|
Before The
Bar Of Justice
Genesis 3:9-24
by Paul
George
Adam and Eve are hiding
from God. He calls out to Adam, “Where are you?” This
question has been used in the attempt to prove God is
not all-knowing. He doesn’t know Adam is hiding. Don’t
believe it. God knew where Adam and Eve were hiding and
He knows where we are when we try to hide from Him. He
knew why Adam and Eve were trying to hide from Him and
He knows why we try to hide from Him. Adam is hiding
because he disobeyed God. When God asks the question
“Where are you” it is an expression of kindness, and
invitation to come back to Him. It is a question meant
to ask Adam to look where he is. This is a question we
need to ask when we drift from the truth.
What would have happened
if God didn’t come to the garden and ask Adam this
question? What would happen if God didn’t come to where
we are and ask, “Where are you?” Like Adam we are not
going to where God is. If God had not come to the garden
Adam and his descendants and that includes you and me,
would be in the same situation the fallen angels are in,
forever separated from their Creator. We would be like
lost sheep wandering aimless in a troubled hostile
world. Like a good shepherd God calls to the lead sheep
to come back to Him. He doesn’t ask Eve where she is. He
knows where she is; she is with Adam and will follow him
when he comes to the place where God is.
What a sad answer to the
question. Adam said, “I heard your voice in the garden,
and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid
myself.” He does not admit to what he did or why he did
it he describes his condition, he is afraid and naked
and this is why he hides among the trees in the garden.
Like Adam we often describe the conditions we are in and
fail to acknowledge why we are where we are. Adam had a
good reason for fearing God but he won’t admit it. But
God will not let him off the hook He asks Adam. “Who
told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the
tree of which I commanded you not to eat? God knew why
Adam knew he was naked. No one told Adam he was naked,
he saw he was naked when his eyes were opened. Instead
of admitting what he has done he makes an excuse. It’s
the old blame game that is played today. It’s always
someone else’s fault when we get our hand caught in the
cookie jar.
Adam blames Eve for his
predicament, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she
gave me from the tree, and I ate.” He is in an around
about way blaming God. If God hadn’t created the woman
he wouldn’t be in the situation he is in. He wouldn’t be
hiding from God. But God knows the facts. He knows who
is to blame and he is not going to admit it. There is no
need to carry the conversation any farther.
Then God said to Eve,
“What is this you have done?” Eve isn’t going to admit
what she did was wrong and she needs to ask God and Adam
to forgive her. She lays the blame on the serpent’s
doorstep, “the serpent deceived me, and I ate.” It is
true the serpent instigated the revolt. It is true the
serpent deceived her. She is doing the same thing Adam
did. In a round about why she is blaming God, its fault
He created the serpent Satan used to deceive her.
God turns His attention
toward the serpent. He doesn’t ask him why he did what
he did. God knew why. But there is a big difference in
what the serpent did and what Adam and Eve did. Adam and
Eve had the ability to make decisions. They could
evaluate the situation and compare what God said and
what the serpent said and they didn’t do it. The
serpent’s problem was he permitted Satan to use him in
his battle against God.
What do we see happening
in the world today, the same thing that happened in the
Garden of Eden? Do people really know what God said or
do they know only what man has said? Do they compare
what God has revealed through the prophets, apostles,
and above all others Jesus?
Adam and Eve didn’t deny
what they did but they didn’t admit what they did was
wrong. Their confession was not a penitent confession
but an excuse. Did they think God would accept their
excuses? We often make excuses for what we do or don’t
do what we should do. We make excuses for what other
people do. We blame our short comings on the back of
others. We make excuses for the immoral behavior that is
spreading across the face of this nation. Do we really
think God is accepting our excuses, our political
correct attitude, and our tolerance of immoral behavior?
Did He accept Adam and Eve’s excuses? He is not
accepting our excuses. Did He hold Adam, Eve, and the
serpent accountable for what they did? Will He hold us
accountable? We had better believe it. He did and He
will.
All the evidence has been
presented, the defendants are found guilty, and the
sentence phase begins. To the serpent, the instigator of
the revolt, God said, “Because you hast done this,
cursed are you above all cattle, and above every beast
of the field; on your belly shall you go, and dust shall
you eat all the days of your life: and I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your seed and her
seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise
His heel.”
The serpent’s form and
movements were altered and he was humbled, dust is a
symbol of humiliation, it will be looked upon as a vile
and despicable creature, an object of scorn and contempt
all the days of its life for its part in the revolt
against God. The finger of justice is also pointed at
Satan who used the serpent to be his mouth piece. He
will be destroyed by the Seed of the woman, the Redeemer
of mankind. In this passage there is a proclamation of
war, a continued conflict between the kingdom of God the
kingdom of Satan, between the godly and the wicked. We
are involved in this war. All the rage and malice of the
persecutors against the people of God, both Jew and
Christian, are the results of this war. And it will
continue until the day the Prince of Peace returns to
this earth and takes His place on the throne the Ancient
of Days has given Him.
In this passage a
gracious promise is made. The Seed of the woman, Christ
the great deliverer of fallen man will deliver them from
the power of Satan. These were words of encouragement.
They saw a door of hope opened to them. Here was the
dawning of the gospel message. This promise is a message
of encouragement and hope for all mankind. We know the
door of hope has been opened. We know the Deliverer of
fallen mankind has come and He has bruised the head of
Satan. He has taken his power from him. Those who serve
Satan are serving a defeated prince. We who are serving
Jesus are serving a victorious King, the Savior of all
who will come to Him. We have the gospel message and we
need to take it into the entire world. On Calvary’s hill
the heel of the Seed of the woman was bruised and the
head of the serpent, Satan received a death blow. He is
slowing dying. The war is drawing to a close.
God said to Eve, “I will
greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you
shall bring forth children; and your desire shall be for
your husband and he shall rule over you.” Sin brought
sorrow, trouble and pain into the world. The pains of
child-bearing, every moan and groan, speak of the
consequences of eating the forbidden fruit. All the
sorrow, trouble, and pain in the world today can be
traced back to the Garden of Eden. Through the ages
sorrow, trouble, and pain have multiplied. They will
continue to multiply until the end of days.
Then God said to Adam,
“Because you have listened to the voice of thy wife, and
have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you saying,
you shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground because of
you; in toil shall you eat of it all the days of your
life; both thorns and thistles shall grow for you; and
you shall eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of
your face shall you eat bread, till you return unto the
ground; because from it you were taken; for you are
dust, and to dust you shall return.”
God does not accept
excuses. Eve could tempt Adam by giving him the
forbidden fruit, but she could not force him to eat it.
The eating of the fruit was a voluntary act. In the Day
of Judgment excuses will not be heard. There will be no
plea bargaining. Adam’s excuse was used against him and
set the grounds for sentencing. The sentence handed down
included the cursing of the ground; Adam will no longer
live in the garden but will live outside the garden. The
earth was to be a place that reflected the same
conditions found in heaven, the abode of God and the
angels Adam’s disobedience changed that. Adam was not
cursed, Eve was not cursed, only the serpent and the
ground. God was not finished with Adam and Eve. He was
not writing them off. They are still part of His purpose
in creating the world.
Because Adam disobeyed
God his life and the lives of his descendants are filled
with misery and sorrow. Some never find any pleasure in
life. Others find brief moments of pleasure. We might
ask why we should suffer because Adam disobeyed God. We
have inherited the only thing our parents Adam and Eve
could hand down to us. We must not look at only the
effect of disobedience in the garden we must see the
righteousness of God. He can never leave disobedience go
unpunished. The pain and suffering we experience, even
death, is a reminder of the righteousness of God. He is
just. It should also be a reminder there is a day coming
when all pain, suffering, and tears will be wiped away
for those who have given their lives into the loving
tender care of our heavenly Father.
Life everlasting is
offered to all mankind. He paid the full penalty
demanded. He was made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13).
He was beaten, hung on a tree, crowned with thorns,
humiliated, and died. He was a man of sorrows, His soul
in agony, exceedingly sorrowful. The good news; He was
raised from the dead and is seated on the throne of God,
interceding for us.
Court is adjourned. Then
God, “made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins, and
clothed them.” Here is an example of God’s love. He
corrects Adam and Eve like a loving father would do but
He does not disinherit them. He provides for the return
of the prodigal.
Then God said, “the man
has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and
now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the
tree of life, and eat, and live for ever- therefore God
sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the
ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the
man; and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden the
Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every
way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” The driving
of Adam and Eve was both a punishment and an act of
mercy. If they would have eaten the fruit from the tree
of life they would live forever alienated from God. They
would have become like the fallen angels, forever
banished from the presence of God.
We are the descendants of
Adam and Eve. We live in a stained and soiled world. The
tendency of our heart when we came into the world was
toward disobedience, separated from God, but not His
love. God has a cure for what ails us. It is the blood
shed by the Lamb of God for the sins of the world. Today
this cure is offered to all mankind. We all have to make
a decision; no one can make it for us. Will we accept
the cure and be healed?
To top of
page |
