He Said It

Genesis 3 cont’d:

Now we hear the woman’s punishment, severe and decisive:

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.”

God is not mean.  He never is, when he disciplines.  A parent is not mean when a child disobeys a directive and the child is disciplined.  In fact, without discipline children will perish.

Women will experience pain in childbirth and because of the sin, the men in her life won’t rule with wisdom and love but rather it will be tainted with power and abuse.

Ugh.

Doesn’t that explain the world today?

But thanks be to Jesus who makes all things new and gives us marriages that mimic his relationship with the Body, that of laying down and serving.  And thanks be to God for the beauty of the child that appears after the pain.

God is always about redemption.  He disciplines those he loves, but it’s always a discipline that leads to life…if we heed it and accept it and repent.

The Sentence and the Hope

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. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

God didn’t tempt Adam and Eve to sin – the serpent did – and God first addresses the tempter.  He condemns him and sentences him forever.

And then…we see the first hope of redemption in the split second after the sin.  Matthew Henry says, “no sooner was the wound given, than the remedy was provided and revealed.”

Isn’t that awesome?  God had a plan of salvation already in place. 

But until then, there is this conflict between good and evil.

Isn’t it interesting that in the Lord’s Prayer we are given in the New Testament, Jesus said to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil?”

When we pray, we are to be reminded that the tempter who persuaded Eve to bite was not her Creator; in fact, our God has no evil in him.  He is actually the deliverer from the evil one!

We must remember that truth when we pray, because that truth will enable us to stand when temptation is strong…

Questions & Answers

Genesis 3 cont’d:

And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done? The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

God finds Adam and Eve in their shameful state of nakedness (which before sin was a peaceful state of contentment) and he quizzes him.  They had not known before that they were naked.  They were unclothed yet unashamed, because there was nothing hidden from God, their Creator.  But now God wants to know how Adam knows he is naked.  And then he asks that which he already knows, the question about the sin.

Here we see the first instance of blame and not taking responsibility for sin.

Adam blames the woman, and the woman blames the serpent.

When God visits us in our disobedience, it’s wise if we just admit and own up to what we’ve done without excuse.

God already knew what they had done, but he asked to see what their answer would be.  And instead of feeling sorrow that they had gone against God’s commands, they were only sorry that someone else made them do it.

True repentance comes when we acknowledge what we’ve done and we feel great sorrow for grieving the heart of God.

The Answer

Genesis 3:10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

God called and asked where the man was, and the man answered back with a somewhat honest answer, but mostly not…

He first acknowledges that he heard God nearby, but then he admits that he was afraid because he was naked and he hid.

Adam still recognized God’s voice.  Adam still knew that he must answer to him.  And yet Adam knew something was terribly wrong, and he admitted it.

He told God that the state in which he was made (naked) now brought him fear and shame in His presence.

Isn’t that so sad? 

God made man in his image and yet now that image was tainted by sin, and caused man to hide from God.

It’s the same today.  We believe a lie that cuts to the core of who we are and why we are here, and that which should bring us comfort and peace then instead brings us shame and fear – the realization that we are naked and unclothed in his presence.

Living in a state of sin (disobedience to God) sends us behind a tree, into hiding, and keeps us from those nice walks in the cool of the day, hand in hand with Him.

What are we then afraid of?  Adam was afraid of God’s punishment.  And he should have been.

Let’s see why…

They Hid

Genesis 3:8,9

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. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

I find it hopeful and interesting that the man and woman who just blatantly disobeyed their Creator still heard him walking in the garden.  In other words, they were still aware of his presence, although they were no longer walking beside him.   And instead of running to walk with him, they hid in the trees.

Prior to sin, the man and woman walked with God in his garden in the “cool of the day” – a lovely setting of peace.

After sin, man and woman hear God near but run from him, ashamed and afraid.

We now read of the first pursuit of mankind, even though he’s run from God, when God calls out and asks,

WHERE ARE YOU?

Isn’t that funny?  God knew where they were.  But he asked them the question so that they could answer him.

God wants to hear their answer, their heart, about the state of where they are.

He still wants to hear from us, and he still walks near us, waiting for us to join him in the walk.

Where are YOU?  Are you hiding, or are you unafraid to emerge from the shadows and take his hand that is extended to you?

The Realization

Genesis 3:7

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Remember a few days ago when God created man/woman and we read that they were naked and unafraid in His presence?

Now things have changed. 

The eyes of the ones who were created are now focused on their physical appearance and physical things, because they have fallen from gazing at their Creator.  Sin has occurred, and this changes their vision.

Both  man/woman had directly disobeyed God’s directives and given in to the lies that were whispered to them, in hope of gaining something that God apparently was withholding from them, and here we see the first experience of shame.

In fact, they are so ashamed of their nakedness that they sew leaves together to cover themselves, as if that will keep the Creator from seeing their nakedness.

Doesn’t that seem absurd?

It’s what we do.

We sin.  We realize we’ve sinned.  We try to do something to cover up the shame we feel.  And yet our attempts are futile and ridiculous.

Our Creator made us, fearfully and wonderfully in his image.  So when shame enters because of sin, he still sees us – no matter how much we try to cover up. 

We’re about to read the saddest story in the Bible, that of the separation of the created from the Creator, all because of a choice to believe a lie and act in accordance with that lie.

My heart is aching as I read this story again, because I know that I too would have been tempted and probably disobeyed, but I’m so happy that this is the just beginning of a long story – full of conflict, yes – but overcome with victory – for sure.

She Ate, She Shared

Genesis 3 cont’d:

 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Here we see that the woman now turns from believing and trusting with her heart, to looking and seeing with her physical eyes.  She looks at the “forbidden fruit” and it pleases her.  She had listened to what the serpent told her about gaining wisdom by eating it, and she believed him instead of God.

Herein lies Eve’s demise.

When we trade the truth of what God says with the lies of what we’ve heard, we then start to turn from seeing things spiritually to seeing things only physically, and we know what happens then.

Any physical lust or greed always brings about destruction.  It happens in marriages when the husband or wife begins to look with their eyes at others, with desire.  It happens in homes when a mom or dad begins to see their need and go after it, by stealing or working and neglecting their families, because they no longer see that God is their provider – so they take what they see and quit hoping and trusting.  It happens when we lose spiritual sight of who God calls us to be – at one with Him and his purposes – and we only see horizontally and go after what lies just ahead on the street, even if it’s roadkill and a car is coming at us fast.

Eve gave in to her physical sight and desires.  And she shared it with her husband who took it, as well.

Sin always affects us – and then someone near us – and the results are devastating.