It's Bleak Out There
Opening Prayer
My Lord God, what a privilege it is to have this time of fellowship with You. Thank You.
Read Genesis 3:14-24
[14] So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. [15] And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” [16] To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” [17] To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. [18] It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. [19] By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” [20] Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. [21] The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. [22] And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” [23] So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. [24] After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
What consequences of their choice did Adam and Eve suffer?The results of our sins are always dire. Eve’s two-word answer: “I ate” is correct but fails entirely to grasp the awful change her disobedience has brought about. In v. 13 Eve still feels almost like the innocent being formed so lovingly in God’s image. Now, however, harsh words are spoken, such as were never needed before: “eat dust … crush and crawl … through painful toil.” Of course, many of the details are familiar. This is the damaged world we know too well! Turn back to the verses of Genesis 1 to get a proper sense of what God wanted for the world–and for Eden. Contrast it with what it became as a consequence of our sin. It is important to notice that God describes Adam, Eve, and the serpent as “cursed”–he does not say, “I curse you.” This is the result of their own decisions. The Hebrew word used is horrible: it expresses utter disgust at something loathsome–the very ground itself is cursed, too (17). How else can the pure and holy God react? Yet the man and woman are not utterly forsaken. Charmingly, when we least expect it, here God himself makes proper clothes for them before he drives them out.
Apply
What consequences of sin do you see immediately around you? Thank God for his mercy in spite of your sin.
Closing prayer
Holy God, what terrible results came because of sin! Keep me mindful of the temptations I face.
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