The Promise Made

December 8, 2024|The Promise Made |Genesis 3

John-Daniel Cutler

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When you hear the word Christmas, what images immediately come to mind? 

Is it the trappings of the season? Lights, Christmas trees, presents, meals, family gatherings? 

Is it the reason for the season? Maybe you think of Nativity scenes or a manger, or a candlelight service?

As those sitting in church this morning, we know what should come to mind, right?We are all familiar with the expression that ‘Jesus is the reason for the season’. The reminder that it is not about lights or trees or presents or time off, right? 

But why? What does the birth of a Jewish boy some 2,000 years ago, in a remote place, matter to us us today?

What is the significance of his birth? 

We sang about it this morning. 

Sing we the song of Emmanuel 

This the Christ who was long foretold 

Lo in the shadows of Bethlehem 

Promise of dawn now our eyes behold

You see, at its core, Christmas revolves around the fulfillment of a promise. A promise that a savior would come, a redeemer would come that would restore man to his creator. 

For that reason, often this time of year we read scriptures that highlight various parts of scripture that speak of the promised Messiah. So I thought this Advent season, we would look at this Promise from which all of Christmas derives its meaning. 

This morning we are going to go to a scripture that probably does not immediately spring to your mind when you think of Christmas, but I want to show you where this wonderful promise finds its beginnings. 

Over the next four weeks, as we move through the season we will see the promise made, God clarifying his promise, God giving us a picture of the fulfillment of his promise in the deliverance of the Israelites, and finally we will look at the fulfillment of this promise as recorded in the gospels. 

This morning we are going to look at The Promise Made.

Open your bibles to Genesis, chapter 3. I’ll help you, it's at the very beginning of your Bibles. 

We are going to read all of chapter 3 this morning and then walk back through it so that we can get a handle on the context of this promise made. 

Genesis 3 (ESV) 1 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.

Most of you are no doubt familiar with that scripture, what we commonly refer to as the Fall. 

Maybe you have even heard sermons on it before, but I encourage you to listen this morning with fresh ears and an open heart to what God would say to us through it this morning. Amen?

The first thing that I want you to see this morning is that the promise was made because it became necessary because…

God’s design and decree were rejected. 

As Moses records for us the beginning of not only everything that exists, but of the very parents of the human race, we are treated to 2 chapters of wonder and beauty.

Beginning with those famous and succinct words, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. As we move through chapter 1 God speaks creation into existence over a six day period. 

The crown of creation comes on day six where God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Chapter 1 ends with the end of the sixth day and chapter 2 begins with the seventh where God blesses the seventh day and makes it holy because he rested from all his creative work. 

It concludes with God looking over his creation and declaring that it was very good.

Chapter 2 goes into detail about the creation of man. 

God forms man from the dust of the ground and breathes into his nostrils the breath of life and the man becomes a living creature. He places man in the midst of the garden to work it and keep it and gives him the singular command, his one decree. 

“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

You know the story, God pronounces the first thing that is not good. 

“It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make a helper fit for him.”

From Adam’s rib, God forms the first woman and initiates the first marriage by bringing her to man.

Now everything is good. 

Man and woman are in the paradisiacal (par·a·di·si·a·cal) garden, with every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. With rivers flowing through to water the garden. 

God’s design. 

Mankind has everything it needs to flourish. A beautiful home, a God given purpose, a perfectly designed helpmate with which to tend the garden, and in that partnership, a perfect relationship. 

Chapter 2 ends with these words. “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

Let me say it another way. There was no consciousness of any wrong between them. 

No reason for shame, guilt, insecurity, disappointment. 

Perfect harmony. 

God’s decree. 

You can eat anything you want in all of the garden, with the exception of one tree.

Here is the context we bring to chapter 3. 

Before we move there, I want you to see a simple truth evident in the opening chapters of Genesis that prove true throughout scripture. God’s decrees protect God’s design. 

As long as they obeyed his decree they would experience his good design. 

Now, we are not told how long Adam and Eve enjoyed this good design but we are told how the end came about. 

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’?” 

The serpent, who we later find out was being used by Satan, starts the first theological discussion with the woman.

In the Hebrew, it seems that he did not really ask it as a direct question like it sounds in our English translations, but in almost a mock surprise “I can’t believe that God said…”

With a little bit of sanctified imagination, I want you to think about sitting amidst a beautiful garden in perfect peace with the only other human on the planet, in perfect harmony with God, no reason to distrust or doubt him, possibly eating some of the good fruits he had provided, sitting on a soft bed of grass, when a voice comes out behind you. “I cannot believe that God said you can’t eat of any tree in the garden.”

So, and I give Eve the benefit of the doubt, she comes to the defense of God, she attempts to correct what is not true about God.  

She says, “God said we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but not of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden.” Good so far.

But, she adds to it. “Neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”

This simple, seemingly harmless addition, is actually dangerous. 

Whenever we distort or add to God’s decrees, we one, misrepresent God, but two we open ourselves up to danger.

Now Satan moves from feigned ignorance to direct attack on God’s character. 

“You will not surely die”-direct contradiction to God’s word. 

“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Think about what he is saying. 

“Listen, I know God better than you do. I know what he is thinking. I know why he said not to eat it, he’s holding you back from something good for you, he is keeping you from your potential.”  

Now Eve has a decision to make, trust God and question the serpent, or to question God and trust the serpent.

But as we know, the conversation is over, the seeds of doubt have been planted and rather than trusting God, Eve makes the first mistake. 

She looks at the tree with new eyes. 

She saw the tree was good for food- why would God create this fruit if not for us to eat it?

She saw the tree was a delight to the eyes- could something so beautiful really be bad?

She saw that it was desirable to make one wise- wouldn’t it be better if I was more like God?

So she took of its fruit and ate.

Now, I have always wondered and I admit it is speculatory, but based on what she had said to the serpent, when she took some of the fruit and didn’t die, do you think she was emboldened to eat it?

Remember God did not say she could not touch it, she added that regulation, so when she touched it and nothing happened, do you think that cemented the lie from Satan in her mind that only good would come from her rebellion?

But regardless, she ate of it.The most surprising detail for me is presented almost as an afterthought, she gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate.

What was Adam doing? Why didn’t he say anything? Why didn’t he step in? We do not know, but we do know that in this act of rebellion, God’s decree and his design had been rejected by the first man and woman, prompting the necessity of the promise we will look at in a moment.  

The second thing that I want you to see this morning is that the promise was made because…

There were consequences of rejecting God’s design and decree. 

The consequences of rebellion are immediate. 

Verse 7 tells us that their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked. So they quickly fashion clothes from fig leaves in order to hide from one another. 

Don’t miss that ladies, the first consequence of the fall was laundry. 

But seriously, think about the implications. 

Perfect, unhindered fellowship, has been wrecked by shame.

But immediately, the consequences get worse. 

Verse 8 tells us that they hear the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. 

If you are like me, you have a million questions about this, but unfortunately the Bible doesn’t answer any of them. 

But we can make some assumptions based on this verse. One, they knew the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden, which means they had heard it many times before. 

Two, where they would have normally ran to meet him, a new feeling washes over them. Fear. 

Fear of what it would be like to stand before God with this new knowledge that something was wrong. So they hide. 

Can you imagine a worse turn of events? Wanting to be like God, they now flee his presence from fear and shame? The sounds that once brought joy bring fear.

Now, does God’s questions in any way show that God did not know what had happened? Not at all. 

It shows his grace in calling man to himself. 

Where are you? (Adam, why are you not where you should be?)

To which Adam answers, I was afraid, because of my condition and I hid.

Who told you that you were naked? (From where did this realization come from Adam?)

Notice how patiently it seems God is trying to draw from man his transgression.

Now, we find the brokenness of the relationship between Adam and Eve far surpasses their shame, Adam blames the woman and ultimately God. His admission of guilt only comes after he has thoroughly tried to paint himself in the positive. 

“Who told me? Well the woman, who by the way, you gave me, see, she gave me the fruit, and so you know, I ate it.”

Turning to the woman, God said, what is this that you have done?

God gives her a chance to admit her rebellion, and although she does not go to the lengths that Adam does to justify it, she blames it on deception. “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

God’s decree and design have been rejected and the immediate consequences are broken relationships between man and woman and between man and God. These were what we might call the natural consequences of their sin. But God now pronounces the consequences that are not so readily apparent, the supernatural consequences of their sin. 

Starting from the serpent and working his way to man, God pronounces his judgment on their sin.

To the serpent God says, 

Genesis 3:14-15 (ESV) “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.”

Now whether this represents a change in form (from legs to none) for the serpent is debatable, but the point is made regardless of what you think about that. 

The declaration of going on your belly and eating dust represents a great humility and degradation. Mankind will no longer look on serpents the same way, there will be natural enmity between them. 

Now because the Bible later tells us that this serpent was essentially being used by Satan, the tempter, we must see a duality in the curse here. 

One natural for the snake and one supernatural for satan. 

Adam and Eve would have probably not fully understood at this point, only that because the serpent had been the agency of temptation it would be cursed as punishment. 

But if Satan’s plan was to turn God’s creation against him, to somehow win man over to himself and therefore rob God of his crowning jewel of creation, it has failed. There will be enmity between man and Satan for all the days of life. For now, let’s leave the remainder of the curse, which we will pick up in a minute and follow the narrative as it plays out. 

To the woman he says. 

(ESV) “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.”

The two relationships that were supposed to be the most fulfilling and sweet are marred by sin. Pain in bringing forth children and rather than a perfect helpmate and partner, there will be constant tension between the two over who rules.

To the man he says. 

Genesis 3:17-19 (ESV) “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.”

Remember man’s purpose was to cultivate the land, to care for it and keep it. 

Now, his purpose remains the same, he will receive nourishment from the ground, but no longer will it be pleasant but by pain it will produce food. By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread, until you die. 

All of this would culminate in man being removed from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. So man is thrown out and the way is shut by God, never to be seen by Adam and Eve again. 

The consequences of rejecting God’s decree and design were immediate, terrible, far-reaching, and final. 

They could not un-eat the fruit, they could not go back and remove the guilt of rebellion, they could not repair the relationship between them, they could not repair the relationship with God that they had.

The desire for more had cost them the perfection of what they had. 

And friends, if the story ended there, what a tragic end. But in the midst of God’s judgment on their sin, there was hope. 

The third thing that I want you to see this morning is that the promise was made because God was not done with his creation.

God’s promise gave hope for the rebellious. 

I want you to listen to the curse God pronounced on the woman again. 

(ESV) “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.”

God’s blessing on them had not been removed. 

Genesis 1:28 (ESV) 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

The woman would bring forth children. 

God would still use these imperfect and sinful creatures to populate the earth. They would still experience the wonder of children, her and Adam would still be able to go forward and live the remainder of their lives, surely not in the bliss God had designed for them, but there was hope. 

Listen again to the curse God pronounced on the man again. 

Genesis 3:17-19 (ESV) “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.”

Adam would still be able to produce food to feed himself, his wife, and his children. God would still provide what he needed until he died. Though in pain, he would still be able to provide for his and his family's needs, there was hope. 

But here’s where I want to focus us on this morning. Listen again to the curse God pronounced on the serpent. 

Genesis 3:14-15 (ESV) “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.”

There nestled in the curse, is the seeds of the promise. 

The church has long called verse 15 the ‘Protoevangelium’ proto meaning the first of something and evangelium meaning good news. In other words, the first gospel.

The first good news issued is that ultimately Satan will be defeated by the offspring of woman.

Satan will strike at humanity but will not prevail, his heel, but this seed, this offspring, will deliver the fatal blow to satan, strike his head. 

In tempting Adam and Eve to disobey God, Satan has not won, he is not the victor, and yes, this does begin a conflict between the people of God and Satan that rages on for thousands of years, but God pronounces the end from the beginning. Satan does not win. 

Satan is not equal to God, they are not locked in a battle of good versus evil with the outcome up in the air, God decrees immediately from the fall that Satan will be defeated.

Amen.

In the midst of God’s judgment on mankind’s sin, he gives the seed of a promise that gives hope.

And although they could not understand the totality or even implications of what this promise meant, we can see that they displayed faith and hope in God’s word. 

Verse 20- The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

Before Cain was born, before Abel, before Seth, and the many other sons and daughters that would be born to Adam and Eve, Adam believed God’s promise that they would bring forth children, which would result in the crushing of the head of the serpent. 

One more thing I want to note before we begin wrapping up this morning. 

I want you to think about how Verse 21 comes before verse 24. 

In verse 24, man is driven out. But he is not driven out before God shows them an incredible mercy. And the Lord GOd made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 

God essentially makes the first sacrifice. 

Their pitiful leaf loincloths are replaced with tunics of hide. The price of sin coming more fully into focus. Sin brings death. Here is the death of the first animals in order to cover Adam and Eve. And so in God’s mercy he does not send out man and woman before he clothes them. 

And although the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin, they point to the sacrifice that ultimately would. 

Conclusion-

Cursed and cast out, they are not without hope, so they begin to look for God’s promise. 

Chapter 4 begins this way, 

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord”.

Eve saw God working even outside of the garden, and perhaps his name meaning ‘acquired’ indicates her hope that this was the promised seed that would defeat Satan. 

Even after Cain slew his brother and was sent away, Seth was born, whose name means ‘substituted’. God provided her another son for Abel. 

What is interesting is that Luke traces Jesus’ lineage back to Seth’s line, and ultimately of course to his parents Adam and Eve. 

Here in Genesis, a seed of a promise is made. 

Necessary because Adam and Eve rejected God’s design and decree, necessary because of the consequences of rebellion against God, and necessary because God was not done with his creation. 

Advent, Christmas, is about God fulfilling his promise, but also about waiting expectantly for Christ to fulfill his promise to return and take his people back into the unhindered fellowship with God. In the same way we see God fulfilling his promise, we can trust that Christ will fulfill his. 

Christ will return and restore the paradise lost by our parents for all those that belong to him. He will return for his bride and usher us into the presence of our God where we will experience the restoration of everything our first parents lost.

This is the promise of Christmas, this is the promise of Christ. 

As we think about that promise, let me ask you, are you trusting God this morning?

As we think about the fall and its context, are you trusting the design and decrees of God this morning?

God’s decrease from his word that ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ 

Everyone of us has sinned, everyone of us has rebelled against God, everyone of us is experiencing and will experience the consequences of our sin, and unless we repent and believe, we will experience it eternally. 

We must turn from trusting in ourselves, turn from trusting in the things of the world, and turn to the only name by which any sinner can be saved. This is God’s design for sinners to be saved. 

Romans 10:8-13 (ESV) 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Friends, if you have never called on the name of Jesus, and God is acting on your heart and mind this morning, understand that you can be saved. God has provided the only covering and sacrifice that can fully and finally deal with sin in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If that’s you, let me invite you, when we stand to sing, to make your way to the front, Brittany and I would love to pray for you, encourage you, and get you connected to people who can walk with you.

If you have questions or want to talk more about what trusting in Christ looks like, you are welcome to come down this morning. If you know this morning that God has saved you, today, this week, this year, and you have never publicly declared that you have been saved, won’t you come this morning and confess him before your brother and sisters. 

Let us pray.