Sin's Consequences, God's Mercy

to the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 3. Today we are looking at the second half of the chapter

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

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.

Genesis 3:14

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,

no,

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.

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.

Let's pray.

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.