April 6, 2025 • 31 mins
The good news of the gospel was announced just 111 words after humanity's fall into sin. God immediately provides hope with the promise that one from the seed of woman will crush the serpent's head.
• Adam's attempt to shift blame for his sin demonstrates our natural inclination to avoid responsibility
• When we honestly acknowledge our sin, God faithfully provides forgiveness and pardon
• The "proto-evangelion" in Genesis 3:15 is the first gospel announcement in scripture
• Jesus is the promised descendant who defeated Satan through his death and resurrection
• We aren't just returning to Eden; we're advancing to the better "garden city" described in Revelation 22
• Because of Christ's victory, believers will live eternally in perfect communion with God
If you want to know this victorious Savior, our pastors would love to introduce you to him. Join our church family as we celebrate Christ's triumph over sin and death.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:23):
1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado.
Will you join me now inlistening to our sermon from
this week?
This morning we are going tocontinue in Genesis, chapter 3.
The second half of Genesis,chapter 3, is.
Last week we covered the firstnine verses.
We're going to look at ninethrough the end of Genesis 3,
(00:45):
but I do want to this morning,quickly begin on a personal note
, much like I did last week.
You know, I wish I didn't haveto do it once.
I certainly wish I didn't haveto do it twice.
But we lost a dear saint justyesterday morning, mr Cecil
Kellum, 100 years old.
(01:05):
100 years old.
He has now gone to be with theLord.
I read this last week,considering Mr Marvin, and now
this week, mr Cecil.
Precious in the sight of theLord is the death of his saints.
Precious in the sight of theLord, 100 years.
I think of the stories thatI've heard from him, but the
(01:26):
stories I've heard from many ofyou that always include the Boys
and Girls Club, the work he'sdone in the community, the
faithful member he's been ofthis church.
So Mr Cecil is one we will missdeeply, but certainly heaven's
reward and the Lord has beenfaithful to him.
And I just want to say this.
I know you know we don't alwaysmention everyone from up here,
(01:49):
but I think the last two weeksyou think about this 198 years
worth of life, 140 of thoseyears collectively, the two of
Mr Marvin and Mr Cole 140 years.
Mr Marvin and Mr Cole 140 years.
Mr Marvin and Mr Cecil 140years as a part of this church.
You think about the life, youthink about the legacy and I
(02:13):
think that's worth rememberingas a church family.
So I praise God for Mr Cecil, Ipraise God for 100 years of his
faithfulness.
Let's turn now to Genesis,chapter 3.
It's already been read for usthis morning, and so let me pray
as we begin.
Lord Jesus, speak to us nowthrough your word, transform us,
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guide us and Lord, by yourspirit, would you move?
We ask this in Christ's name.
Amen, amen, 111 words, 111words that's the length In the
original Hebrew.
111 words from the end ofGenesis 3.6 to the beginning of
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Genesis 3.15.
111 words, eight verses.
In the grand scheme of things,that's not very many.
111 words from the initialrebellion in the garden, the
initial disobedience of God'scommand that brought sin and
death into the world.
But only 111 words later is theinitial announcement of God's
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grand plan to make all thingsright.
Once again, only 111 words.
It's as if God could not waitto let us know that hope is
coming.
It's true that God wastes notime in this moment 111 words
from the worst news of all timeto the announcement of the best
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news of all time.
This morning I want to look atthe best news we could ever
receive.
We saw last week in the earlyparts of Genesis 3, man has
rebelled against God.
They listened to the serpent.
The serpent said couldn't yoube more?
Is God holding out on you?
Is there more that you're notgetting?
(04:09):
Because God won't give it toyou.
And they believed the lie, asyou and I still sadly, often
believe the lie of the evil one.
They ate the fruit and in thatmoment sin and death entered the
world.
And so now we pick up in versenumber nine.
But the Lord, god, called tothe man and said to him where
(04:30):
are you?
We ended last week by looking atthat verse that God is seeking
out humanity even in the midstof their rebellion, seeking them
out.
God knew where they are.
God has never lost a game ofhide and go seek.
He knows right where Adam andEve are in this moment.
But what does he want?
He wants communication with hischildren.
Where are you?
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Verse 10, and he said this isAdam speaking now?
I heard the sound of you in thegarden and I was afraid because
I was naked and I hid myself.
Think about what has happenedas the result of this
disobedience.
For the first two chapters ofScripture, there's perfect
(05:13):
communion with God in the garden.
It is the perfect place wherethey are perfectly known by
their creator, where, for twochapters, the sound of God
walking through the garden wouldbe the most joyful sound they
could hear.
This is great news when God iscoming our way, our perfect
creator, and now, because oftheir disobedience, they're
(05:36):
hiding, they're naked and theyare ashamed of what has happened
.
They are guilty and they arehiding from their creator.
They're hiding from the veryone that could actually do
something about the problem.
They find themselves in Verse11, and God said who told you
that you were naked?
Have you eaten of the tree ofwhich I commanded you not to eat
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?
Once again, god has never askeda question that he did not
already know the answer to.
He knew the answers to thesequestions.
He knew they had eaten from thetree, sometimes with my own
children.
I might ask questions that Ialready know the answer to.
I just want to see if they'llanswer it in the way I know they
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need to answer it.
Who told you you this?
Have you eaten?
And I want you to see verse 12.
The man said the woman whom yougave to be with me.
She gave me the fruit of thetree and I ate.
I'm going to read that againand think about this.
You know where I'm heading,verse 12,.
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The man said the woman whom yougave to be with me.
She gave me the fruit of thetree and I ate.
In World War II in Birmingham,england, anthony Pratt was
(07:08):
quarantined to his home.
He really had nowhere to go.
It was the midst of World WarII, the blitz, these nightly air
raids over that area of theworld.
They were quarantined intotheir home, and rightfully so.
I think.
Of many of us at the beginningof COVID a few years back, we
know the word quarantine.
We know what it's like to notleave the house for a little
while.
Anthony Pratt was there at homefor many, many days and many,
many nights, nowhere to go.
(07:29):
He was just a factory worker anda musician, but he had an idea.
He wanted to create a game.
He recalled the Tudor CloseHotel that he had been to
multiple times, this sprawlinghotel with all these very
specific and different rooms,and he began to think how do we
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make a game out of this?
And he made, created a gamethat became very popular, the
board game Clue.
You've played this game before.
Probably you know the goal ofthis.
You and three or four friends,over the course of 30 or 45
minutes, you're going to figureout who did it, where they did
it and how they did it, and onceyou think you have that
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information, you're going topull this envelope out.
You're going to say who youthink did it, how they did it,
where they did it.
If you're creative, you mighteven make up a motive of why
they did it, how they did it,where they did it.
If you're creative, you mighteven make up a motive of why
they did it, though you don'thave to do that.
I always did.
You open this envelope and youlook in and you see if you're
right.
Here in the garden, here in thegarden, god had the envelope.
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God knew the answers to thequestion.
He had Adam dead to rights.
It was Adam, in the garden withthe fruit.
We know this, there's no doubtabout it.
And yet, in this moment, allAdam wants to do is look to the
God of the universe and saywhosever name you find in this
card, I've got to tell you it'snot what you think.
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It's got to be someone else.
Someone else's name deserves tobe in here.
And so what does he do?
First of all, he says this.
He says to the God of theuniverse it was the woman and
you know, I can imagine whathe's thinking that this woman,
eve, this wife that you gave me,it was her that had this
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conversation with the serpent.
God, don't you know?
If the serpent had spoken to mefirst, I would have said him
right.
I would have told him exactlythat he needs to be gone.
I would have said exactly whatyou said, perfectly as you said
it.
We surely wouldn't have gotteninto this problem.
I could have told him the truth, adam, I'm sure you would have.
It was the woman.
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But then he says this it wasthe woman, god, that you gave me
.
Do you see?
He's pointing the finger ateveryone but himself?
The woman, god that you gave methe audacity of this one God
that you gave me, that you gaveme the audacity of this one God
that you gave me.
That God, don't you remember?
In fact, if you trace it back,you're the one that told me I
(10:12):
needed a helper.
You're the one that createdthis wife for me.
Out of my side and out of thedust, you created this woman.
And God, if you really trace itback, if you hadn't have done
that, maybe we wouldn't havebeen in this predicament.
He's blaming everyone buthimself.
It was the woman.
It was the woman that you gave.
How often in our own sin do wedo the same thing, that we look
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around and we say it's got to beeveryone else's doing, but it
surely can't be mine.
How often do we want to be thevictim in these moments instead
of the guilty party?
Now I want to create a quickside note here.
What I'm not saying is thatthat in our lives, certainly in
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our own sin, that there are notexternal factors that certainly
can can aid us towards that sin.
I I'm not saying that therearen't those who may be bad
influences that aid us towardssin.
I'm not saying that therearen't those that have harmed us
and therefore, maybe we'vesinned.
In response, I'm not saying theexternal factors do not exist.
(11:17):
They very much do exist and wecan probably all say that there
are circumstances in our ownlives.
Those external factors havebeen there that have maybe
caused us to head towards asinful road.
What I am saying is this whenyou strip it all away, at the
end of the day, when we sin, wesin.
That our sin is ours and nomatter how we may try to justify
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it or minimize it.
God, was it really that bad?
We might try tocompartmentalize it.
God, I've cleaned up in allthese areas.
If I could just hold on to thisone sin here, we could even
trivialize it.
God, weren't you a little harshwhen you created that command?
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Is it really as serious as youmake it out to be?
Whatever we do to try tojustify our sin?
At the end of the day, our sinis our sin and you and I, we are
the guilty party.
When God holds up the envelope,it's my name on the inside.
I think of David in Psalm 51.
(12:27):
We talked about David a fewweeks ago and his events with
Bathsheba and the adultery andthe murder and all that unfolded
there.
And I think of when David iscaught, when David realizes he's
in sin, what does he do?
Well, he doesn't look up to Godand say well, god, you built my
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palace right there.
You didn't have to do that.
And God, it's not my fault.
Should she really have been onthe rooftop at that time of day,
god?
Or how about this?
God?
Haven't I done so much for you?
Couldn't you have justoverlooked this one thing?
In that moment?
When he's guilty, he does noneof that.
What does he say in Psalm 51,verse 4?
(13:09):
He simply says this against youyou only have I sinned and done
what is evil in your sight.
Against you have I sinned anddone what's evil in your sight.
I'm the guilty party.
It's my sin.
No more running and hiding, nomore finger pointing at anyone
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and everyone else around God.
Against you have I sinned anddone what is evil in your sight.
Here's the beauty of beinghonest with God about our sin.
The beauty is this that as wecome to God with the truth of
our sin and we come to God assinner who is guilty, then we
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get God's response 1 John 1.9,.
If you confess your sin, he'sfaithful and just to forgive you
your sin and cleanse you of allunrighteousness.
How much better is that than mydesire to run and hide?
If I can just get away from God, I can get out of this mess.
No, no, if I just come to God,there is forgiveness and pardon
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in that moment.
But here's Adam in this momentverse 12.
The woman that you gave me.
She gave me the fruit and I ateVerse 13,.
Then the Lord said to the womanwhat is this that you have done
?
The woman said the serpentdeceived me and I ate.
She does a little better.
She only points the finger toone place and she's not wrong.
The serpent very much deceivedher and she ate and Adam ate and
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sin and disobedience enteredthe world.
So what do we do now?
What comes next?
Well, in the second half of ourtext today, judgment comes next
, consequence does next or comesnext.
(15:09):
Consequence does next or comesnext.
And let's be clear there isalways grace for sin.
That's the good news.
But let's also realize there isconsequence for sin.
There is consequence for sin,and that's a good thing.
As a father disciplines one heloves, so too our God does that
for us.
Praise God that at times in ourlife we've seen consequence for
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our sin, because I wouldimagine God's consequence for
sin in our lives has probablykept us from further sin going
forward.
Praise God for that.
But in this moment, judgmentand consequence come, and
quickly.
I'll summarize as we look tothis woman, eve, in verse 16,
there's consequence.
(15:50):
I will multiply your pain andchildbearing we see the fact
that there will be greatdivision between the husband and
wife.
We see in verse 17 through 19that for the man there be
toilsome, difficult work andtheir work will be a burden.
We see even further for allmankind, in verse 24, that he
(16:10):
drove them out of the garden.
They are kicked out of thegarden, they enter the land of
death and someday death willcome for them and they will die.
This is great judgment.
This is rightfully so, becausewe serve a just and sovereign
God.
This is consequence upon manand woman for their disobedience
(16:30):
.
But I'm fascinated by this thatin this moment, before God
looks to the woman, before Godlooks to the man, he looks to
the serpent.
Verse 14, the Lord God said tothe serpent because you have
done this, cursed, are you aboveall livestock and above all
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beasts of the field.
On your belly you shall go anddust you shall eat all the days
of your life.
So first of all, in 14, we seejust a curse towards the snake.
We're not an ultra charismaticbunch in here, but I imagine we
(17:18):
could probably get some audibleamens by me just saying the fact
that snakes are just no good.
I don't like them one bit.
At our old house we had a lot ofthe black snake, the rat snake
there.
We saw quite a few of them andpeople would tell me Taylor, you
got to have those.
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They're good, they get rid ofthe things you don't want there.
They're rodents.
They get rid of those.
And I would always tell themthey get rid of the things you
don't want there, the rodents,they get rid of them.
And I would always tell themunless they get rid of
themselves, I don't want them.
I don't want them around.
I don't like these snakes.
But to this serpent God issuesa curse.
I'm also fascinated.
On your belly, you shall go.
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You're all thinking it as well.
Did they have legs before this?
That's speculation, I do notknow, but it gets fascinating in
verse 15.
To the serpent he says I willput enmity between you and the
woman, between your offspringand her offspring.
He shall bruise your head andyou shall bruise his heel Again.
(18:22):
I will put enmity between youand the woman, between your
offspring and her offspring.
He shall bruise your head andyou shall bruise his heel.
Right here, in this moment, iswhat, for many centuries, people
much smarter than I have calledthe proto-evangelion, the
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proto-evangelion.
Think of that word proto, thinkprototype.
The first, the first Evangelion, think evangel, evangelism.
The first gospel, the firstgood news.
Right here, only 111 words,after the fall of humanity into
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sin, after the Lord has foundthem hiding and naked and guilty
and ashamed, we get the firstredemptive announcement of what
is to come.
And we don't get it all.
We don't get it all spelled out.
We don't see yet, in thismoment, the full picture.
Now, if we've read God's word,you know the full picture, but
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at this point, in Genesis 3,it's not all spelled out yet.
But what do we see here in thismoment?
That God looks to the serpentand says this there will come a
day that from the seed, from theline of woman, there will come
one who will crush the head ofthe serpent.
Okay, that one is coming fromthis descendant of woman who
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will crush the head of theserpent and, yes, the serpent
will land a blow.
The serpent will bruise theheel of that coming one, but
ultimately it is the serpent'shead that will be crushed.
In this moment of judgment, ofguilt and shame, this grand
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announcement is made.
The gospel did not begin on across outside of Jerusalem.
It did not begin even inBethlehem.
The gospel was announced allthe way back in Genesis, chapter
3.
I could really take it furtherand tell you the gospel was
(20:32):
proclaimed from before thefoundation of the world, but
I'll settle for Genesis, chapter3.
That one day one will come fromthe seed of woman that will
crush the head of the serpent.
I continue to look briefly atGod's response to humanity.
Verse 21, the Lord God made forAdam and for his wife garments
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of skin and clothed them.
Man and woman guilty andashamed, and God clothed them.
They had made loincloths,little temporary coverings, and
(21:15):
God made them the real deal.
Animals don't voluntarily justoffer up their skin.
Blood was shed so that man andwoman could be covered from the
nakedness of their sin.
Our God is a faithful God.
Verse 24, he drove out the manand at the east of the Garden of
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Eden he placed the cherubim andthe flaming sword that turned
every way to guard the way tothe tree of life.
There is consequence for sinand man and woman are cast out
of the garden.
Man and woman must enter theland of death and one day they
will die, yet not without hope.
They've heard Genesis 3.15.
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Someone is coming and they arecast out of the garden.
And really the story ofscripture is humanity trying to
get back to the garden.
And really the story ofscripture is humanity trying to
get back to the garden, tryingto get back to that place of
perfect communion with God.
Turn with me now to Luke,chapter 3.
(22:24):
I know that's a big jump, luke,chapter 3.
I'll give you just a second toarrive there, beginning in verse
23.
I would imagine, if we werehonest today, as we are reading
through scripture and we arriveat a genealogy, it's not always
(22:47):
our most exciting moment when weget to one of those many lists.
There's many in scripture thelist of names, and this man was
the father of this man and thisman and this man, and it goes on
.
But there is somethingfascinating about this one.
Look with me in Luke's gospel,Chapter 3, verse 23,.
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Jesus, when he began hisministry, was about 30 years of
age, being the son, as wassupposed, of Joseph, the son of
Heli.
And so you see Jesus, who isthe son of Joseph, obviously
Jesus, born of a virgin, the sonof God himself, god in flesh,
yet humanly speaking, the son ofJoseph.
(23:30):
And then you trace that lineback, at the end of verse 31.
You see something fascinating.
You see in this line, the sonof here's a big name, david.
32, the son of Jesse, obed Boaz.
You keep going back.
And verse 34.
You see Jacob, son of Isaac,son of Abraham.
(23:55):
You keep going back in verse 38, the son of Enos, the son of
Seth, the son of Adam, the sonof God.
Luke is showing us somethingfascinating here.
Remember, long ago, in thegarden, we were promised
something that one day from theseed of woman one would come who
(24:24):
would crush the head of theserpent.
And now we follow the storylinethat weaves through all of
history, and from Adam toAbraham, to David, we come to
one individual named Jesus, whois the Christ that from Adam's
line comes, the one who on thecross took Adam's sin and took
(24:49):
your sin and took my sin, and onthe cross suffered greatly.
It would appear as if the evilone did bruise the heel.
It would appear as if the evilone certainly did land a blow on
our suffering servant, jesusChrist, because Christ Jesus was
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put on the cross for our sinand Christ Jesus was placed in
the grave.
And yet, early Sunday morning,christ Jesus breathed breath
into his lungs, walked out ofthe grave and what might could
be seen as just a man walkingout of a tomb a little bit
(25:32):
outside of city walls ofJerusalem, in the truest sense
was this was the ultimate crushof the head of the evil, one
that what was promised in thegarden has now come and seen as
fulfilled right there at theempty tomb, when Christ Jesus
put death to death in the lifeof himself.
(25:53):
And so this is the good news ofthe gospel that our God is a
promise-keeping God, that whenGod makes a promise, he keeps it
.
And just as he said, theserpent's head will be crushed
in the resurrection of Christ.
It is.
And now I know we say yes.
Satan still prowls around and hewants to tempt, and he wants to
crush and destroy each one ofus.
(26:13):
And yet he prowls around now asa defeated opponent.
He goes around now as adefeated foe and one day, as we
see in Revelation, he willultimately be a vanquished foe,
and his days are very muchnumbered.
And one day his days will becomplete because Christ Jesus
has crushed the head of theserpent.
(26:34):
And so we wanted to get back tothe garden, but we couldn't.
Not by our own effort, wecouldn't walk in, we couldn't
get there on our own.
And yet the snake crusher hascome to put death in its grave
and bring life to you and I, andhere's what I love.
We wanted to get back to thegarden, but really we should
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have been looking for somethingbetter.
Because of this gospel, at theend of our days, in the new
heavens and new earth, we willnot go back to the garden of
Eden, as perfect as it was.
We will go forward to thebetter garden, the garden city
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that is to come, that ChristJesus will bring down, the new
heavens and the new earth.
Look with me in Revelation 22, 1through 5.
Then the angel showed me theriver of the water of life,
bright as crystal, flowing fromthe throne of God and of the
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Lamb and through the middle ofthe street of the city.
Also, on either side of theriver, the tree of life with its
12 kinds of fruit, yielding itsfruit each month.
The leaves of the tree were forthe healing of the nations.
No longer will there beanything accursed, but the
throne of God and of the Lambwill be in it and his servants
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will worship him.
They will see his face and hisname will be on their foreheads,
and night will be no more.
They will see his face and hisname will be on their foreheads,
and night will be no more.
They will need no light of lampor sun, for the Lord, god will
be their light and they willreign forever and ever.
I want to tell you, if you knowChrist Jesus, then a hundred
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billion years from now you willbe alive and well, living in the
garden city, living with yourSavior, seeing the Lamb who was
slain, who sits now upon thethrone.
100 billion years from now, youwill be alive and well, because
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the one who crushed the head ofthe serpent laid death to death
when he walked out of the tomb.
That's why we celebrate Easter,that's why every morning in
this room is Easter morning,because Christ has risen from
the grave, the evil one has beencrushed and our Savior is
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victorious.
I wonder this morning if youwant to know that Savior.
I'll be down front.
I'd love to introduce you tohim.
I wonder if you want to knowthat Savior?
I'll be down front, I'd love tointroduce you to him.
I wonder if you want to be apart of a church that knows that
Savior.
We'd love nothing more than toinvite you into this family.
I wonder if I can pray for youanyway, or any of our pastors
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can.
I know I'll be down front as werespond in just a moment.
However, you need to respond,whether that's down front or
right where you're at, maybe inprayer there in your pew.
I hope you'll do it.
I'm going to pray now for usand we'll worship some more.
Lord Jesus, we thank you forthe gospel, thank you for Jesus
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Christ, thank you for his work.
Thank you for that.
His work is complete, that heis risen and forevermore we are
his Lord.
I pray, if there's anyone inthis room that does not know you
, that they would know you today.
If there's anyone that justneeds a touch from your spirit,
(30:27):
that today would be a day.
Lord, you are better to us thanwe deserve and so, lord, let us
never forget.
Let our lives be an act ofworship back to the very one who
has given us all things inChrist Jesus.
We pray this in Christ's nameAmen.
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Would you stand now and I'll bedown front.
1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado.
Will you join me now inlistening to our sermon from
this week?
This morning we are going tocontinue in Genesis, chapter 3.
The second half of Genesis,chapter 3, is.
Last week we covered the firstnine verses.
We're going to look at ninethrough the end of Genesis 3,
(00:45):
but I do want to this morning,quickly begin on a personal note
, much like I did last week.
You know, I wish I didn't haveto do it once.
I certainly wish I didn't haveto do it twice.
But we lost a dear saint justyesterday morning, mr Cecil
Kellum, 100 years old.
(01:05):
100 years old.
He has now gone to be with theLord.
I read this last week,considering Mr Marvin, and now
this week, mr Cecil.
Precious in the sight of theLord is the death of his saints.
Precious in the sight of theLord, 100 years.
I think of the stories thatI've heard from him, but the
(01:26):
stories I've heard from many ofyou that always include the Boys
and Girls Club, the work he'sdone in the community, the
faithful member he's been ofthis church.
So Mr Cecil is one we will missdeeply, but certainly heaven's
reward and the Lord has beenfaithful to him.
And I just want to say this.
I know you know we don't alwaysmention everyone from up here,
(01:49):
but I think the last two weeksyou think about this 198 years
worth of life, 140 of thoseyears collectively, the two of
Mr Marvin and Mr Cole 140 years.
Mr Marvin and Mr Cole 140 years.
Mr Marvin and Mr Cecil 140years as a part of this church.
You think about the life, youthink about the legacy and I
(02:13):
think that's worth rememberingas a church family.
So I praise God for Mr Cecil, Ipraise God for 100 years of his
faithfulness.
Let's turn now to Genesis,chapter 3.
It's already been read for usthis morning, and so let me pray
as we begin.
Lord Jesus, speak to us nowthrough your word, transform us,
(02:35):
guide us and Lord, by yourspirit, would you move?
We ask this in Christ's name.
Amen, amen, 111 words, 111words that's the length In the
original Hebrew.
111 words from the end ofGenesis 3.6 to the beginning of
(03:00):
Genesis 3.15.
111 words, eight verses.
In the grand scheme of things,that's not very many.
111 words from the initialrebellion in the garden, the
initial disobedience of God'scommand that brought sin and
death into the world.
But only 111 words later is theinitial announcement of God's
(03:26):
grand plan to make all thingsright.
Once again, only 111 words.
It's as if God could not waitto let us know that hope is
coming.
It's true that God wastes notime in this moment 111 words
from the worst news of all timeto the announcement of the best
(03:48):
news of all time.
This morning I want to look atthe best news we could ever
receive.
We saw last week in the earlyparts of Genesis 3, man has
rebelled against God.
They listened to the serpent.
The serpent said couldn't yoube more?
Is God holding out on you?
Is there more that you're notgetting?
(04:09):
Because God won't give it toyou.
And they believed the lie, asyou and I still sadly, often
believe the lie of the evil one.
They ate the fruit and in thatmoment sin and death entered the
world.
And so now we pick up in versenumber nine.
But the Lord, god, called tothe man and said to him where
(04:30):
are you?
We ended last week by looking atthat verse that God is seeking
out humanity even in the midstof their rebellion, seeking them
out.
God knew where they are.
God has never lost a game ofhide and go seek.
He knows right where Adam andEve are in this moment.
But what does he want?
He wants communication with hischildren.
Where are you?
(04:52):
Verse 10, and he said this isAdam speaking now?
I heard the sound of you in thegarden and I was afraid because
I was naked and I hid myself.
Think about what has happenedas the result of this
disobedience.
For the first two chapters ofScripture, there's perfect
(05:13):
communion with God in the garden.
It is the perfect place wherethey are perfectly known by
their creator, where, for twochapters, the sound of God
walking through the garden wouldbe the most joyful sound they
could hear.
This is great news when God iscoming our way, our perfect
creator, and now, because oftheir disobedience, they're
(05:36):
hiding, they're naked and theyare ashamed of what has happened
.
They are guilty and they arehiding from their creator.
They're hiding from the veryone that could actually do
something about the problem.
They find themselves in Verse11, and God said who told you
that you were naked?
Have you eaten of the tree ofwhich I commanded you not to eat
(06:00):
?
Once again, god has never askeda question that he did not
already know the answer to.
He knew the answers to thesequestions.
He knew they had eaten from thetree, sometimes with my own
children.
I might ask questions that Ialready know the answer to.
I just want to see if they'llanswer it in the way I know they
(06:20):
need to answer it.
Who told you you this?
Have you eaten?
And I want you to see verse 12.
The man said the woman whom yougave to be with me.
She gave me the fruit of thetree and I ate.
I'm going to read that againand think about this.
You know where I'm heading,verse 12,.
(06:46):
The man said the woman whom yougave to be with me.
She gave me the fruit of thetree and I ate.
In World War II in Birmingham,england, anthony Pratt was
(07:08):
quarantined to his home.
He really had nowhere to go.
It was the midst of World WarII, the blitz, these nightly air
raids over that area of theworld.
They were quarantined intotheir home, and rightfully so.
I think.
Of many of us at the beginningof COVID a few years back, we
know the word quarantine.
We know what it's like to notleave the house for a little
while.
Anthony Pratt was there at homefor many, many days and many,
many nights, nowhere to go.
(07:29):
He was just a factory worker anda musician, but he had an idea.
He wanted to create a game.
He recalled the Tudor CloseHotel that he had been to
multiple times, this sprawlinghotel with all these very
specific and different rooms,and he began to think how do we
(07:52):
make a game out of this?
And he made, created a gamethat became very popular, the
board game Clue.
You've played this game before.
Probably you know the goal ofthis.
You and three or four friends,over the course of 30 or 45
minutes, you're going to figureout who did it, where they did
it and how they did it, and onceyou think you have that
(08:15):
information, you're going topull this envelope out.
You're going to say who youthink did it, how they did it,
where they did it.
If you're creative, you mighteven make up a motive of why
they did it, how they did it,where they did it.
If you're creative, you mighteven make up a motive of why
they did it, though you don'thave to do that.
I always did.
You open this envelope and youlook in and you see if you're
right.
Here in the garden, here in thegarden, god had the envelope.
(08:42):
God knew the answers to thequestion.
He had Adam dead to rights.
It was Adam, in the garden withthe fruit.
We know this, there's no doubtabout it.
And yet, in this moment, allAdam wants to do is look to the
God of the universe and saywhosever name you find in this
card, I've got to tell you it'snot what you think.
(09:03):
It's got to be someone else.
Someone else's name deserves tobe in here.
And so what does he do?
First of all, he says this.
He says to the God of theuniverse it was the woman and
you know, I can imagine whathe's thinking that this woman,
eve, this wife that you gave me,it was her that had this
(09:28):
conversation with the serpent.
God, don't you know?
If the serpent had spoken to mefirst, I would have said him
right.
I would have told him exactlythat he needs to be gone.
I would have said exactly whatyou said, perfectly as you said
it.
We surely wouldn't have gotteninto this problem.
I could have told him the truth, adam, I'm sure you would have.
It was the woman.
(09:49):
But then he says this it wasthe woman, god, that you gave me
.
Do you see?
He's pointing the finger ateveryone but himself?
The woman, god that you gave methe audacity of this one God
that you gave me, that you gaveme the audacity of this one God
that you gave me.
That God, don't you remember?
In fact, if you trace it back,you're the one that told me I
(10:12):
needed a helper.
You're the one that createdthis wife for me.
Out of my side and out of thedust, you created this woman.
And God, if you really trace itback, if you hadn't have done
that, maybe we wouldn't havebeen in this predicament.
He's blaming everyone buthimself.
It was the woman.
It was the woman that you gave.
How often in our own sin do wedo the same thing, that we look
(10:36):
around and we say it's got to beeveryone else's doing, but it
surely can't be mine.
How often do we want to be thevictim in these moments instead
of the guilty party?
Now I want to create a quickside note here.
What I'm not saying is thatthat in our lives, certainly in
(10:56):
our own sin, that there are notexternal factors that certainly
can can aid us towards that sin.
I I'm not saying that therearen't those who may be bad
influences that aid us towardssin.
I'm not saying that therearen't those that have harmed us
and therefore, maybe we'vesinned.
In response, I'm not saying theexternal factors do not exist.
(11:17):
They very much do exist and wecan probably all say that there
are circumstances in our ownlives.
Those external factors havebeen there that have maybe
caused us to head towards asinful road.
What I am saying is this whenyou strip it all away, at the
end of the day, when we sin, wesin.
That our sin is ours and nomatter how we may try to justify
(11:44):
it or minimize it.
God, was it really that bad?
We might try tocompartmentalize it.
God, I've cleaned up in allthese areas.
If I could just hold on to thisone sin here, we could even
trivialize it.
God, weren't you a little harshwhen you created that command?
(12:04):
Is it really as serious as youmake it out to be?
Whatever we do to try tojustify our sin?
At the end of the day, our sinis our sin and you and I, we are
the guilty party.
When God holds up the envelope,it's my name on the inside.
I think of David in Psalm 51.
(12:27):
We talked about David a fewweeks ago and his events with
Bathsheba and the adultery andthe murder and all that unfolded
there.
And I think of when David iscaught, when David realizes he's
in sin, what does he do?
Well, he doesn't look up to Godand say well, god, you built my
(12:48):
palace right there.
You didn't have to do that.
And God, it's not my fault.
Should she really have been onthe rooftop at that time of day,
god?
Or how about this?
God?
Haven't I done so much for you?
Couldn't you have justoverlooked this one thing?
In that moment?
When he's guilty, he does noneof that.
What does he say in Psalm 51,verse 4?
(13:09):
He simply says this against youyou only have I sinned and done
what is evil in your sight.
Against you have I sinned anddone what's evil in your sight.
I'm the guilty party.
It's my sin.
No more running and hiding, nomore finger pointing at anyone
(13:33):
and everyone else around God.
Against you have I sinned anddone what is evil in your sight.
Here's the beauty of beinghonest with God about our sin.
The beauty is this that as wecome to God with the truth of
our sin and we come to God assinner who is guilty, then we
(13:59):
get God's response 1 John 1.9,.
If you confess your sin, he'sfaithful and just to forgive you
your sin and cleanse you of allunrighteousness.
How much better is that than mydesire to run and hide?
If I can just get away from God, I can get out of this mess.
No, no, if I just come to God,there is forgiveness and pardon
(14:23):
in that moment.
But here's Adam in this momentverse 12.
The woman that you gave me.
She gave me the fruit and I ateVerse 13,.
Then the Lord said to the womanwhat is this that you have done
?
The woman said the serpentdeceived me and I ate.
She does a little better.
She only points the finger toone place and she's not wrong.
The serpent very much deceivedher and she ate and Adam ate and
(14:47):
sin and disobedience enteredthe world.
So what do we do now?
What comes next?
Well, in the second half of ourtext today, judgment comes next
, consequence does next or comesnext.
(15:09):
Consequence does next or comesnext.
And let's be clear there isalways grace for sin.
That's the good news.
But let's also realize there isconsequence for sin.
There is consequence for sin,and that's a good thing.
As a father disciplines one heloves, so too our God does that
for us.
Praise God that at times in ourlife we've seen consequence for
(15:29):
our sin, because I wouldimagine God's consequence for
sin in our lives has probablykept us from further sin going
forward.
Praise God for that.
But in this moment, judgmentand consequence come, and
quickly.
I'll summarize as we look tothis woman, eve, in verse 16,
there's consequence.
(15:50):
I will multiply your pain andchildbearing we see the fact
that there will be greatdivision between the husband and
wife.
We see in verse 17 through 19that for the man there be
toilsome, difficult work andtheir work will be a burden.
We see even further for allmankind, in verse 24, that he
(16:10):
drove them out of the garden.
They are kicked out of thegarden, they enter the land of
death and someday death willcome for them and they will die.
This is great judgment.
This is rightfully so, becausewe serve a just and sovereign
God.
This is consequence upon manand woman for their disobedience
(16:30):
.
But I'm fascinated by this thatin this moment, before God
looks to the woman, before Godlooks to the man, he looks to
the serpent.
Verse 14, the Lord God said tothe serpent because you have
done this, cursed, are you aboveall livestock and above all
(16:57):
beasts of the field.
On your belly you shall go anddust you shall eat all the days
of your life.
So first of all, in 14, we seejust a curse towards the snake.
We're not an ultra charismaticbunch in here, but I imagine we
(17:18):
could probably get some audibleamens by me just saying the fact
that snakes are just no good.
I don't like them one bit.
At our old house we had a lot ofthe black snake, the rat snake
there.
We saw quite a few of them andpeople would tell me Taylor, you
got to have those.
(17:38):
They're good, they get rid ofthe things you don't want there.
They're rodents.
They get rid of those.
And I would always tell themthey get rid of the things you
don't want there, the rodents,they get rid of them.
And I would always tell themunless they get rid of
themselves, I don't want them.
I don't want them around.
I don't like these snakes.
But to this serpent God issuesa curse.
I'm also fascinated.
On your belly, you shall go.
(17:58):
You're all thinking it as well.
Did they have legs before this?
That's speculation, I do notknow, but it gets fascinating in
verse 15.
To the serpent he says I willput enmity between you and the
woman, between your offspringand her offspring.
He shall bruise your head andyou shall bruise his heel Again.
(18:22):
I will put enmity between youand the woman, between your
offspring and her offspring.
He shall bruise your head andyou shall bruise his heel.
Right here, in this moment, iswhat, for many centuries, people
much smarter than I have calledthe proto-evangelion, the
(18:43):
proto-evangelion.
Think of that word proto, thinkprototype.
The first, the first Evangelion, think evangel, evangelism.
The first gospel, the firstgood news.
Right here, only 111 words,after the fall of humanity into
(19:05):
sin, after the Lord has foundthem hiding and naked and guilty
and ashamed, we get the firstredemptive announcement of what
is to come.
And we don't get it all.
We don't get it all spelled out.
We don't see yet, in thismoment, the full picture.
Now, if we've read God's word,you know the full picture, but
(19:28):
at this point, in Genesis 3,it's not all spelled out yet.
But what do we see here in thismoment?
That God looks to the serpentand says this there will come a
day that from the seed, from theline of woman, there will come
one who will crush the head ofthe serpent.
Okay, that one is coming fromthis descendant of woman who
(19:51):
will crush the head of theserpent and, yes, the serpent
will land a blow.
The serpent will bruise theheel of that coming one, but
ultimately it is the serpent'shead that will be crushed.
In this moment of judgment, ofguilt and shame, this grand
(20:11):
announcement is made.
The gospel did not begin on across outside of Jerusalem.
It did not begin even inBethlehem.
The gospel was announced allthe way back in Genesis, chapter
3.
I could really take it furtherand tell you the gospel was
(20:32):
proclaimed from before thefoundation of the world, but
I'll settle for Genesis, chapter3.
That one day one will come fromthe seed of woman that will
crush the head of the serpent.
I continue to look briefly atGod's response to humanity.
Verse 21, the Lord God made forAdam and for his wife garments
(20:55):
of skin and clothed them.
Man and woman guilty andashamed, and God clothed them.
They had made loincloths,little temporary coverings, and
(21:15):
God made them the real deal.
Animals don't voluntarily justoffer up their skin.
Blood was shed so that man andwoman could be covered from the
nakedness of their sin.
Our God is a faithful God.
Verse 24, he drove out the manand at the east of the Garden of
(21:40):
Eden he placed the cherubim andthe flaming sword that turned
every way to guard the way tothe tree of life.
There is consequence for sinand man and woman are cast out
of the garden.
Man and woman must enter theland of death and one day they
will die, yet not without hope.
They've heard Genesis 3.15.
(22:02):
Someone is coming and they arecast out of the garden.
And really the story ofscripture is humanity trying to
get back to the garden.
And really the story ofscripture is humanity trying to
get back to the garden, tryingto get back to that place of
perfect communion with God.
Turn with me now to Luke,chapter 3.
(22:24):
I know that's a big jump, luke,chapter 3.
I'll give you just a second toarrive there, beginning in verse
23.
I would imagine, if we werehonest today, as we are reading
through scripture and we arriveat a genealogy, it's not always
(22:47):
our most exciting moment when weget to one of those many lists.
There's many in scripture thelist of names, and this man was
the father of this man and thisman and this man, and it goes on
.
But there is somethingfascinating about this one.
Look with me in Luke's gospel,Chapter 3, verse 23,.
(23:08):
Jesus, when he began hisministry, was about 30 years of
age, being the son, as wassupposed, of Joseph, the son of
Heli.
And so you see Jesus, who isthe son of Joseph, obviously
Jesus, born of a virgin, the sonof God himself, god in flesh,
yet humanly speaking, the son ofJoseph.
(23:30):
And then you trace that lineback, at the end of verse 31.
You see something fascinating.
You see in this line, the sonof here's a big name, david.
32, the son of Jesse, obed Boaz.
You keep going back.
And verse 34.
You see Jacob, son of Isaac,son of Abraham.
(23:55):
You keep going back in verse 38, the son of Enos, the son of
Seth, the son of Adam, the sonof God.
Luke is showing us somethingfascinating here.
Remember, long ago, in thegarden, we were promised
something that one day from theseed of woman one would come who
(24:24):
would crush the head of theserpent.
And now we follow the storylinethat weaves through all of
history, and from Adam toAbraham, to David, we come to
one individual named Jesus, whois the Christ that from Adam's
line comes, the one who on thecross took Adam's sin and took
(24:49):
your sin and took my sin, and onthe cross suffered greatly.
It would appear as if the evilone did bruise the heel.
It would appear as if the evilone certainly did land a blow on
our suffering servant, jesusChrist, because Christ Jesus was
(25:09):
put on the cross for our sinand Christ Jesus was placed in
the grave.
And yet, early Sunday morning,christ Jesus breathed breath
into his lungs, walked out ofthe grave and what might could
be seen as just a man walkingout of a tomb a little bit
(25:32):
outside of city walls ofJerusalem, in the truest sense
was this was the ultimate crushof the head of the evil, one
that what was promised in thegarden has now come and seen as
fulfilled right there at theempty tomb, when Christ Jesus
put death to death in the lifeof himself.
(25:53):
And so this is the good news ofthe gospel that our God is a
promise-keeping God, that whenGod makes a promise, he keeps it
.
And just as he said, theserpent's head will be crushed
in the resurrection of Christ.
It is.
And now I know we say yes.
Satan still prowls around and hewants to tempt, and he wants to
crush and destroy each one ofus.
(26:13):
And yet he prowls around now asa defeated opponent.
He goes around now as adefeated foe and one day, as we
see in Revelation, he willultimately be a vanquished foe,
and his days are very muchnumbered.
And one day his days will becomplete because Christ Jesus
has crushed the head of theserpent.
(26:34):
And so we wanted to get back tothe garden, but we couldn't.
Not by our own effort, wecouldn't walk in, we couldn't
get there on our own.
And yet the snake crusher hascome to put death in its grave
and bring life to you and I, andhere's what I love.
We wanted to get back to thegarden, but really we should
(27:03):
have been looking for somethingbetter.
Because of this gospel, at theend of our days, in the new
heavens and new earth, we willnot go back to the garden of
Eden, as perfect as it was.
We will go forward to thebetter garden, the garden city
(27:24):
that is to come, that ChristJesus will bring down, the new
heavens and the new earth.
Look with me in Revelation 22, 1through 5.
Then the angel showed me theriver of the water of life,
bright as crystal, flowing fromthe throne of God and of the
(27:45):
Lamb and through the middle ofthe street of the city.
Also, on either side of theriver, the tree of life with its
12 kinds of fruit, yielding itsfruit each month.
The leaves of the tree were forthe healing of the nations.
No longer will there beanything accursed, but the
throne of God and of the Lambwill be in it and his servants
(28:07):
will worship him.
They will see his face and hisname will be on their foreheads,
and night will be no more.
They will see his face and hisname will be on their foreheads,
and night will be no more.
They will need no light of lampor sun, for the Lord, god will
be their light and they willreign forever and ever.
I want to tell you, if you knowChrist Jesus, then a hundred
(28:31):
billion years from now you willbe alive and well, living in the
garden city, living with yourSavior, seeing the Lamb who was
slain, who sits now upon thethrone.
100 billion years from now, youwill be alive and well, because
(29:00):
the one who crushed the head ofthe serpent laid death to death
when he walked out of the tomb.
That's why we celebrate Easter,that's why every morning in
this room is Easter morning,because Christ has risen from
the grave, the evil one has beencrushed and our Savior is
(29:25):
victorious.
I wonder this morning if youwant to know that Savior.
I'll be down front.
I'd love to introduce you tohim.
I wonder if you want to knowthat Savior?
I'll be down front, I'd love tointroduce you to him.
I wonder if you want to be apart of a church that knows that
Savior.
We'd love nothing more than toinvite you into this family.
I wonder if I can pray for youanyway, or any of our pastors
(29:45):
can.
I know I'll be down front as werespond in just a moment.
However, you need to respond,whether that's down front or
right where you're at, maybe inprayer there in your pew.
I hope you'll do it.
I'm going to pray now for usand we'll worship some more.
Lord Jesus, we thank you forthe gospel, thank you for Jesus
(30:06):
Christ, thank you for his work.
Thank you for that.
His work is complete, that heis risen and forevermore we are
his Lord.
I pray, if there's anyone inthis room that does not know you
, that they would know you today.
If there's anyone that justneeds a touch from your spirit,
(30:27):
that today would be a day.
Lord, you are better to us thanwe deserve and so, lord, let us
never forget.
Let our lives be an act ofworship back to the very one who
has given us all things inChrist Jesus.
We pray this in Christ's nameAmen.
(30:49):
Would you stand now and I'll bedown front.
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