Genesis 3:16-21
Marriage, After the Fall (b)
Pastor Martin expounds Genesis 3:16-21, continuing his series on marriage, motherhood, and homemaking by examining the consequences of the Fall. He details how sin introduced multiplied pain in motherhood, conflict in marriage, and the inevitability of death, yet also highlights God's gracious provision of gospel promise and atonement. The sermon concludes with an application to married couples to embrace God's grace in Christ amidst the fallenness of their relationships, leading into a communion meditation.
Primary Texts
Topics
Outline 8 sections · 45 min
- Introduction and Review of Immediate Internal Consequences of Sin 0:03
- Subsequent Pronouncements of God: Marriage Survives the Fall 7:10
- Motherhood Experienced in Multiplied Pain 12:10
- Marriage Perpetuated in a Context of Conflict 17:26
- Marriage Perpetuated in the Context of Death 25:24
- Marriage Perpetuated in the Context of Gospel Promise 28:34
- Marriage Perpetuated in the Context of Gospel Provision 34:26
- Adam's Faith and the Dynamics of Grace in Marriage 40:10
Key Quotes
“Those sighs. Those groans. Those outcries of pain. Are nothing other. Than echoes. Of the voice of God. Coming down to us from Eden. In pain. You shall bring forth. Children.”
“There are some who say. See. Male headship. Is the result of the fall. It is only after the fall. That God says. That your husband. Will rule over you.”
“Male domination and feminism. Are the two viruses attacking our sexuality today. They vandalize God's creation and multiply human misery.”
“This is why you must never make a God of your spouse. Make a God of nothing. That can be touched by the grave.”
“This text embraces and comprehends within itself. Everything noble and glorious. That is to be found anywhere in the scriptures.”
“Whatever our eschatological views may be. It is a denigration of the sacrifice of Christ. To put the destruction and the binding of the devil. Anywhere but at the cross.”
“However faintly. In terms of God's gracious provision. Of a covering. By means of a slain innocent animal.”
“It is God's gracious purpose in Christ. And by the power of the spirit. To take that very relationship. That experience these shattering disruptions. and to make it the very theater in which God sets forth a marvelous display of that greatest of all relationships, the relationship of Christ to his people, the Christ who loved his bride and gave himself for it, and the bride who lovingly embraces Christ as her head and Lord and Master.”
Applications
Parents & families
- Never make a God of your spouse or anything that can be touched by the grave.
- In the midst of the fallenness of your marriage, savor it with a faith embrace of God's promise of deliverance and provision for the forgiveness of sin in Christ.
- Manifest God's promise and provision in the dynamics of grace that operate in your marriage.
All listeners
- Recognize that the pain connected with childbirth is a constant witness to the truth of God's declaration in the garden.
- Set your heart's supreme affection upon none but the living God who demands it and is worthy of it.
- Come to the Lord's Table as forgiven and justified sinners, marked out to be conformed to the image of Christ, living in the age of fulfillment and anticipation.
- Partake of the bread and cup in remembrance of Christ's death, which secured forgiveness, pardon, perfection, and glorification.
- Come to the Lord's Table in the anticipation of faith and in the joy of sins forgiven.
A full transcript is available on the tab. 218 paragraphs, roughly 45 minutes.
Introduction and Review of Immediate Internal Consequences of Sin
Now let us turn together to the third chapter of the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 3.
And having read the first 21st verses of this chapter in your hearing this morning, I shall read only verses 16 through 21 this evening.
Genesis 3, at verse 16, we break into the record of God's dealings with the three parties involved in the initial apostasy, the serpent, the woman, and the man. And speaking to the woman, we read, Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your pain and your conception. In pain you will bring forth children, and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you. And unto Adam he said, Because you have hearkened unto the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil, literally, the same Hebrew word as is spoken to the woman, in pain or in sorrow you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bear, bring forth to you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return unto the ground, for out of it you were taken, for dust you are, and unto dust shall you return. And the man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skin, and clothed them. Now let us again seek the face of God in prayer, asking the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit to be our portion.
Our Father, we have sung together, show us the truth concealed within your word, and this is indeed our prayer. We would acknowledge that you have given your Holy Spirit to us, that we might, by his effectual ministry, know the things of Christ, know them in a way that is saving, that is liberating, that is sanctifying. And so we pray that he may be given to us in fresh and in abundant measures to preacher and listener alike. Fulfill your promise to give the Spirit to those who ask, for we do ask, and we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen. Amen. In our series of studies, on marriage, motherhood, and homemaking, begun several Lord's Days ago, after setting forth some very vital qualifying principles, and then stating that it's vital for us to view this subject in the light of the biblical doctrines of creation, fall, and redemption, we began our study then by considering marriage, and motherhood, and homemaking, homemaking in the light of the biblical record of creation in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. And then this morning we began to look at marriage and motherhood in particular in the light of the fall, that tragic apostasy of our first parents as recorded in Genesis chapter 3. And without pausing to open up the circumstances of the fall, the subtlety of the devil, the way in which he tells half-truths and blatantly lies and then openly denies the veracity of the warning of God, we focused our attention upon what I call the immediate internal consequences of sin as they affected the marriage relationship.
And we noted in our consideration of various sections of this third chapter of Genesis three things that occurred as an immediate impact. The internal consequence of sin affecting the marriage relationship. We noted first of all that there was a shattering disruption of the marital oneness previously manifested in the unashamed nakedness before God and one another. That situation celebrated in chapter 2 and verse 25, and they were both naked, the man and his wife.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife. And the first reaction of their sin is the opening of their eyes, the consciousness of their nakedness and shame in that nakedness, and so they plait fig leaves together and make for themselves aprons. And then secondly, we noticed that there was a shattering disruption of their spiritual oneness with God. Previously, we noticed that there was a shattering disruption of their spiritual oneness with God.
They manifested in their unreserved delight in communication and communion with God. No sooner do they sin than they have an aversion to the presence and to the voice of God. Verse 8, they heard the voice of the Lord 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. And we noted that each step.
they took away from God and away from the voice of God, they took away from true marital oneness. No longer is it face-to-face open communication with one another and with their God, but there is this aversion to God, and they are, as it were, burying themselves among the branches and leaves of the trees of the garden. And then thirdly, we noted that there was a shattering disruption of the emotional and psychological oneness with each other manifested in their delightful and grateful reception of one another, as recorded in the latter verses of chapter 2. Now when the man speaks of this one given to him, it is the woman whom you gave me, not my wife, this one whom I received with delight. But there is this emotional. And psychological distance as the result of sin. Now tonight, we want to look together
Subsequent Pronouncements of God: Marriage Survives the Fall
at a second category of the effects of sin upon the marriage relationship, and also a very clear note with respect to the effects of sin upon motherhood. And what I'm calling this second category is this, having looked at the immediate internal consequences of sin as it affected the marriage relationship. We now consider the subsequent pronouncements of God concerning the consequences of sin in relation to the marriage institution. The subsequent pronouncements of God concerning the consequences of sin in relationship to marriage and to motherhood. As God begins to deal with the three parties involved in that marriage rise, and perish, and father, and parent, and that seed ofка organize one's That first sin, He begins with the serpent in verse 14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent. And then He deals with the woman beginning in verse 16.
Unto the woman He said, I will. And then He deals with the man beginning in verse 17. And unto Adam He said. And that continues down through verse 19.
And so God deals with the serpent. God deals with the woman. God deals with the man. And what He says to all three clearly indicates that the institution of marriage will survive the fall and continue in spite of these shattering disruptions in the marriage relationship.
Those sins. That brings fissures and causes these shattering disruptions. It does not annihilate the institution of marriage. The two who have been made one flesh by the institution of God as recorded at the end of chapter 2 still remain one flesh.
They still remain a married couple. And we see this because we are told in verse 15 in God's word to the serpent. That the woman will yet have a seed. I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed.
The woman will yet be a mother. She will have a seed. She will have a progeny. She will still bear children and have a husband.
Verse 16. Unto the woman He said. I will greatly multiply your pain and your conception and your desire shall be. To your husband.
She will yet be a mother. She will yet have a husband. And then obviously the man will still be a husband to Eve. His wife who will be the mother of his children.
And he speaks this in that word. Verse 20. And he called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living. So God makes it plain in the narrative of Genesis chapter 3.
That regardless. Of the horrible effects of sin. Those immediate internal consequences of sin. That greatly disrupt and alter much of the divine chemistry within the marriage relationship.
Marriage itself will make it through the tragedy of the fall. It will still be a God ordained relationship. Between one man and one woman. In spite of the reality.
Of the fall. However. It will be marriage and motherhood with some tragic additions and subtractions. And I wrestled with whether or not to title this category.
The subsequent pronouncements of the judgment of God. On Adam and Eve. The discipline of God. But I feel safer with this more generic description.
The subsequent pronouncements of God. Concerning the consequences. Of sin. In relationship to marriage and motherhood.
And I'm not prepared to say what things are a direct imposition of divine judgment. What are the more natural outworkings of the effects of sin. This much is clear. It is God who makes these pronouncements.
And identifies some of these specific negative fallout. Negative areas of fallout. As they will affect. The whole institution of marriage.
And as they will affect motherhood. In particular. And so I want you to note with me. One of the major effects.
Motherhood Experienced in Multiplied Pain
As it touches motherhood. And then three. As they touch upon marriage. First of all then.
We learn from this passage. From the pronouncements of God. Concerning the consequences of sin. That motherhood will be experienced.
In a context. Of multiplied pain. Motherhood will be experienced. In a context.
Of multiplied pain. Verse 16. Unto the woman he said. I will greatly multiply your pain.
And your conception. In pain. You shall bring forth. Children.
Now some who know the Hebrew language well. Say that what we have. In verse 16. In the opening part of the verse.
Is a Hebrew idiom. God is not saying unto the woman. I will greatly multiply your pain. Number one.
And your conception. Number two. But rather even as the NIV translates it. I will increase your pain.
In childbearing. So that if this is a Hebrew idiom. What God is saying is. I will increase your pain.
In conjunction with the whole process. Of childbearing. Everything from conception. To the bringing forth.
Of the child. There will be a multiplication. An increase of pain. Or of sorrow.
The Hebrew word can be translated either way. And then God focuses again. Upon that reality. In pain.
You shall bring forth children. And one thing is clear. Whether God is saying. I will multiply both your pain.
And your conception. In connection with childbearing. That is. Before the fall.
Whatever birth contractions were. They did not partake of the nature. Of pain. They would have perhaps.
Have been no more painful. Than Adam's intense use of his muscles. As he sought to dress the garden. And to keep it.
God now says. What was not painful. Will be painful. And it may be God is saying.
I will multiply. Even the number of your conceptions. The number of your conceptions. Will be burdensome.
In a cursed world. In a fallen world. And God may be saying that. I am not sure.
It may be that it is a Hebrew idiom. I will greatly multiply. Or increase your pain. In childbearing.
But this much is clear. From the text. That the emphasis falls. On the increase.
Of pain. In conjunction. With conception. With the bearing of children.
In pain. You will bring forth children. It is interesting. Because it appears.
That what God is saying is this. Adam I made you for your task. In dressing the garden. And keeping it.
And in the sphere of your stewardship. And responsibility. You will now experience. This foreign element of pain.
The precisely same. Precise same Hebrew word is used. When God says in verse 19. To Adam.
In the sweat of your face. I am sorry. Verse 17. Because you have hearkened to the voice of your wife.
Eaten of the tree. Of which I told you. You shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for your sake.
In toil. That Hebrew word is exactly the same word. In pain. In pain.
You will now. Eat of it. All the days of your life. As Adam will experience.
The element of pain. As the result of sin. In his sphere of stewardship. Eve in her sphere of stewardship.
Namely in the bearing of children. She will now experience. The intrusion. Of pain.
And we need in the light of this. To recognize that every single. Outcry. Every single discipline.
Grown or sigh. Of every woman. In every delivery room. In every place.
Where children have been brought forth. Those sighs. Those groans. Those outcries of pain.
Are nothing other. Than echoes. Of the voice of God. Coming down to us from Eden.
In pain. You shall bring forth. Children. And while it is right for us.
To reflect the compassion. And the mercy. Of God. To do everything within our power.
To alleviate. The pain connected with childbirth. As much as possible. The very fact that there is pain.
To be alleviated. Is a constant witness. To the truth. Of what God declared.
In the garden. Motherhood then. Will now be experienced. In the context.
Marriage Perpetuated in a Context of Conflict
Of pain. But then secondly. We see in the passage. That marriage.
Will be perpetuated. In a context. Of conflict. Marriage will be perpetuated.
In a context. Of conflict. Verse 16b.
And your desire shall be. To your husband. And he. Shall rule.
Over you. Now these are not easy words. To interpret. To expound.
There are many differing interpretations. But of them. Many. One we know is not true.
There are some who say. See. Male headship. Is the result of the fall.
It is only after the fall. That God says. That your husband. Will rule over you.
And since Christ. Has come to dismantle. The effects of the fall. Male headship.
Is dismantled. In Jesus Christ. And has no place. In the Christian faith.
And in the Christian ethic. That's nonsense. And it's a butchering. Of the word of God.
For we know from the scriptures. That God's design. That Adam should be Eve's head. Is clearly established.
In creation. Totally apart from the fall. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Verses 3 to 11.
And in 1 Timothy 2. Verses 12 and 13. The apostle Paul. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Demonstrates. That male leadership and headship. Is rooted in the. Priority of the creation of the man.
And the creation of the woman. For the man. Totally apart from the intrusion. Of sin.
Some suggest. That what the verse is saying. Is this. All right Eve.
You sought to separate yourself. From your husband's headship. You entered into dalliance. With the serpent.
With the devil yourself. You felt you could hack it on your own. You could have a spirit of independence. From him.
There will now be. Within you. An insatiable desire. Towards him.
As a result. As a punishment. For your spirit of independence. And the man.
Shall in response to that. Rule over you. Well I'm not sure. That that's what the text says.
In fact. I lean in the direction of believing. That what God is saying is this. In this present situation.
Eve. Your desire shall be. Toward your husband. That is.
You will have within you. A desire to throw off. His appointed place. Of rule over you.
And in reaction to that. He will then seek. To dominate you. And why do I take that position.
For this basic reason. If you'll turn to chapter four. You will notice that in the incident. Of Cain and Abel.
We have words. That not only in our English Bibles. But in the Hebrew. Are very parallel.
Identical Hebrew words. And even grammatical constructions. You remember the setting. Cain has brought his offering.
With which God is displeased. Abel has brought his offering. With which God is pleased. There is this spirit of jealousy.
In the heart of Cain. Because God has shown his displeasure. To his offering. While showing his pleasure.
To the offering of Abel. And now verse six. And the Lord said unto Cain. Why are you angry?
Why is your countenance fallen? If you do well. Shall it. That is your countenance.
Not be lifted up. And if you do not well. Sin couches at the door. God says to Cain.
Sin is like a beast of prey. There presently. Couched. Couching at your door.
It is there ready to pounce upon you. Now notice the words that follow. If you do well. Shall it not be lifted up.
If you do not well. Sin couches at the door. Unto you. Shall be its desire.
Very parallel phrase. Similar Hebrew words. Sin will seek to master you. Cain.
But you must not allow it to master you. But do thou rule over it. It will seek to master you. But Cain.
You must master it. And that parallel language. Found here in chapter 3. In my present understanding.
Tips the scales of my judgment. That this is what God is saying to Eve. In this present situation. Eve.
You will buck against. The government. The authority. The God appointed headship.
Of your husband. And in response to that. He will have a tendency. To dominate.
In a way. That is not in your best interest. And it is not according to my will. But this is the fruit.
Of your joint sin. Now that particular position. Is ably set forth. In that excellent book.
That you will hear me referring to subsequently. Called recovering biblical manhood. In womanhood. Edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem.
In chapter 3. Ray Ortlund has a treatment of this. Passage that I think is very persuasive. That this is the direction of what is being said.
But whether that is the precise nuance of the text. This much is clear. God is saying in this setting. Marriage will be perpetuated.
In the context. Of conflict. A conflict that would have been. Absolutely totally unknown.
Had Adam and Eve not sinned. Conflict would never have been a word. In their vocabulary. The thought of having marriage counselors.
To deal with marriage conflict. Would have been no part. Of their subduing. Replenishing.
And subduing the earth. It is in this tragedy of the entrance of sin. That you have the wife on the one hand. Refusing to render proper submission to her husband.
And the husband on the other hand. Exercising a tyrannical. Domination of the woman. Neither of which is the will of God.
And it is interesting that Mr. Artland states. In his chapter on male and female equality. And male headship.
To which I've made reference. He states and I now quote. How is it that in the last 20 years or so. This book was written in 1989.
So we can say in the last 30 plus years. As we have increasingly lost our understanding of male headship. And as feminist ideas. Ideals have been aggressively pursued throughout our society.
How is it. That under these conditions. Sexual exploitation and confusion and perversity. Have exploded in incidents.
Male headship is not to blame. Male domination and feminism. Are the two viruses attacking our sexuality today. They vandalize God's creation and multiply human misery.
How can anyone who loves God's glory. Who feels for people. And who cherishes the gift of our sexuality. Not be inflamed.
At the enormities being committed by these two monsters. Male domination and feminism. The throwing over of all male authority. Horrible ugly realities.
Marriage Perpetuated in the Context of Death
That would never have been known. Had sin not entered the world. But then not only do we see. In God's.
In our lives. That motherhood will be carried on in a context of suffering. Marriage will be perpetuated in a context of conflict. But tragically we learn thirdly.
That marriage will be perpetuated in the context of death. Chapter 3 and verse 19. God speaking to Adam tells him. That in the sweat of his face he shall eat bread.
Until he returns to the ground. For out of it you were taken. For dust you are. And unto dust you shall return.
And many of you familiar with your Bibles know. That chapter 5 has this phrase again and again. And he died. And he died.
And he died. And he died. And he died. Because of sin there will be widows.
And there will be widowers. The two one flesh relationship. Will be violently wrenched asunder. As one or the other is taken down.
Into the dust of death.
And it pains me to even speak of this. In the light of the fact that I've seen it. So close at hand. Even this week.
As death has taken a beloved wife. And left a bereft widower. But God says. This is one.
Of the consequences. Of sin. When God said in the day that you eat thereof. Dying you will die.
God meant. What he said. Marriage will be perpetuated. In the context.
Of death. And I want to say by way of application. To my dear married friends. And to you young men and women unmarried.
And not so young. This is why you must never make a God of your spouse.
Make a God of nothing. That can be touched by the grave. Make a God of nothing. That can be touched by death and the grave.
Learn to say with the Psalmist. Whom have I in heaven but thee. And there is none that I desire upon earth besides thee. What does he mean?
Does he have no human loves? Of course not. That would be inhuman. But he is saying.
None will have my supreme affection. I will set my heart supreme affection upon none. But the living God who demands it. And who alone is worthy of it.
And who alone can be our portion. When death takes the beloved wife. The beloved husband. To the dust of the earth.
Marriage Perpetuated in the Context of Gospel Promise
But then fourthly. And this is where we make the transition into a communion meditation. Marriage will be perpetuated in the context of gospel promise and provision. Marriage will be perpetuated in the context of gospel promise and provision.
When God comes to deal with the parties involved in the fall. He starts with the serpent. Verse 14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent.
Because you have done this curse to you. Above all. All cattle. And above every beast of the field.
Upon your belly shall you go. And thus 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.
God is obviously speaking to someone beyond this mere creature. The serpent. It would be absolute triviality for God to say. That there is going to be.
An ongoing conflict. Between the snake family. And the family of Eve. He is speaking here of issues that go far beyond.
This creature whom the devil himself used as his instrument. In that initial temptation. And God is saying. I will put enmity between you and the woman.
Between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head. And you shall bruise. His heel.
In speaking to the devil. God gives the first word of gospel light. And gospel promise. Martin Luther said of this text.
This text embraces and comprehends within itself. Everything noble and glorious. That is to be found anywhere in the scriptures. Typical Martin Luther overstatement.
That's one of the things you can't help but love with. Martin Luther. When he says it. He says it big.
He says it in a grandiose way. And Luther said concerning these words. It embraces and comprehends within itself. Everything noble and glorious.
That is to be found anywhere in the scriptures. This is what people call the protevangelium. The first gospel proclamation. Here it is.
God says all right. The man and the woman. Satan. Serpent.
Devil. They've aligned themselves with you. But you don't have the last word. I will in sovereign determination.
I will put enmity where there is now amity. I will bring warfare and division. Where now there is peace and harmony. I will put the enmity.
God is going to inject the enmity. This is gracious. Injection. God says they've aligned themselves with you.
I will break up the alignments. And in the course of breaking up that alignment. I'm going to perpetuate that breaking up of this alignment. Until your head is crushed.
Until you are brought to nothing. Though in the process. You will be able to bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. And here God gives.
This marvelous gospel promise. And the rest of the Bible in the very real sense. Is the unfolding. And the flowering.
And the outworking. And the fulfillment of this promise. So that when we come to the very eve of our Lord's crucifixion. When he says in John chapter 12.
Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father save me from this hour. But for this hour I came forth.
Father glorify your name. A few verses later Jesus says. Now is the judgment of this world. Now is the prince of this world cast out.
Whatever our eschatological views may be. It is a denigration of the sacrifice of Christ. To put the destruction and the binding of the devil. Anywhere but at the cross.
Now, now is the prince of this world cast out. And Colossians 2.15 tells us that in the death of Christ. He made an open show of principalities and of powers.
Triumphing over them in it. That is in his death. And so here in Genesis chapter 3. Where there is wreckage on the left hand.
Wreckage on the right hand. Horrible disruption in the marriage. In the marital relationship. God says the relationship will yet be perpetuated.
For the woman in her motherhood. In pain. For the man and for the woman. In the context of conflict.
In the context where death will break up the relationship. And break hearts in the process. Yet it is not without hope. All of this will be done in the context of gospel promise.
Gospel promise. Gospel hope. Fueled by the promise of God's ultimate defeat of the serpent. And then gospel provision.
Marriage Perpetuated in the Context of Gospel Provision
Gospel provision. And where do we see that? In verse 21.
Apparently during all of this time. Adam and Eve are still standing with their fig leaf loin coverings.
And God says they won't do. I'm going to remove them. The God who could have spoken worlds. Who did speak worlds into being out of the womb of nothing.
Who could have spoken into being. Any kind of covering for Adam and Eve. The text says the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife. Coats of skins and clothed them.
Very early in my Christian experience. I came across commentators and preachers who said this was a pointer to Christ. And to his sacrifice for skins. A coat of skins could not be made without the death of an animal.
And the death of an animal would have been a violent unnatural thing in that setting. They were still vegetarians. God gave no blanket approval of the eating of flesh until after the flood in Genesis chapter 9. And I thought it was a bit forced and artificial.
But in recent days I've come. I never spoke against it. I just couldn't speak about it in faith. But as I've been reflecting on something that Pastor Lamar helped me to see with great clarity when he did his Old Testament survey.
When God gave those first five books of Moses. To whom did they initially come? They came to this bunch of slaves who had just been delivered from Egypt. Who had lost much of the oral traditions of God's special covenant people.
Much of what had been revealed. Was obscured. And they had been immersed in the idolatry of Egypt. And God's foundational purpose in those first five books of Moses.
Was to have this people who now are delivered out of Egypt. Have a sense of their identity. Who are we? Who is our God?
How have we come to know Him? How may we relate to Him? And as God speaks these things in the context of those first five books of Moses. No Israelite listening to the directions.
God gave about sacrifice and blood atonement. Could have read this passage without immediately thinking. Yes the God who was there in Eden took some innocent animals. And God himself killed them.
And God himself stripped off their skins. God himself scraped off the fur. And made them coats. Of skins if he scraped off the fur.
And clothed them. So that from henceforth when Adam and Eve looked at one another. How did they see one another? They saw each other clothed.
But clothed with what?
Clothed with skins. Made from slaughtered animals at the hand of God.
No longer do they see one another in their nakedness. And the innocence of their pre-fallen state. That has forever. Been placed behind them.
They have sinned. They have known shame. They have known guilt. But now they see one another.
However faintly. In terms of God's gracious provision. Of a covering. By means of a slain innocent animal.
And we know from the unfolding teaching of our Old Testament. And on into the New. That every single animal slain and sacrificed. Was pointing to that great and final sacrifice.
Even our Lord Jesus the Lamb of God. Who would bear away the sin of the world. And so in the tragedy of the sin of Adam and Eve. And as that tragedy touches the institution of marriage.
God is saying. Yes it is a tragedy. Horrible results have come and will yet come. Because of the intrusion of sin.
But marriage will be perpetuated. In the context of gospel promise. And gospel provision. Some commentators are quite strong in insisting.
That the evidence of Adam's faith. Is given to us in verse 20. And the man called his wife's name Eve. He changes her name.
Because she was the mother. Of all living. And so Adam saw something in the promise of God. That the ultimate defeat of the serpent and his seed.
That enabled him to call Eve. It again would have been trivial to simply say. You are going to be the mother of anyone that has life. That he sees beyond the mere passing on of physical life.
In ordinary procreation. And sees something of God's commitment in grace. Through his promise. And whether that's true.
Or not. Surely we have biblical warrant to see. In verse 15. Strong warrant.
That God gives this initial gospel promise. He gives some strong pointers in verse 21. Of the way in which he will make provision. For sinful man.
Adam's Faith and the Dynamics of Grace in Marriage
So that by the time we come to chapter 4. Part of the ordinary family experience. Of Adam's first two boys. Is the regular offering of sacrifices.
That had to come in somewhere. And while we cannot dogmatize. Surely it is not wrong for us to seek to see. These wonderful hints and fingers.
By which God points us to the great realities. And so we sit here tonight. And we may sit here. With marriages fractured.
I don't need to tell you. That there are two fallen people in your marriage. You are very conscious of that. But what I want to ask you is this.
In the midst of the fallenness. In the midst of the fallenness. Is your marriage savored. With a faith embrace of God's promise of deliverance in Christ.
Of God's provision for the forgiveness of sin in Christ. Is your marriage one in which God's promise and God's provision. Is manifested in the dynamics of grace. That operate in the midst of the fallenness.
In the midst of the fractured dimension. In the midst of the fallenness. And in the midst of death. Of the fallenness.
In the midst of the fallenness. That are the directions of human relationships. For as we shall see when we come to look at marriage. And motherhood.
And home making in the light of redemption. It is God's gracious purpose in Christ. And by the power of the spirit. To take that very relationship.
That experience these shattering disruptions. and to make it the very theater in which God sets forth a marvelous display of that greatest of all relationships, the relationship of Christ to his people, the Christ who loved his bride and gave himself for it, and the bride who lovingly embraces Christ as her head and Lord and Master. This becomes the paradigm of that which God designs for our marriages and for our relationship as we live out before the face of our gracious God. So as we come to the table, we come as those who have the marks of Genesis 3 all over us, all over us. But if we've embraced Christ, we do so as forgiven sinners, justified sinners, those whom God has marked out to conform ultimately to the very image of his Son, and we live this side of promise and pointer and shadow. We live in the age of fulfillment, in the age of anticipation. The age to come is broken in, and when we come and partake of the bread and of the fruit of the vine, we are to do so with that remembrance.
This do as oft as you drink it in remembrance of me, for as oft as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do preach the Lord's death till he come, a death that is not only situational, but for the sacrifice of our sins. The Lord Jesus has secured our forgiveness, our pardon, but has secured our perfection and our glorification at the return of the Lord Jesus. May God help us to come in the anticipation of faith and in the joy of sins forgiven. Let us pray.
Our Father, how we thank you for your holy word, and we pray that you will write it upon our hearts by the power of your Spirit, and as we in a few moments will come to the table to remember our Lord Jesus in the way of his appointment may it be with renewed joy and renewed faith and confidence in all that he has done for us and all that he will yet do in us by his grace we plead with you to meet with us and draw near to us and seal to our hearts afresh your loving, gracious mercy to us in Christ our Savior Amen
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors. It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
Passages Expounded
This passage is the core of the sermon, detailing God's pronouncements to the woman and the man after the Fall, and his provision of clothing.
Texts Expounded
Also Referenced
More from the archive
If this spoke to you, hear also…
-
-
-
Submission to His Ways/Apprehension of Promises
1 Peter 1:6-7
layers Duty and Privilege in Times of Great Distress
-
-
National and International Events
Colossians 3:2
layers Back to Basics at the Beginning of a New Year (1997)
-