The World is Cursed & God is Kind (Genesis 3:14-19)

Genesis 3, verses 14 through. 19 This is the.

Genesis 3:14

Curse we're looking at, we're examining, we're thinking about,

we're praying about the curse of sin and I've I've got a lot to

say this morning. There's a lot of explanation

that needs to take place. But when it's all said and done,

when all the smoke clears, I really only have.

One big goal this morning. Not a lot.

Not a couple different goals, really, just just one and so.

Before I pull the veil back for that, let me just catch you up

to speed. If you missed last week or

missed last couple weeks or haven't been with us, we're.

Doing a slow army crawl. Through the book of Genesis.

Here's what you missed in last. Weeks episode God creates

everything out of nothing. He creates Adam and Eve

particularly. With his own image.

And then a. Character The serpent slithers

in. And in a world of yeses and one

no. The Serpent.

Deceives Adam and Eve into into doing the one no and what ends

up happening we looked at this last week is that sin enters

into and pollutes the human heart and human nature it it

creates a heart that essentially is a factory that produces blame

shifting and excuses and sin and what we see in our text this

morning it takes that. One step further.

We see that it's not just a matter of sin entering in to the

human heart or the human mind or human nature.

But. Sin enters into the very fabric

of creation itself. Through.

The administration. Of the.

Curse. And so there's going to be a lot

to think about this. Morning.

But if I were you, I would give. My best thinking.

For the next 40 minutes. And the reason why is because

this is the type of text that can be misconstrued and

misunderstood. To.

Formulate on. Biblical observations about God.

There's a high degree of misunderstanding when it comes

to this particular text. And so this sermon, I think it's

going to be pretty unlike an ordinary sermon that I preached.

If you've been with me, you know that I like to preach and.

Expose it and then illustrate and then explain.

And then illustrate. And then explain.

And then preach. This sermon is going to be.

More like honestly it's going to be like 3540 straight minutes.

Of sustained. Argumentation, but if you can.

If you can, yeah, yeah, yeah. So if you can give your best.

Thinking up. To the net these next 40

minutes. They might be exhausting, but I

think by the grace of God your mind may reach.

New depths. And perhaps you'll walk out of

this building with a a better and more Christ like

understanding of suffering and pain and so.

Here's my one goal. As we look at these verses

together, my one. Goal just one.

My one. Goal this morning is.

I want us to see the mercy. And goodness of God, even in the

midst of his administration of consequences and curses.

That's it. I want you to see his.

Goodness in the midst of him administering the curse this

morning. The curse is real.

And life is suffering, and we live in a.

World that's overshadowed by the.

Curse. And yet God is very kind, and he

is very. Good.

Both of those truths are. Totally compatible, so if you're

able, let's go ahead and stand. For the reading of the Word of

God, Genesis 3, verses 14 through. 19 the Lord.

Genesis 3:14

God said to the serpent, because you have done this, curse it.

Are you above? All livestock and above all,

the. Beasts of the field on your

belly. You shall go.

And dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

I will. I'll.

Put enmity. Enmity.

An enemy? I'll 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.

Pause that verse right there. Verse 15 It's called the proto

at you angelion. It's the.

Most. Important verse in this entire

section of Scripture. And I'm not going to preach it

this morning. I'm going to preach it next

Sunday because that singular verse demands. 40 minutes of

your time. So put it, take it put.

It in your back pocket and we'll get we'll look at it.

Really closely next week, but the text goes.

On and he says, he turns from the serpent to the woman, and he

says. The woman, he said.

I will surely multiply your. Pain and childbearing and pain

you shall bring forth children your.

Desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over

you. And then he turns to Adam.

And he said now you buddy. And to Adam, he said.

Because you I don't. Actually, no, let me take that

back. I don't think that's his tone.

I think his tone is. More.

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. Son in pain.

You shall eat of it all the days of your life.

Thorns. Thistles.

It's going to start to produce it shall bring forth.

For you, and you shall eat. The plants of the field it's by

the. Sweat of your face.

Dripping off your nose by the sweat of your.

Face you shall eat bread. Till you return to the ground.

Or out of it you're. Taken son, you are dust, and to

dust you shall return. Heavenly Father.

There is so much goodness and so many displays of restrained

judgment and mercy in these texts, and sometimes we just.

Miss them because our. Brain is going other.

Places so I pray we would take a good.

Honest look at your text. This morning and.

Reckon with the. Consequences of sin honestly

and. Still through the.

Pain and suffering. See your goodness and mercy.

We sang it. We sang it this morning.

Already we already. Sang the sermon, For the curse

of sin has no hold. On me.

That's true. We feel the effects of sin.

We feel the consequences. Of the curse.

But it doesn't. Hold us anymore, We don't have

to. Bear it.

Anymore, and that's because of the.

Gospel of Jesus So it's in the precious name of Jesus that all

God's people prayed. Amen.

You can have a seat. Clearly we have a.

Lot of work to. Do you're sitting?

I must start. Talking the curse.

Life is hard. Life is pain.

David Goggins was right about some stuff.

Life is suffering. Who's going to carry the?

Boats Rocky Balboa was right. It's not about how hard you can

hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

Life is full of pain, suffering. Is real.

We need to keep moving forward in the midst of this cursive.

World We have three main characters in our story so far,

besides God. We have the serpent, we have the

woman, and we have man. Each of them experience unique

concepts, consequences. Because of the curse of sin.

So we'll take each character 1 by 1 and.

Look at the unique consequence. That each gets the first

character that God turns to is first the.

Serpent. This is verse 14.

The Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done

this, curse it are you above all livestock and above all beasts

of the field on your belly you're going to crawl and and

dust, dust you shall. Eat all the days of your life.

This is this is fascinating, isn't it?

One of the reasons why. This text is fascinating.

Is because with all three characters, what the curse does

is it strikes uniquely and exactly at each character's

greatest desire. What we need to see from this is

that God's not arbitrarily throwing a fit and just

arbitrarily throwing suffering out at all these characters.

Each one is uniquely administered to the unique

desire of each character. For instance, the serpent.

The serpent's greatest desire was pride and the desire to rule

over. Creation.

And what does he get? Yeah, humiliation.

Cursive to crawl on his belly. Doctor Michael Heizer, A.

Biblical scholar says. Quote.

Satan wanted to be the most high, so God made Satan into the

most low. He is humbled.

He's. Humiliated into being condemned

into the most cursive. Creature look at the text person

to crawl on his belly lowness for.

The rest of his life. Look at his diet.

Did you guys notice his diet? Right there in the text.

Dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

Do you know? Do you know how much nutritional

value dust has? I looked it up.

None 00. Carbs.

Right, 0 calories which might. Sound good to some of.

You but also zero protein. There's nothing of any

nutritional value here. Satan is condemned to a diet.

That will leave him angry, small and nutrient.

Deficient with those epic eyes. Don't believe the comic book

illustrations? You know, you see these comic

book illustrations where like Satan is this?

Jacked character raw. He's eating his his, his diet is

composed of dust, right? He's a skinny.

Malnourished serpent with a chip on his non existent shoulder.

What's dust? What is dust?

Do you know what's composed of? I didn't.

I looked it up. Dust is composed primarily of

dirt, obviously. Soil, obviously.

Some microscopic debris, obviously, and tiny bits of dead

skin. That's interesting.

What are Adam and Eve made of? Genesis.

Two God takes. Dust.

And he breathes. Life into it.

How does this text end? Adam is condemned to.

Experience physical death and he returns to what?

Interesting. Exhaust what God is.

Doing is he's condemning Satan. To the realm of death.

The serpent is condemned to. Become a literal Death Eater.

This is why the. Enemy's desire is to.

Steal. Kill.

And destroy he loves. Death.

It's his only diet. It's.

All he can really eat. And there's.

Going to be a specific death thousands of years later that

the. Serpent will eat and that death.

Will destroy the serpent. From the inside.

Out the death of Christ. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

That's later on in the story. The serpent desires glory.

But he's. Cursed to humiliation strikes at

his greatest desire. And then he turns to the woman.

2nd. We see the woman verse. 16, he

says to the woman, he said. I will, surely.

Multiply your pain. In childbearing, in pain, you

shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your.

Husband and he shall. Rule over you, holy.

Trigger warning. Take a breath, it's OK, we can

talk about. This what's what's.

Going on here, well, again, what's happening is the curse is

uniquely striking exactly at what these characters desire

most. Eve as we see in chapter. 2 is

built for fruitfulness, and so she comes programmed with a

stronger desire for relationships, particularly

marriage and childbearing. And those spheres of joy.

Those spheres of desire remain. But they will now also.

Include increased pain Eve. Will still get to bear.

Children, but the process will be extremely painful.

Eve will still get to. Experience marriage, but now

it's. Now it's characterized by

hardship. Look at the text.

It says. Your desire shall be.

For your husband, there's. A lot of argumentation over

theologians about what exactly this means.

You're welcome to end up on a different page.

Than me. I'm pretty convinced that this

is not. Romantic language.

For a couple different reasons. 1 The immediate context and.

A couple of. Different things that happened

in Genesis. Four that we'll get around to.

I don't. Think this is like.

Oh man, I really want to get AI. Don't think it's romantic

language, I think. And most Christian.

Scholars think this too. Is that this is suggesting that

because of the curse of sin, Eve will be?

Tempted to dominate and. Rule over her husband harshly.

Her desire shall be to rule over her husband, and I think this

because of the next. Line.

It's a corresponding line. Look at it.

He shall rule over you. I think this is struggle.

I think this is power hungry. Struggle between husband and

wife? That's uniquely the result.

Of the curse that. Every marriage, even the good

ones, experience to some. Level and degree.

And now that that line there he shall.

Rule over you another. Pause.

Another deep breath, Derek. Kidner, A.

British Old Testament reform scholar in his.

Genesis commentary states this. Perfectly, he says.

Quote. This.

Statement. He shall rule over you.

This. Statement is not a statement.

Of what? Should.

Happen. This is a statement.

Of what will. Happen.

That makes sense. This is not a.

Commandment. It's not it's it's.

Just grammatically. Not organized as a commandment,

you must. Rule harshly over your wife?

No. Men are called to rule.

But not. Over, alongside and

sacrificially. And so this verse is a prophecy.

Of what will tend. To happen in a.

Cursed world with sin, he will tend to rule.

Over you and we know. That this is a.

Distortion of the marriage. Relationship because of the new.

Testament, but also because of Genesis.

Two right in Genesis 2. We took a whole sermon on this

and we looked really. Carefully and we saw that God

calls Adam to sacrificial, selfless life giving.

Leadership that. Helps Eve flourish.

That's God's design. Amen.

But but when a man. Uses his leadership to.

Harshly rule and harshly dominate.

That's not God's design. That's a result of the the

curse, and so this is a description, not a.

Prescription. So men are not supposed to look

at that. One verse and say oh I.

Got to I got to boss my wife around more, huh?

No, that's that desire is the result of the.

Curse not the result of faithfulness to God's design,

and that's also true. Of the verse before, right Eve's

desire to rule over her husband harshly.

And. To treat him like a child on ATV

show is also the. Result of sin, but every

marriage feels to some degree. The result of this?

Curse in their relational dynamic men feel it too, right,

maybe to different degrees like the the most recent data says

that 75% of divorces in the modern world are initiated by

women and what that tends to suggest is not that only women.

Experience. Frustration in marriage, I think

that suggests. Strongly that women experience

that. Frustration in marriage more

acutely than men tend to. Which I think is evidence.

That what God is. Talking about in Genesis. 3 is

operative and actually real and in this lifetime.

And so Eve desires relationship. She gets to keep the

relationships, but those relationships become.

Frustrated. And then God turns to the man in

verse 17 and to Adam, he said. Because you have listened.

To the. Voice of your wife.

Men. Be good listeners to your.

Wives, the New Testament says, live with your wives in an

understanding. Way this is not.

Saying don't listen to your wife the.

Thrust of this text. Is that Adam chose to.

Value Eve's voice more. Than God's.

Voice, he listened to his. Wife's voice.

When it was contrary. To the voice of God, right He.

Made an idol. Out of Eve, he chose to worship.

Her rather than worshiping. God, that's the problem here,

because you've listened to the voice of your.

Wife and have. Eaten up the tree which?

I commanded you. You shall not eat of it.

Cursed is the. Ground.

Because of you and pain. You shall eat of it all the days

of your life. Thorns and Thistles is going to

bring forth and. By the sweat of your face,

you'll eat your bread until you return to the ground where you

die again. What's?

Happening here. It's strategically striking at

one of Adam's greatest. Desires in life to have.

Meaningful work to make a dent. In the world to make an impact.

In the world, he was placed in the garden to work and keep the

garden to take Eden global. He's supposed to.

Want to make an impact? On the world with his work and

he still gets to continue to work, but what happens to the

ground that he works? It becomes cursive suddenly, up

to this point, all the ground. Produces is fruit and life.

And vegetation. And suddenly it produces

something different. What?

Verse. 18 thorns and and thistles and so.

Creation no longer works. In effortless harmony.

With the efforts of humankind. Now it seems to.

Wage war against us and the. Creation now has.

Teeth it bites it Laborers against us.

Thorns they all, they almost. Look like Serpentine teeth.

And now if you want to. Get it to produce fruit in life.

You can, but it requires what verse?

19. Sweat.

You got sweat. Now wrestle it.

You got work at it. So work.

It retains its purpose. It retains.

Its meaning it returns its value but.

It's also going to suck until the day that.

You die. That's.

Literally what the text by the sweat of your face, you shall

eat bread till you. Return to the ground for.

Out of it, you were taken. For your dust into dust shall

return the man desires. Meaningful work, but now work.

Has thorns and thistles. Here's here's the Here's the.

Big Here's the big guy. Here's the SparkNotes summary

for you. OK, here's what's happening.

Throughout this entire passage. Because of.

Sin pain is now. Rightly woven.

Into every square inch of the fabric of creation.

It's everywhere and God does not administer it like a child

throwing a tantrum. He administers it as a judge

judicially, carefully, precisely and exactly.

And that that doesn't make this text.

I don't know, doesn't. Make this text easier, right?

Like am I the only? One who?

Struggles with this text like it's not.

Been a fun week. For me to prepare this.

Sermon you know, it's been tough.

I've really struggled with it, like the text pushes against my.

Flesh like I've cried. Out to the Lord.

This morning. This week, like how?

How's this just? Why?

Thorns, thistles, pain. And I think that's a.

Valid question. Why?

I really do, but I need you to lock in here.

Because. I think there are answers to

that question, but this sermon is not the type of sermon that

you can. Just take bits and pieces.

From and draw on. Biblical conclusions about God

so. Before I say anything in

response to, why is this just? As just.

Hear me plainly here. You just you need.

To know that God is not. Cruel.

He's not unkind. He's not a psychopath who loves

to. Administer pain.

He's not. Malevolent, he doesn't delight

in inflicting pain upon his good.

Creation. Doesn't make him happy, but he's

willing. He's willing to sovereignly

administer pain. To the degree that it.

Turns us. Back towards what is ultimately

best for us. Which is himself, and so he's

willing to do it. Because that's what.

Good leaders do. That's what good doctors do.

That's what good. Parents do like when I survey

everything that the Bible has to say about suffering, which is a

lot, and when I survey my own personal experience with.

Suffering. It's it seems to me that the

exact amount of suffering that God permits in our lives and you

got to forgive. Me if it sounds arrogant and

prideful to know that exact calculation.

But I think that the. Exact.

Amount of suffering that God permits to enter into our lives

is exactly this I think that God permits in our lives.

Too much. Suffering for us to possibly

bear in the flesh and never enough suffering to break us in

the spirit. That makes sense.

Are we having fun this morning? The bull's eye it.

Seems to me biblically that God aims at in determining how much

suffering. Doesn't get to go into Cole

Daikie. 'S life and how much suffering

does get to go into Cole's life? It seems to be precisely in that

spot between. I can't do.

This on my own Lord and. I can do all.

Things through Christ, who strengthens me, he aims at.

Exactly that. Bullseye between those two

things too much. Suffering for us to.

Carry in the flesh. But never enough suffering.

To break us. In the Spirit of God, that's the

that's the proper dosage of pain and suffering in a in a person's

life and in the proper dosages in the hands of a good God, that

means that even the curse itself becomes an instrument of

salvation. It doesn't mean that the curse

is good. It doesn't mean that God likes

it. It means that God is willing to

use ugly instruments to achieve salvation in our lives as human

beings. I hate to be the one to break it

to you. We.

Must. Taste the pain of sin in order

to grasp the severity of sin and to understand the glory of God

if. We were to live in a world.

Without curses or consequences, we would never learn, we would

never grow, and. What's worse?

Worse than? All of the worst.

What would be the worst? Of all of it is that we would

become irredeemable beasts. Because without the pain of sin,

we would never learn to turn to. Jesus.

And cry out to him. We wouldn't do it.

We wouldn't do it without the thorns and the thistles and.

What a terrible life it would be.

To live and sin without pain. It would just.

Be a comfy Rd. that leads you straight to the gates of hell.

But Cush. What a terrible life.

Listen, man. I'm not trying to crush you.

When I say these things, every word I'm saying this morning is

actually pretty measured and needs to be.

Mulled over by you, but. These types of things, they need

to be said. So this is this is a lot to.

Reckon with and I understand it if it's too much.

Put it in your back. Pocket and bring it.

Before the Lord this week. But these things need to be

said. It is.

It is. Better for men to have hard.

Work that sucks, that makes. Them turn to Jesus than to have

effortless dream. Jobs where they remain.

Distant from Jesus it's better for women to experience pain in

relationships and turn to. Jesus.

Than to have. Effortless.

Relationships and remain distant from Jesus.

Why? Because the best thing in the

world for you. Better than a painless life,

Better than an on. Frustrated life.

The best thing for you is a life.

Where you see the. Fullness.

Of the glory of God. That's better for you than a

life without pain. To see the.

Fullness of who God is and without the curse of sin.

Without the. Effects of sin in the world

there is no salvation I mean, the glory of salvation is

greater than the glory of. Living in a world without the

curse. Because in that.

World you wouldn't know the. Fullness of God because you

couldn't. Know the fullness of God.

Right, you might know his love. His beauty, His perfection, his.

Goodness, which is all great, but you would be.

Definitionally ignorant of His forgiveness and His mercy and

His grace. And that is no small part of why

God? Would sovereignly.

Allow the fall to happen because in so happening does it

introduce pain and suffering? Yes, tons of it.

But to be ignorant of the grace, forgiveness, and mercy of God?

That only comes to us through the presence of sin and the

forgiveness of it. To be ignorant of those

qualities of God is to only see a fraction of who God.

Is. You would only see half of him

or 1/4 of him wouldn't see the fullness of.

Them so as. Painful as the curse of sin is,

it does, in the hands of God, help us see and experience and

taste. The.

Fullness of the glory of God more and if you didn't see the

fullness of the glory. Of God, you wouldn't fall in

love with Him. You would fall in love with the

world, and the world's a good friend but an abusive spouse if

the earth didn't have forms. You'd never aim at heaven,

right? If it didn't have.

Thistles if you felt at. Home in the world?

All the time you wouldn't. Long for Eden.

And so as painful as Genesis 3. Is we have to reckon with the

fact that. It's better for us to feel the.

Heat of hell on our skin than for us to just think it's safe.

To jump into the fire because there's no.

Consequences attached to. It now we need to.

Feel it, Nip. And maybe even scar.

Our flesh a little bit, or at least singe the hairs off.

Of our arms and know oh I. Shouldn't, shouldn't jump into

that. Shouldn't jump into that and

live in that. Right.

It's like. Does God?

Does God like the curse? No, he doesn't.

But you. Can't avoid the grammatical.

Structure of these verses either.

I don't know if you noticed. This, but if you look at this

text and deal with. It honestly.

God is the. Active agent of administration.

You can't get around that. If you find a way, let me know.

Verse 15 in administering the curse, God says I will.

Verse 16 God says. I will.

Verse 17 It's God cursing the ground.

He's. You just can't get around this.

He is the sovereign and active agent of governance.

It's like the. World is slipping out of his

control. Here.

So does that mean that? Since.

Since God. Administers it.

Does that mean? That God likes the curse.

Like a sick. Parent who maybe?

Enjoys disciplining. Their kids too much.

No God, like anybody who has any wisdom whatsoever, has the

capacity to administer things. He doesn't.

Like temporally? For the sake of achieving ends

that he does like eternally. Every good leader does that.

Every every person with wisdom knows that.

Your kid scrapes her knee. Right.

You administer a disinfectant. Ouch.

It stings. It bubbles up.

Ouch. Do you like?

That it causes your child. More momentary.

Pain. You're actively administering

it? No, of course not.

But you are willing to. Administer something you don't.

Like a little momentary. Pain in order to achieve

something that you do, like disinfecting the wound and make

sure it doesn't become irredeemably infected.

Right, the parent who's unwilling.

To do that is a weak. Parent who is condemning?

His child to an. Infected wound.

Because of his. Lack of nerve and and

leadership. And So what we need to see is

that God is active behind administering these curses.

But it is ultimately God's love that's operative behind the

curse. It's God's love.

Does that make the effects of curse hurt less?

No, still. Hurts.

I don't like to suffer. I don't like nerve pain.

I don't like chronic pain. I don't like, I hate diseases.

I don't like any of that stuff. Does knowing?

This help take away the pain. No it doesn't.

So what's the point in knowing this?

Because even though it doesn't take away the pain, it does

protect your hope, right? Your hope?

God's. Good.

Even in the midst of this and I know.

The new creation is going to be awesome.

And there are still going to be some pains.

And suffering that you endure. Where you will spend.

The rest of your life. Asking God why the rest of your

life? There are some.

Questions that don't have answers in this lifetime.

There are some questions. That don't get solved.

By information. Or chat.

GPT. Right, there are some questions

that can only be endured and not answered.

Endured. With living.

Hope. Endured by longing, aching,

looking forward to the new. Creation where the curse is.

Finally going to be lifted and we get to live in a world free

of. Sin and suffering.

You've got to fight to believe that God is kind and merciful,

even as we're subjected to living in a world that's marred

by the curse. Gosh, this is so important.

I'll be honest with you at the. Beginning of this sermon.

I told you my goal was for you to see the goodness and kindness

of God. Even in the midst.

Of his administration. Of consequences and the curse

Where's? That.

Well, partly. It's in the text I'm not

preaching this morning. But you do see the.

Goodness and kindness of God by answering one simple.

Question. Are you guys ready for it?

Here's your one simple. Question Who and what does get?

Cursed. Did you notice?

That I'll walk. You through it here this is I

want you to see how kind and loving and.

Patient God really is. Notice exactly.

Who and what God curses and who God doesn't curse?

Look at your Bible. Closely verse 14 God curses who?

The serpent. The word curse doesn't appear

again until verse. 17. What does God?

Curse in verse 17. Ground So who does God curse

because of the fall? The serpent and the ground.

Who does God not curse? Adam and Eve, you humanity, why

not? They committed the sin.

Why does it not? Curse the.

Fountainhead of humanity here. Why not curse Adam and Eve?

Here's the answer. Because although we will.

Have to experience. The consequences of the curse we

will not have to bear the penalty of the curse Adam and

Eve experienced the consequences of the curse they.

Have to live in a cursed world. But they don't actually bear the

curse. Why not as God?

Unjust plot twist. Here's where it all gets.

Good guys, ready. 5 more minutes.

Give me 5 more minutes. Plot twist.

This is how you see the goodness mercy of God.

Plot twist, God. He does not merely administer

the righteous curse. He does in Genesis 3.

What's he do? He ultimately comes in the

flesh. And he?

Himself bears that curse for us. You ever notice this in the New

Testament? The night.

Before Jesus is crucified, he's. Praying in the Garden of

Gethsemane, he's experienced, he's under the weight of the

curse of sin. He's he's experiencing the

penalty of sin. And what does his?

Body release as he prays in the Garden of Gethsemane sweats, he

perspires, he sweats drops of blood.

Why? That's an interesting element.

Genesis 3 the. Curse by sweat.

You're going to eat your. Bread.

What Jesus is doing, He's sweating blood because he is

literally bearing the weight of the curse for us.

Isn't that amazing? And before Jesus, before he's.

Put on a cross? What do they put on his head?

They put on his head a crown. What's it made of?

Thorns. What an interesting literary

detail. I wonder why the author.

I wonder why God, I wonder why they put.

A crown of thorns on his head, that's.

Simple Genesis 3. What's the world now bring?

Forth thorns and thistles. So on his head.

In a crown of thorns. Carving into his flesh, Jesus

is. Bearing the curse of sin.

For us by wearing that. Crown on his thorns.

He literally wears the curse on his head.

That's what the cross of Christ. Is.

The cross of Christ is. Literally Genesis 3 fulfill the

cross is literally Genesis 3 with.

Skin on. The cross is literally Genesis 3

with arms and legs. It is God himself.

Enduring. The consequences of.

Our sin, it's got himself bearing.

The curse that God administered like.

How awesome is that? It's just, it's just, it's.

Amazing. That means that if.

Jesus bore the curse for us. That means that you don't have

to bear the curse. That's why.

Galatians says that Jesus became a curse for us.

Why? So that we might become the

righteousness of God. What a deal.

He gets our curse and we get to know him as God.

What an amazing deal. That's the gospel.

He became a curse so that we might know the righteousness of

God. That's why God doesn't curse

Adam and Eve. He doesn't curse is the serpent

in the ground to Adam and Eve, although they have to.

Experience the consequences of the.

Curse. What's happening behind this is

God is saying, I'll take your. Curse.

I'm gonna let it. Land on the serpent.

I'm gonna let it land on the ground.

But I'll take. Yours.

Give it to me. I'll carry it.

I'll take it upon my head. I'll.

Take it upon my shoulders. It's, it's mine, God said.

I will damn myself to save my people.

What a God we worship. Amen.

Who could ever. Invent a God like this, who

could ever want? A God who is not like Jesus.

This is the most profound. Good news in the entire.

Universe. And it doesn't mean that we

don't still feel the weight of that curse.

We do. We feel it in our aging.

We feel it in our broken and unfulfilled relationships,

through disease, through loss, through chronic pain.

I know you feel it. I know it.

Hurts. I know it hurts a lot.

I know it hurts like hell, but because of Jesus if you turn to.

Jesus in the midst. Of that suffering and pain.

It'll still hurt, but it won't destroy you, won't rule over

you. It won't be your Lord.

It won't be your. King.

Jesus will be, and in Jesus hands he will.

Use that pain as an instrument to point.

You towards himself, the one who knows the.

Fullness of pain and the curse. Jesus knows what a slipped disc

in your neck feels like. He knows what the disease feels

like. He knows what the nerve pain

feels like. He knows what it's like to sweat

blood. He knows the pain.

By suffering. On the cross, I'm absorbing the

curse for you. What?

Has he accomplished? He's opened up the way.

To a new. Creation one without the curse.

One without pain, 1 without. Suffering a future life where

you are resurrected. Heaven and earth, finally.

Come together, new creation is established.

And you finally and forever live in a world.

Saturated completely by the joy of the Lord, free from.

Pain in the new. Creation there is no longer.

Any need for pain. There's no utility in suffering

in the new creation because our nature will no longer be marred

by sin. It'll be.

Restored, not just back. To the goodness of.

Adam and Eve's good human. Nature, but to a perfected.

Nature that. Doesn't even have the.

Capacity to sin and then we will live in a.

World free from thorns free from thistles from.

Pain. What a glorious savior.

We have in Jesus Christ. Amen.

The pain's real, but the pain won't last forever.

The pain won't last forever. Soldier, the pain won't.

Last forever. Queen.

The pain won't last forever, King.

Jesus will so choose carefully which.

Of those two you worship. Heavenly Father, I pray for just

a. Unique experience of your

goodness and and mercy. Bible verses like this are so

interesting because it shows us how.

Realistic the Bible is. It's so honest about.

Pain and suffering and hurt, those things are real.

And they're not. Outside of God's control.

But it's also amazing how much hope is just kind of woven like

into. The background of these verses

it. Shows us you're restrained

judgment. That even though we.

Deserve to bear the curse all. We have to do is feel.

The effects of it and you bear it.

Yourself and so I pray that that would just elicit.

Worship. In awe and wonder from.

Us. And so it's in the precious name

of Jesus that all God's people prayed.

Amen. Let's stand and let's worship

this God who bears the curse for us.