Genesis 3


Critics will consider Genesis 3 a contrived fable, but it does well to explain what's wrong with the world. Pay attention. 

The question first asked of the woman is asked daily by the devil of us all. "Did God actually say . . .?" Contemplating that question is an invitation into temptation through the door of doubt and disbelief. Every sin is an answer to the question of what we think of the Word of God.

Satan's first recorded lie is that we can sin and never die. We still believe the lie. God was honest about it, but we constantly call this revelation into question. Does it really apply to me? Does it really say this? Is it really about this? Will it really kill me? 

Once good and evil are part of the equation, there is an awareness of nakedness. Sin brings about an immediate struggle with what to do with and think about the body. Consider how much sin, temptation, and confusion in our culture is connected to how we look at our bodies. At times we esteem it too much, and at others, too little. Sin brings with it shame. Immediately identity and sexuality, once glories of God in creation, are now covered and hidden. In the ensuing conversation, we will see the beginnings of objectification and blame.

God asks a lot of questions in Scripture. Questioning a question is a rhetorical device Jesus will use often. But in this case, God's question in Genesis 3 is our first look at grace. God knew where they were. The question wasn't as much "Where are you?" but more "Do you know why you are where you are, and are you willing to admit it?" It's a question that gives an opportunity for confession. Instead of forgetting us or even destroying us, in grace, God questions us. 

Genesis 3 exposes why we live in a world where there is good . . . and evil. Adam knew nothing but good. Now we all know evil.

The man who praises God for the woman in chapter 2 now blames God for her in chapter 3. Sin changes everything.

In chapter 2, marriage was blessed by God for procreation and multiplication. It still is. But now, men will be tempted to use dominance to submit their wives to them, while the wives will be tempted to use their cunning to overcome him. What is said about marriage isn't a prescription for marriage post-curse. It is a description of marriage post-curse. The Christ-like correction will be fleshed out in Ephesians 5, mutual submission.

Having a child will be difficult. But raising a child is even more difficult. 

Adam ate the fruit wanting to be divine. His fate is instead to return to dust.

Work is not the curse. Work that doesn't work; that's the curse of it all. We work so hard for something that turns out to be almost nothing. Life is tough with thorns and thistles.

In His grace, God guarded our way back to the Tree of Life so we wouldn't live forever like this. He wants us to be with Him forever, but the evil's got to go! Even still, we are trying to make our way back to the Tree of Life. You see it on television, social media, and magazine stands; a new discovery, drug, or diet that will lead to better health and more happiness. 

With the exile from the garden, innocence ends, but the story of redemption begins. Now we search for the redeeming son promised in Gen. 3:15. Who will he be? From where will he come? How long will the curse last?

Who will rescue us from this paradise lost? Who will recover the land? Who will be what Adam wasn't, obedient?

Every path, story, and person in Scripture from here leads us only to Christ. There will be several attempts to reboot the people of God. There will be several great men who, at first, seem that they might be Saviors. It will not be long until we find them sinful failures. Only one is worthy to save us from all of this, Jesus Christ. 

As God's question was our first sighting of grace, so is Adam's renaming of the woman the first faith sighting. Adam believes that God will do as He promised and send a saving son; thus, he names her Eve. God slays an animal. He sheds innocent blood to cover the shame of the guilty. This is the first sacrifice and it serves as a signal. The saving son won't bring us salvation through economic prosperity, military strength, or religious zeal. The only way to atone for sin and redeems God's fallen images is through sacrifice. 



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