The Master Becomes the Slave
3-22-2015
Genesis 3:17-20
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; Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for
you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 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. The man called his wife's name
Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Genesis 3:18 is the
reason we have weeds in a vacant lot; if we do nothing but wait we will get a field of weeds.
· Cause: Adam though not deceived, willingly
abdicated his headship that God had established & deliberately disobeyed
God.
Adam’s punishment was
in 2 areas: the ground was cursed and physical death would be experienced. Gen 2:15, 3:17-18
· All human labor is in view here, not
just agriculture.
Work is not cursed: it
is blessed & a part of God’s original plan for mankind.
· It was given as an original
responsibility to tend the garden, pick good food & expend little energy.
· Because of sin, man’s original
relationship to the ground (to rule over it) was reversed; instead of
submitting to him, it CONTINUALLY resists him in every way.
o
This
is exactly the same Hebrew word as pain (heaviness, grief) for
childbearing.
§ The master of the dirt became slave
to the dirt.
· Decay, disease, disorder, and death came
with sin for everything in world.
o
“thorns/thistles”
indicates everything in creation is opposed to man.
§ viruses, natural disasters,
suffering, disease, disorder, and all death can ultimately be traced back to the
first sin.
We began as dirt, spend
life digging in the dirt, & then go back to the dirt. Gen 3:19-20, Ecc. 12:7
· Spiritual death already occurred.
Physical death is now mandated.
Adam submitted to
God’s penalty of death but by God’s grace expressed faith in the promise that Eve
would bear children - including the Seed that would defeat Satan.
· Gen 3:20 & 4:1 is the reason I
believe Adam and Eve were saved.
Salvation is always a response
of taking God at His word, not keeping commands or having more good works than
sins. Luke 16:22, Rom 4:3b & 20-24, Heb. 11:5,Gal
3:8-11
· Old Testament believers were saved in
same way as New Testament believers:
o
Grace
alone, through faith alone, in the Messiah alone.
· Before Christ a person’s faith
looked forward to the promised Savior.
o
Since
Christ, faith looks back to the sacrifice the Savior made.
There are two sides to the same
coin!
Curses remind us: God is
holy, sin is serious & sin brings consequences.
· Yet even in His discipline, God
manifests grace.
o
This
fallen world helps us see what sin does, & causes us to long for a better
life & ultimately deliverance.
o
God
mercifully tempers pain that comes with marriage, children & work with joy
& even eternal blessings. Jn. 16:21, 1 Tim 2:15, Eph. 6:5-8, Heb. 12
§ This helps us to see we are limited,
dependent, & desperately need God.
§ He will provide opportunities to
share the Gospel & serve Jesus Christ.
o
Even
death has it’s blessings: it forces us to come to terms with eternity & our
need to be right with God, & for a Christian it is an entrance into
presence of Jesus.
· If you don’t have a relationship
with Christ: let the frustrations, struggles & fragility of life accomplish
their purposes & lead you to hope, victory, & eternal life found in the
Savior. 2 Tim 2:10-13
o
If
you are a Christian today: Live by faith in spite of your struggles & failures,
knowing that Christ remains forever faithful to you.
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