Genesis 3: God’s Sovereign Grace

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
 
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
       “Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
       on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
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.”
16 To the woman he said,
       “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
       Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said,
       “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
       of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
       cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18    thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19    By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
       till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
       for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
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. 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.
 
 
Meditation
God’s sovereign grace redeems all He allows. The enemy seeks to disorder God’s design, decompose God’s good creation, and bring death where God created life.
 
Satan’s strategy is simple: Question God’s word and convince God’s creatures they can be like God if they follow their desires (1-7). Eve and Adam succumbed by doubting God’s word, seeing, and desiring what God forbid, and taking it for themselves. The sin of Adam and Eve confirmed God’s authority and His word, bringing physical, spiritual, and eternal death into God’s good creation.
 
God walks in the garden and His creatures hide in shame- sin separates us from loving relationship with the Lord (Isaiah 59:2). The curse cascading from Adam and Eve’s disobedience floods all of life to disorder relationships between humans and humanity’s relationship with work/ creation. All God had ordered as good in creation was historically disordered by the fall.
 
God’s sovereign grace promises to redeem everything He allows. Grace evident in the mercy to cover Adam and Eve’s shame with garments of skin and God’s faithfulness revealed in His promise that the offspring of Eve will one day crush the head of Satan (15). The first pronouncement of the gospel carries us through Eve’s genealogy to Jesus. Jesus faced Satan’s temptations toe to toe, and was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus fully took the curse in death so that all of Satan’s strategy could be redirected for life. Through Christ there is freedom from both the penalty and power of sin, so once again all of life can be directed for the glory of God.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially seeing Satan’s strategy and God’s sovereign grace to redeem what He allows?
 
-Where have you/ do you surrender to Satan by questioning God’s word, seeing something He forbids, desiring, and taking it for yourself? What have the consequences been?
 
-How can you lean into God’s sovereign grace, trusting Him to redeem the brokenness and disorder of your life and bless you with His good design? Be specific.
 
Key Verse
4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”