Three and Three


Genesis 3
(This is the same text as yesterday, if you would like to go and read it again.)
Protoevangelium. There's your big word for the day. It means "first Gospel". In verse 15, God gives His first indication that all is not lost. Even though Adam and Eve have sinned, and The Garden of Eden is lost to them, God still has a plan. This plan has been in place from the beginning, but now He reveals that there will be a Savior. All hope is not lost. The words are spoken to the serpent but meant for the ears of Adam and Eve. Since we have all of the Bible and Adam and Eve were living it rather than reading it, they didn't have the luxury of hindsight. We know that the Father did indeed send the Son of Man to crush the head of the evil one. His heel was bruised. He shall bear the scars of our sin on His hands and feet for eternity. But the victory was complete. The enemy was crushed on the cross and no longer can accuse the saints of sin. He has been cast from heaven forever.
Of course we still must deal with the temptations of Satan on a regular basis. But if we live like a people who have victory over him in Christ Jesus, we are the winners. Far too often we live like a defeated army, dragging themselves home from a losing battle. We are not on the losing side! God has won, and Satan has been crushed.
 
Paul picks up this picture for us in Romans 16:19-20.
19For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
20The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Not only is Satan's head going to be crushed, God's going to use OUR feet (through Christ) to do the crushing. He gets stomped. It's a vivid picture, but one worth holding onto when tempted!

One of my toughest tasks as a parent was allowing my girls to suffer the consequences of their mistakes. Often, I would try and remove those consequences and I believe today that may have been a mistake. Consequences help us understand the importance and severity of our sins. Without consequences, we are much more apt to repeat the mistake and perhaps earn even greater negative responses than we got the first time.
 
Adam and Eve now stand before The Lord as He addresses their disobedience. He doesn't try and hide it; He doesn't say "Ah, that's okay." No, He faces their sin head on and demands that they do the same. The serpent (Satan) has already been dealt with as he learned that he will be the quintessential loser. His head will be crushed, and he will ultimately be destroyed.

Eve will experience great pain in childbirth. Most women will tell you that not only is the delivery painful, the previous nine months can be tough too! Eve will also be subject to her husband - but she will forever try and take his place as the leader. Discord enters a once perfect relationship.
Adam will now have to toil long and hard for the food that goes on the table and because of sin, all people will now experience physical death. These are the consequences of the choice for disobedience and we still live (and die) with them today.
 
I find it interesting that God deals with the devil first. I think that is because God is always about grace first and foremost. Before explaining what their disobedience would mean to them and to their relationship with God, he tells them that there will be a Messiah. Even in the moments of our greatest sin all hope is not lost. The Savior who was promised in verse 15 did indeed arrive and defeat sin, death, and the devil for us. While we still must live with the consequences of our sin, we always have forgiveness through Christ.

While pondering this chapter during a recent sermon, it occurred to me that Satan tempts Adam and Eve with 3 sins; doubt, lies, and pride. And God meets that sin with three graces; the promised Messiah, shed animal blood to create a covering, and chased them from the Garden to keep them from living in their sin forever. Three and Three. God meets us at our every need, every time; even when we aren’t even yet aware of our need. He did this with our first parents and He does this with us every single day.

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