Point of Grace – 7.21.24 Sermon Notes – “In the Beginning God…” Genesis 3:9-24

“Oh No!”

Genesis 3:8-24 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Genesis 2 revealed that God created 3 beautiful relationships for people to thrive within:

•                     People and their Environment

•                     People and God

•                     People and People

Genesis 2 7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being… 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”….. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”

Genesis 3 reveals the “death” (ie…separation) of the Genesis 2 relational harmony. Hiding, blaming and self-justifying would now mark humanities broken relationship with God and each other. Hostility replaces harmony, even in their relationship with the rest of creation. Humanity’s attempts to fix themselves only worsen the “death” pains.

God’s Response? … … … Gracious Rescue!

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity (hostility) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel”

“If one looks at the passage within the larger scope of the purpose of the Pentateuch ... much more appears to lie in these words ... It seems likely that the author intends these words to be read as programmatic and foundational for the establishment of the plot and characterization of the remainder of the book. In the narrative to follow, there is to be war (‘enmity’). The two sides are represented by two seeds, the ‘seed’ of the snake and the ‘seed’ of the woman. In the ensuing battle, the ‘seed’ of the woman will crush the head of the snake. Though wounded in the struggle, the woman‘s ‘seed’ will be victorious. There remains in this verse a puzzling yet important ambiguity: Who is the ‘seed’ of the woman? It seems obvious that the purpose of verse 15 has not been to answer that question, but rather to raise it. The remainder of the book is, in fact, the author‘s answer.” John Sailhammer – The Pentateuch as Narrative

16 To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.