First Baptist Church Litchfield
Chapel jan 8

      • Psalm 90:1–12ESV

  • Your Love
  • They will see God (Matthew 5:8)

      • Romans 5:8ESV

      • Romans 6:23ESV

  • Sovereign One
  • Carry It On Philippians 1:8
  • His Mercy Is More

  • God created all that is. Therefore, all that is is His (Genesis 1-2).

    Adam and Eve wanted to be their own; Rebellion in their hearts was sown (Genesis 3:1-3).

    Judgment to the snake God spoke, And hope in Adam’s heart awoke (Genesis 3:9; 14-19).

    So, “mother of the living,” he named his wife, For her seed is the source of life (Genesis 3:20-24).

    Genesis 3:20–24 narrates the pivotal moment after the Fall when Adam and Eve find themselves in a world forever altered by sin. Adam names Eve as the 'mother of all living,' signifying the enduring promise of life in the face of death, followed by their removal from Eden—where God's mercy intertwined with justice illustrates His plan for human redemption.
    What is beautiful about this text for sinners like you and I, is even in the face of sin and its consequences, God is at work to restore life and promise, demonstrating His steadfast love and faithfulness to humanity through the lineage of Eve. God can bring life from death and hope from despair; even in punishment, His love prevails, reminding us that His plans are not thwarted by our failures.
    All of us are on a journey. We are running a race of faith and sometimes our failure to pleasure God with our thoughts, words, and actions, can make us feel like quitting the race. I want this truth to help you run the race of faith well, boys and girls. You need to know,

    God's grace is always greater than our failures, providing a pathway to redemption where new life can flourish even out of our worst circumstances.

    To help you see God’s grace as greater than your failures, I want to set up road signs in your heart with four grace pointing, truth telling , life giving truths that help you keep running the race of faith.

    Enduring Hope

    Genesis 3:20 ESV
    20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
    Adam names his wife Eve. The name Eve means “mother of all living.” Why does be name her that? Adam names his wife Eve because he believes God keep the promise he made in Genesis 3:15
    Genesis 3:15 ESV
    15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
    The word seed means offspring. God will send a special son who will crush Satan’ head, that is destroy his work. This special Messiah will reverse the curse of sin and restore humanity back to God. He will come through the line of Eve, he will be one of Eve’s great great great great great grandchildren. God’s promsie to send a seed through Eve gives Adam enduring hope and so he demonstrates his hope by naming his wife Eve.
    Even in moments of disobedience, God plants seeds of hope and redemption. Adam and Eve really messed up by letting themselves be deceived by Satan and acting against God’s commands. God promised them they would surely die (Genesis 2:17). And of course, they do eventually die, but not without hope, a hope that does not disappoint, a hope that is realized in Jesus Christ, God’s Son. God's grace in this life always allows for new beginnings, and therefore, no matter how far you fall, you always have hope. So as the wise urban poet Lupe Fiasco says,
    So no matter what you been through, no matter what you into No matter what you see when you look outside your window Brown grass or green grass, picket fence or barbed wire Never ever put them down, you just lift your arms higher Raise 'em 'til your arms tired, let 'em know you here That you strugglin', survivin', that you gon' persevere Yeah, ain't nobody leavin', nobody goin' home Even if they turn the lights out, the show is goin' on, alright. (The Show Goes On, Lupe Fiasco 2010)
    In other words, you can keep running the race of faith because God’s grace gives you enduring hope, especially when you fail.

    Covering Love

    When Adam and Eve sinned, the first thing they did was try to cover themselves with fig tree leaves and hide in the bushes. They tried to aotne for their sin by covering it up. One thing Adam and Eve teaches is we can never fully hide or deal with our shame and guilt. We leave ourselves exposed, vulnerable, and covered in guilt. God knew better. Sin cannot be simply covered up. It needs to be cleansed and forgiven. That can only come through the shedding of blood. In verse 21, God lovingly chose to give Adam and Eve a better covering, but it had to come at a cost.
    Verse 21 says Genesis 3:21
    Genesis 3:21 ESV
    21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
    For God to make Adam and Eve garments of skins and clothe them, he had to slaughter two animals. Marcus Dods, a 19th century Scottish preacher, helps us understand the significance of the contrasts of Adam’s way of dealing with sin, and God’s way. Dods says,
    “It is also to be remarked that the clothing which God provided was in itself different from what man had thought of. Adam took leaves from an inanimate, unfeeling tree; God deprived an animal of life, that the shame of His creature might be relieved. This was the last thing Adam would have thought of doing. To us life is cheap and death familiar, but Adam recognized death as the punishment of sin. Death was to early man a sign of God’s anger. And he had to learn that sin could be covered not by a bunch of leaves snatched from a bush as he passed by … but only by pain and blood. Sin cannot be atoned for by any mechanical action nor without expenditure of feeling. Suffering must ever follow wrongdoing. From the first sin to the last, the track of the sinner is marked with blood.” (Marcus Dods, The Book of Genesis (New York: A.C. Armstrong and Son, 1903), pp. 24, 25.)
    God’s sacrifice here is a gracious and loving foreshadowing of his provision for sin in the Old Testament. God would later set up a system of animal sacrifices to cover the sins of his people. (Lv 1; 3–7; Nm 15:1–31). But even those sacrifices fell short. They pointed to God’s ultimate act of love to cover his people’s sins by sending his Son to die on a cross, as a once and for all sacrifice that atones for you sin. By his sacrifice, we can be clothed with immortality (1Co 15:53–54; 2Co 5:4), thus providing the complete undoing of the curse of humanity’s sin.

    Merciful Justice

    Genesis 3:22–23 ESV
    22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
    Sin changed everything for Adam and Eve, and all their future children. Sin separates us from God. Verse 22 shows that to be true. But God explains why this separation was necessary. Because of sin, human beings now knew good and evil, but we could not rule over such wisdom. Our sinful nature rules us. Jesus says we are salves to it. Since the gift of life was directly tied to obedience, man’s sin meant that the penalty of death must be enforced. This is what God’s justice required. God promised if they disobeyed they would die (Gen 2:17). God kept his promise. Being kicked out of the Garden of Eden was also merciful. In the Garden of Eden was the Tree of Life. If they ate of this tree in their sinful nature, Adam and Eve, with their children, would remain forever in their sin, separated from God. There would be no hope for them. God says as much in Genesis 3:22; lest he reach out his hand and take also the tree of life and eat, and live forever. Banning the humans from the tree of life allowed for God to provide a way to save them, to redeem them from their sin, so we can have our sins forgiven and have eternal life with him forever. Therefore, the Lord sent Adam and Eve out from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
    Imagine if your parents let you use the stove to cook your favorite macaroni and cheese. They kindly remind you that the stove is just for cooking that delicious meal, and you promise to follow their rules. One day, however, you feel inspired to light a cozy candle in the living room. You grab a piece of paper, head to the stove, and light it on fire. As you make your way to the living room, your parents catch you in the act of using the paper to light the candle. What do they do next?
    They have to discipline you in order to correct your disobedience and take away your privilege of using the stove for a little while. While that might feel tough at first, it's actually a loving decision aimed at keeping you safe. Similarly, when God asked Adam and Eve to leave the Garden of Eden, it may seem unfair at first glance, but it was really a necessary step to correct their sinful decision and protect them from longer-term consequences, all while keeping the door open for redemption.

    Promised Redemption

    Genesis 3:24 ESV
    24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
    God drove Adam and Eve east of the Garden of Eden. In the Bible, when man goes east, he goes away from God. For example, Cain’s journeys east after being judged by God in Genesis 4:16. In Genesis 11, humanity migrates east toward Babylon building a tower that God forbids. Abraham’s sons with Keturah, those who were not of the promised covenant, went east away from Abraham Genesis 25:6. Going east, in the Bible, is a sign of departure from God’s presence. Furthermore, the cherubim and flaming sword guards fallen man from ever returning to the Garden again.
    That being said, we also catch a beautiful glimpse of God's care for the tree of life and the wonderful promise of redemption through Christ. The cherubim and flaming sword at Eden’s entrance symbolize not just protection but also God's loving promise of a way back to reconciliation. While the path to Eden may seem closed due to sin, through Christ, we are blessed with the chance for eternal life to be restored again. By not allowing us to enter the Garden of Eden, we are forced to go to the cross f Jesus, God’s better way of redemption. Through the death of Jesus, God’s justice is satisfied. Jesus pays for our sin by shedding his blood. We are able to receive God’s mercy. God is able to welcome us back into his presence for all eternity. This makes Jesus a better covering than animal skins and fig tree leaves. This makes Jesus our enduring hope. He is able to correct our greatest failure, our failure to be holy and perfect.

    God's grace is always greater than our failures, providing a pathway to redemption where new life can flourish even out of our worst circumstances.

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      • Genesis 1–2ESV

      • Genesis 3:1–3ESV

      • Genesis 3:9ESV

      • Genesis 3:14–19ESV

      • Genesis 3:20–24ESV

      • Genesis 3:20ESV

      • Genesis 3:15ESV

      • Genesis 3:21ESV

      • Genesis 3:22–23ESV

      • Genesis 3:24ESV

  • Empowered by the Spirit, Guided by the Word

      • Hebrews 13:20–21ESV

First Baptist Church Litchfield
pastorjason.fbcl@gmail.com
217-324-4232
http://www.firstbaptistlitchfield.org/
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