05/20/2008 Genesis 3:8

05/20/2008

Genesis 3:8 - 15 (HCSB) ⁸Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹So the LORD God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰And he said, “I heard You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” ¹¹Then He asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I had commanded you not to eat from?”

¹²Then the man replied, “The woman You gave to be with me—she gave me _ësome fruit_û from the tree, and I ate.”

¹³So the LORD God asked the woman, “What is this you have done?”

And the woman said, “It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴Then the LORD God said to the serpent:
    Because you have done this,
    you are cursed more than any livestock
    and more than any wild animal.
    You will move on your belly
    and eat dust all the days of your life.
¹⁵I will put hostility between you and the woman,
    and between your seed and her seed.
    He will strike your head,
    and you will strike his heel.

President Truman had a sign on his desk that read “The Buck Stops Here.” It was a saying that indicated that he intended to take responsibility for the actions and results that came from his office. It is counter-intuitive of human nature, especially when things turn bad, to accept all responsibility for the situation. And such was the case of the first family.

Adam and Eve had sinned. They had eaten from the only tree that had been forbidden. Now, they realized their nakedness and tried to make clothes of fig leaves and then hid in the garden. What immediately occurs to me is how they (very much like us) underestimate the knowledge of God.

As God manifested Himself in the garden, He already knew what had happened, but it was necessary for the man and woman to confront their situation and understand the consequences. And immediately, each passed the buck. The man blamed the woman and the woman blamed the serpent. But, the one central fact we must all realize is that we will ultimately be held responsible for our own decisions. No one else’s decisions or actions will get us into heaven and no one else’s decisions or actions will relieve us from our responsibility for our sin.

But who is the woman’s seed?

This is commonly believed to be a prophetic reference to Jesus; that some day, Jesus would bruise the head of Satan with His heel. This is the very first prophetic reference to a redeemer in the Bible.

This is a very important note for us to understand. The coming of Jesus was not “plan B” of God’s creation. I firmly believe that God knew that humans would eventually sin and thus he had intended to send a redeemer from the very first thought of creation.

Why, then, would God create humans if He knew they would sin?

I believe this is because God *wanted* to be able to demonstrate the depth of His love in such a way. Remember, God created us with the ability to obey or to turn away. But He knows that it is our nature to sin, but through our redemption, we have a greater reverence and love for Him as our redeemer. Some, however, even in light of this marvelous gift, will turn their back on God.

Genesis 3:21 (HCSB) ²¹The LORD God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

Look what God does. Remember, the punishment for eating of the tree of Knowledge was death in the same day. But God made clothing for the man and woman out of skins. We don’t immediately understand this significance. Didn’t God say that they would die?

When God made the clothing for the man and woman, some creature had to die. This is an incredible symbol of how God provided a sacrifice – a substitute to take our punishment. But, that substitute was only temporary. Adam did not live forever as he was created to. But God provided a temporary sacrifice so that Adam could live on. The skins also provide a covering for their nakedness, this is a symbolism of how the death of Jesus and his blood become the covering for our sin so that when God looks at us, He sees us as clean because our sins have been paid and covered.

Genesis 3:23 - 24 (HCSB) ²³So the LORD God sent him away from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴He drove man out, and east of the garden of Eden He stationed cherubim with a flaming, whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life.

So now, man and woman are banished from the garden in which the Tree of Life was planted. From now on, they would have to toil to produce food. It would no longer be an easy life for them.

Can you imagine how emotionally painful it would have been for Adam and Eve to be outside the garden and to see it regularly and know that their sin had caused this hardship? Isn’t that like us? We may not see such a visible reminder as a beautiful garden guarded by cherubim, but often times, we can see the consequences of our sins as a daily reminder.

Yet remember, that God has provided a covering. And unlike the skins of animals that only provided a temporary substitute for our punishment, Jesus, the seed of woman, came as a permanent sacrifice for us. We must reach out to Jesus and accept His gift on our behalf to be seen blameless before God.

Have you accepted God’s give of salvation through Jesus Christ?

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