taken sort of a slow walk through the garden,

and now we're concluding Genesis chapter 3 this morning.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

And this passage explains a lot about the brokenness in our world.

But even so, I hope you'll notice here that throughout this passage, with all of its judgment,

there are brilliant glimmers of hope and gospel promise here in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

So our passage this morning is Genesis 3, verses 14 through the end of the chapter, verse 24.

Genesis 3:14

And when you found it there in God's Word, let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word.

Genesis 3, verses 14 through the end of the chapter,

Genesis 3:14

To the woman, he said,

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 are 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,

and 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.

Lord,

we pray once more,

now again,

as we open up this passage.

God,

would you,

would you speak today

through the preaching of your word?

Would you convict us of sin

where there needs to be conviction?

And would you draw each of us

to further faith in Christ?

We ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Sometimes in a house with three boys,

and I'm not picking on them,

this is probably true of every family,

it's not unique to them,

I want to be clear,

I'm not trying to pick on them,

but sometimes in a house with three boys,

every now and then,

something goes wrong.

Somebody gets hurt,

something gets broken,

somebody takes something

that they shouldn't,

whatever the issue may be,

sin shows up,

and the parent steps in

and ultimately says,

what are you doing?

What's going on here?

And all at once,

all at the same time,

everybody starts explaining

what happened,

and each person usually explaining

what the other person did wrong,

and everybody's talking at once,

and there's this moment of confusion

and blame shifting

until eventually,

finally,

mom or dad says,

I've heard enough,

and the judgments

start to come down.

You go to your room,

you drop the toys,

you're not playing with those anymore,

you drop and give me 50 push-ups right now.

The judgments start to rain down.

This morning,

we're picking up here

in the middle of a chapter,

and if you remember from last week,

we left Adam and Eve

pointing their fingers at each other,

and at the serpent,

and even ultimately at God.

It's a very tense moment

here in the Garden of Eden.

They have sinned,

they are guilty,

they know that they're guilty,

they're blame shifting,

explaining what everybody else did wrong

besides themselves,

and now,

in our passage this morning,

God finally says,

I have heard enough,

and the judgments

start to come down.

This passage this morning

teaches us a very clear,

but a very unpopular truth,

and it's this.

Our sin earns God's judgment.

Our sin has earned God's judgment,

and yet at the very same time,

as we read through this passage,

hopefully what we'll see is that

this passage,

at the very same time,

gives us incredible hope.

Even in the midst of God

pronouncing judgment for sin,

there is the promise

and the hope of the gospel,

all the way back here

in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

So let's look here

at our passage this morning,

and what we'll see

is five responses of God to sin.

Five responses here of God to sin.

First, here in verses 14 through 15,

response number one

is that God judges the serpent.

God judges the serpent.

Look there to verse 14 with me.

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,

between your offspring and her offspring.

He shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.

Now we're gonna put our finger there

in the second half of that verse,

and we're gonna circle back to that at the end,

because that second half of that verse

is the gospel.

And that is the gospel promise,

and we're gonna come back to that towards the end.

One of the most significant verses

in the entire Bible.

But here for now,

let's just notice how God curses the serpent.

For one, he sentences him

to go on the ground, on his belly.

Dust you shall eat.

Go eat dust, he says to the snake.

Now I have no idea what the serpent looked like

before this curse, right?

There's speculation.

Some say maybe he had legs of some sort.

Maybe he stood up on his tail.

I have no idea.

That's not really the point here, is it?

The point is God's judgment on the snake.

And you notice he didn't engage with him like Eve did.

There's no conversation.

There's no back and forth.

The serpent doesn't even speak back to the Lord.

Once he speaks, it's quiet.

And God slams down the gavel.

And he says, because you have done this,

because you have led humanity

into this rebellion against the Lord,

you are now sentenced to go on your belly

and eat the dust.

You will be this lowly, slimy,

despised creature, this ugly thing.

Not only this, we see that

there is now a natural dislike

between the serpent and the woman.

The snake won't like her

and she won't like the snake.

Ladies, can I get an amen?

Right?

I know we live in the country

and some of y'all actually like snakes, right?

But you should know that's not natural.

That's not normal.

God has put enmity,

dislike,

division,

war,

tension,

hatred

between the woman

and the snake.

My wife is a very natural example of this.

Okay?

If we even see a snake in the yard,

I got to personally escort her to the car

for like the next two or three weeks.

That's just how it goes.

There's enmity there.

There's beef.

There's conflict.

But of course we know

it goes deeper than this, right?

Because the Lord,

he's not just speaking directly

to the snake, is he?

He's ultimately here

speaking a curse

on Satan himself.

Satan himself here

is judged in the garden.

God says that Satan himself

will be a low-down,

ugly,

despised,

cursed thing.

And there will be enmity,

conflict,

war,

hatred

between the offspring of Satan

and the offspring of the woman.

Of course we should

already be clued in here

that this isn't

physical offspring.

Satan has no physical offspring.

He's a fallen angel.

He can't bear physical children.

But he absolutely has

spiritual offspring.

In fact,

as we look forward

to the Gospel of John,

Jesus tells us

that some of the Pharisees,

he tells them directly

in the Gospel of John,

the reason that they don't receive

his word

is that they are

offspring of their father,

the devil.

Now how's that for an insult?

Right?

The reason you don't receive

my word,

Jesus says,

is because you are

the offspring of that snake

in the garden.

Here we see

this is a pronouncement

of a spiritual conflict,

a spiritual battle

that we'll see

throughout the rest

of Scripture.

A spiritual battle

between the offspring of Satan

and the offspring

of the woman

who we know ultimately

is Christ Jesus

and all who belong to him.

So response number one,

God judges the serpent.

But then we see,

second,

response number two,

God judges the woman.

Here in verse 16.

Look there to verse 16 with me.

And her judgment

is twofold here.

On the one hand,

childbearing will now

be incredibly painful.

Verse 16.

To the woman,

he said,

I will surely multiply

your pain

and childbearing.

In pain,

you shall bring forth children.

And again,

every woman in the room

who's ever birthed a child

can say amen.

Right?

A childbirth is pain.

I've seen this firsthand

with three different children

brought into the world.

It looks hard.

They call it labor

for a reason.

It is painful

for the woman

to bring forth children.

Of course,

there's advancements

in medicine

and every woman's

experience is different.

But as a general statement,

now on this side

of the fall,

childbearing is painful.

But we should know,

again,

this pain goes beyond

just the physical act

of birthing a child,

doesn't it?

Now,

because of sin,

there is pain

and difficulty

with the entire experience

of bearing children.

Now,

don't misunderstand me.

Children are an incredible blessing

from the Lord.

Amen?

Now,

they are an incredible blessing

from the Lord.

But now,

because of sin,

there are all sorts of reasons

why this good thing

is incredibly difficult

and complicated

and even painful.

Now,

on this side of the fall,

because of sin,

now there are issues

of infertility.

Couples who desperately desire

to be fruitful

and multiply

but can't just seem

to make that work.

And now,

because of sin,

on this side of the fall,

sometimes that desire

to get married

and have children

for whatever reason

is frustrated

and a woman stays single

far longer

than she would ever want.

And now,

because of sin,

on this side of the fall,

sometimes children

bring grief

upon their parents.

I mean,

you talk about pain

and childbearing.

Now,

because of sin,

there's this experience

of grieving,

wayward children.

Disobedient children

bring grief

upon their parents.

All of this

is because of sin

in the world.

Now,

because of sin,

there's brokenness

in this area

of childbearing.

And I'd be willing

to bet

that every woman

who's born a child

has some experience

and can relate to this.

in some way.

And one of Eve's

primary tasks

in the garden

was to be,

as Adam names her here,

the mother of all living.

Fill the earth

and subdue it.

Fill the earth

with the image of God.

Be fruitful

and multiply.

But now,

that task

is made so much harder

by the presence

of sin

in the world.

The pain,

it doesn't just stop

at childbearing,

does it?

There's a whole

other aspect here.

The second part

of this judgment

on the woman

is that now,

because of sin,

her relationship

with her spouse

will be broken.

Eve was made,

remember,

to be Adam's helper

in the garden.

But now,

this is also

made difficult

by the presence

of sin.

God says here,

your desire

shall be

for your husband

and he shall

rule over you.

Now,

at first glance,

that sounds like

it's not so bad,

does it?

Your desire

shall be

for your husband.

We ought to

want our spouse

to desire us,

right?

Amen?

You can say yes,

that's okay.

We ought to want that,

but not like this.

If you look

just a few paragraphs

later,

it might be

on the next page

or just down

a few paragraphs

here in your Bible.

Genesis 4,

Genesis 4:7

verse 7.

Genesis 4,

Genesis 4:7

verse 7.

We see this exact

same combination

of words here

and it clues us

in to what's meant

back here in chapter 3.

Here in Genesis 4,

God is speaking

to Cain.

You remember this story?

Right before Cain

is about to commit

the very first murder

in human history.

What does God say

to Cain?

It's the exact

same language.

Listen to this.

Sin is crouching

at the door.

Its desire

is for you,

but you must

rule over it.

Of course,

we know what

happens next.

But here's the thing.

Sin doesn't

desire you

in a good way.

Sin doesn't

want you

in a good way.

It doesn't want

to cuddle up

with you

and love you.

Sin wants

to overcome

you.

Sin wants

to destroy

you.

And God

is saying here,

you must

rule over it.

Now,

because of sin,

on this side

of the fall,

the wife

will desire

to rule

over her husband.

Now,

because of sin,

a God-honoring

marriage

where the husband

loves and leads

well and the wife

respects and submits

well,

that is hard

to come by.

And now,

because of sin,

the wife,

she won't like

those old-fashioned

words like

submission

or helper.

She'll want

to overcome

her husband

and rule

over him

and that desire

on this side

of the fall

will often

be frustrated

by an authoritarian

husband who

will rule

over her.

We should know

again that

all of this

is a result

of sin.

And everywhere

you see

broken marriages

and broken

families,

broken households,

tensions

and power

struggles

and arguments

and fights,

all of this

can be traced

back here

to the garden.

The result

of sin

in the world.

But ladies,

he's not just

singling you out.

And now,

third,

we see God's

judgment

on the man.

Look there

to verses 17

through 19.

Here we see

God's judgment

on the man.

He says

in verse 17,

because you

have listened

to the voice

of your wife.

Now stop there

just a minute.

I mean,

this is a test,

okay?

If you're sitting

next to your wife,

you better answer

this very carefully,

okay?

I'm going to ask

you a question.

Should you listen

to the voice

of your wife?

You can answer.

Yeah?

It's not a trick

question.

The answer is

yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

You should listen

to the voice

of your wife.

I'll be the first

to tell you,

man.

I try.

I try to listen

to the voice

of my wife,

and she can tell you

depending on the day,

the week,

how good of a job

I'm doing.

Husbands ought

to listen

to the voice

of their wives.

They have a good,

different perspective,

offer different gifting,

different wisdom.

It's a complimentary

relationship.

Men ought to listen

to their wives.

Pastors ought

to listen

to wise women

in their congregation.

Simply listening

isn't the issue

here,

is it?

The issue

is that

leader Adam,

head Adam,

leader Adam,

listened to the voice

of his wife

as she led him

into sin.

That's the issue.

The issue

is that Adam

allowed the voice

of his wife

to steer the ship,

and she steered

the whole thing

right into an iceberg.

This is God

addressing passive Adam.

Men,

husbands,

do not be passive Adam.

Take up your call

to love

and to lead your wife,

to love your wife

as Christ loved the church,

gave himself up for her.

Because you have listened

to the voice

of your wife

and have eaten

of the tree

of which I command 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 are dust,

and to dust

you shall return.

Now,

because of sin,

Adam's task

to rule over the world

and to guard

and to keep the garden,

to rule

and subdue the earth,

now that task

is made

much more difficult.

Now because of sin

on this side

of the fall,

instead of only

bearing fruit,

now his work

bears thorns

and thistles.

In other words,

now because of sin

on this side

of the fall,

work is really,

really hard.

Amen?

Fellas,

I know you understand

what I'm saying.

Work is hard.

I hear some of y'all

talk about your work.

I get tired

just listening to you

talk about your work.

You get up early,

you grind yourself

to the bone

all day long,

you come back home,

you eat,

you sleep,

you go do it all

again the next day.

On this side

of the fall,

work is still good.

Work is still good

but it bears thorns

and thistles.

And these thorns

can take a lot

of different shapes,

can't they?

It can come in the form

of a job

you don't even like doing.

Do you know

you just have to do something

to make ends meet

so that you can eat

the bread of the ground?

It can come in the form

of labor

that just seems meaningless

or unfulfilling.

You don't even know

why you're doing

what you're doing.

You just know

you have to have a job.

You have to do something

with your life.

And maybe

you have a hard time

seeing how your work

fits in

with the grand plan

of God

for you

and the world

and you don't see

how your labor

means anything

ultimately

with God

and His glory.

It could be

your work environment,

your boss,

your co-workers

can be thorns

in your side.

Amen?

Right?

We've all experienced

this in our time

at work.

Whatever it may be

now on this side

of the fall,

work is hard.

This is the result

of sin.

And I'll tell you

the worst job

I ever had

was for one summer,

praise God,

just one summer.

I was a landscape architect

in Daytona Beach,

Florida

at a golf course.

And if you know

anything about me,

I do not do yard work.

I'm not skilled

in that way.

It was blazing hot.

There were gators

on just about

every single hole.

The course itself

was going bankrupt.

So they didn't even

have money

to provide

the right tools

and really ultimately

they just didn't

even care.

Every time I showed up,

there's a new leak

on a new hole

that I had to go fix

every single morning

for a summer.

I'd clock in

and they would hand me

a bucket,

a shovel,

and a clamp.

And they'd tell me

go fix the hole.

Go fix the leak

on hole 13,

whatever it was.

The clamp was for the leak

once I found it.

But the problem was

wherever you see water

coming up out of the ground

isn't necessarily

where the leak is.

You know,

water runs.

The pipes were about

five feet under the ground.

That's what the shovel

was for.

And by the time I found

where the water

was coming from,

they didn't even bother

to turn off the water.

That's what the bucket

was for.

Every day

for an entire summer,

I did meaningless,

repetitive,

frustrating,

difficult work,

and I felt it

more than ever.

Thorns and thistles.

Thorns and thistles.

By the sweat

of your brow.

Adam's work here

is made incredibly

difficult.

But church,

that's not even

the worst part,

is it?

Look there

with me

verses 22-24.

The worst effect

of all

falls on both of them.

Here in verses 22-24

and here we see

forth

God's judgment

on all

people.

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

of 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 chair of him

and the flaming sword

that turned every way

to guard the way

to the tree of life.

Now,

because of sin,

on this side

of the fall,

Adam and Eve

and all mankind

with them

are now driven

out of the Garden.

They are now

driven away

from the presence

of God.

They are banished

from the Garden of Eden

with no way

back in,

no way back

to purity,

no way back

to innocence,

no way back

to God.

And this angel

stands there

with a flaming sword

to make certain

there is no way

they could possibly

come back

even if they tried.

now that sin

has entered in,

childbearing

is difficult,

marriage is difficult,

work is difficult,

life is difficult,

but we ought to recognize

the worst part

of all of it

is that now

on this side

of the fall,

our relationship

with God

is difficult.

Not just difficult,

but for sinners

our relationship

with God

is impossible

so long

as sin

remains.

You know,

we are often

so aware

of all of these

other effects

of sin,

aren't we?

We all live

on this side

of the garden,

we all live

on this side

of the fall,

outside of the

Garden of Eden,

we know the effects

of sin in the world

firsthand.

It's no secret

that childbirth

is painful,

it's no secret

that work is hard,

that marriage

is often hard,

that we have

tensions and difficulties

and problems

in every sphere

of life,

we realize

that things

aren't quite right

and we complain

about it,

but this judgment

is the worst

of them all

and so many people

go through life

without giving it

a single thought.

We should realize

that the worst

possible effect

of sin

isn't our broken

relationship

with our spouse,

it isn't our

broken relationship

with our children,

it's not our

terrible jobs

or poor health,

it isn't even

death itself.

The worst effect

of sin

is that we

are by nature

banished from

the presence

of God

and under

His wrath.

We see it here

in the garden,

don't we?

Sinful people

cannot safely

dwell in the

presence of a

holy God.

We are separated

from God

because of

our sin.

I told you

this was an

unpopular truth.

This is

hard pill

to swallow,

isn't it?

Sinners

like me,

like you,

by nature

and by choice

are separated

from a holy God,

but we praise

God

that because

of His

great mercy

and grace

to sinners

like us,

it doesn't

have to be

that way.

Here,

even in this

passage filled

with judgment,

we get glimmers

of hope,

don't we?

We're going to

walk back through

and see these

glimmers of hope

that maybe

somehow,

someway,

God is going

to do something

to make all

of this right.

God is going

to step in

and do something

to fix what's

been broken.

God is going

to do something

to bring sinners

like us

back into

His presence

and this

was His

plan

all along.

So,

fifth,

let's look

back through

and see

God responds

to sin

with mercy

and with hope.

You know

what mercy

is.

Mercy

is God

withholding

what we

deserve

for our

sin.

That's what

mercy is.

He's holding

back what we

deserve in this

passage.

Again,

although it's

full of

judgment,

it is

absolutely

bursting

with mercy.

Where do I

see that?

Look back

at the text

with me.

For one

thing,

Adam and

Eve don't

drop dead

the minute

they sin,

do they?

The wages

of sin

is what?

It's death.

What did

God tell

them?

When you

eat of the

fruit of

the tree,

you will

surely die

and yet here

we see

they're

alive.

Sinners,

rebels with

breath in

their lungs,

sinners who

get to enjoy

so many of

the good

gifts of

God.

Even on

this side

of the

fall,

there's a

glimmer of

hope here.

Even in

the way

Adam names

his wife,

she's the

mother of

the living.

There's a

glimmer of

hope here

that even

though they're

banished from

the garden,

even though

they now

live in

the sin

cursed

world,

even though

they've

blown it

and they

know they

deserve

judgment,

yet God

is merciful

to sinners.

I see his

mercy there

in verse

22.

The Lord

himself prevents

Adam and

Eve from

eating of

the tree

of life.

God himself

takes measures

to make

certain that

Adam and

Eve aren't

stuck in

this state

of sin for

the rest of

eternity.

There's a

possibility here,

even with

death looming in

the background,

maybe God

will make

another way.

All over this

passage, even in

judgment, God is

showing mercy

to sinners.

Yes, we

believe God

is just.

Yes, we

believe God

is full of

wrath against

sin, but we

also believe God

is merciful to

sinners.

He's slow to

anger, abounding

in steadfast love

and faithfulness.

He is patient

towards sinners,

not willing that

any should perish,

but that all

should reach

repentance.

If you are not

a believer, you

should recognize

that you are

absolutely swimming

in an ocean of

God's mercy, even

this very minute.

But please don't

presume upon it.

This judgment

here is delayed.

We don't know

for how long, but

the time of

judgment will

come.

And this delay

between our sin

and His judgment,

that delay is

meant to call

you to repentance.

repentance.

He's not done,

is He?

Look there, look

there, what else

God does for

sinners here.

In the midst of

judgment, verse 21,

we also, we see

hints of atonement.

The Lord God

made for Adam

and his wife

garments of

skins and

clothed them.

You remember how

they responded

earlier in the

chapter?

When they sinned

against the Lord

and they realized

they were naked,

what did they do?

They went

grabbing for

anything they

could find to

cover up their

sin.

They grabbed some

fig leaves and

they sewed them

together to try

and cover up

their shame.

They tried to

cover up their

own sin and

shame by their

own feeble

efforts.

But here, God

says, that's not

going to cut it.

You can't cover up

your own shame.

You can't do

anything to cover

up your sin and

hide your sin from

me.

You can't cover

yourself, but I

I can cover

you.

And how does

he do it?

He covers up

their shame here

by sacrifice.

Garments of

skins.

And don't you

see here an echo

of the gospel?

It's as if God

is telling them

and us, in

order for your

sin to be

covered, it's

going to require

sacrifice and I

have to be the

one to do it.

the same echo

will continue

through the

sacrifice of

bulls and

goats in the

temple and

these sacrifices

that cover the

sins and remove

the shame of the

people temporarily

until Christ

Jesus, the

lamb who was

slain from

before the

foundation of

the world,

comes and

gives his life

as a perfect

sacrifice to

bear our shame

and to atone

for our sin.

Do you see

God's mercy

in this

passage?

There's an

even clearer

picture of

his mercy

and his hope

here.

Circle back

with me to

verse 15

here as we

close.

Verse 15

is as I

said here

we see the

clearest display

of God's

mercy towards

sinners in

this promise

of the gospel.

Look at

verse 15.

I will put

enmity between

you and the

woman,

between your

offspring and

her offspring.

He shall

bruise your

head and

you shall

bruise his

heel.

This verse

is the promise

of the gospel.

God promises

that all of

this pain

that you and

I feel on

this side of

the fall,

out here,

out of the

garden,

all of the

brokenness that

you and I

experience,

all of the

difficulties of

life,

all of the

tragedies and

the griefs and

the toil and

the labor,

all of it will

be done away

for good because

I will send

someone born of

the woman who

will crush the

head of the

serpent.

We rejoice

that despite

Satan's best

efforts to keep

this promise from

coming to pass,

God has done

exactly what

he promised.

Jesus Christ

is the

promised

offspring of

the woman.

Jesus Christ,

the serpent

struck his

heel at the

cross,

but Jesus

crushed the

serpent's head

by rising from

the grave,

never to die

again,

so that now

sinners like you

and I can be

counted as sons

and daughters of

God by faith in

him.

This promised

seed of the

woman,

he wore a

crown of

thorns upon

his brow.

He bore

our curse

so that now

he stands to

say to

banished sinners

like us,

all that the

Father gives

to me will

come to me

and whoever

comes to me

I will never

cast out.

Friend,

the bad news

is our sin

has earned

God's judgment.

But the

good news of

the gospel

is that God

is merciful

to sinners.

His mercy

and his love

and his grace

towards sinners

like me and

like you is

seen and

found only

in the

promised seed

of the woman,

Jesus Christ.

Lord, we

praise you for

this promise of

the gospel.

We praise you

that Christ has

come, that he

has crushed

the head

of the serpent.

And Lord, we

praise you that

he will come

again to finish

what he started.

And Lord, we

ask now as we

engage in this

spiritual battle

as sons and

daughters of God,

Lord, we ask

for your strength

and we ask that

we would walk

in the victory

that Christ has

won for us

at the cross.

We pray this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.