The Village Church
Inception of the Gospel - Audio
(upbeat music) How deep is the Father's love for us? Deeper than we ever know. If you have your Bible, please. Open them to Genesis three. We're gonna finish up our steady of Genesis three today. We're gonna be focusing on verses 20 and 21. Here's God's word. The man called his wife's name Eve because she was mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife, wife, garments of skins, and clothed them. Please pray with me. Father God, it's been three weeks since I've been in the pulpit and I'm a little nervous, but I'm always nervous and I think that's a good thing because it's not about Alex. It's not about me, it's not about my reputation, but it's about yours. And I pray that I would get out of the way, my pride would get out of the way and your spirit would take over, your spirit would come and speak through me. And that you will be increased. You will be praised more. You will be loved more because of what your word, because of your word this morning. And I pray that your spirit would preach it to my heart and to the heart of everyone here in Christ in my prayer. Amen. Well, for the past, I guess six weeks now, a longer than that, I guess, we've been going through Genesis three and we've been looking at it from the viewpoint of inception, which means beginnings. We saw the inception to question God's word and his provisions in verses one through five of Genesis three. We saw the inception of rebellion in verse six, right? And we saw the inception of consequences for Adam and Eve sin in verses seven through 13. Do you remember where those consequences were? Loss of innocence, broken fellowship with God. Blindness to lostness, there were loss before God as well. And we saw the inception of judgment in verses 14 through 18. That is where we left things the last time I preached three or four weeks ago. In those verses, the Lord God, he handed out judgment to the serpent, to Eve and to Adam. And he was fully justified in doing so. And, and he is fully justified in what he does in verses 22 through 24. You see in those verses, we didn't talk about those verses last time, but he gave our first parents an eviction notice, an eviction notice from the garden. What does he say? What does the words say? In verses 22 and 24. Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, "and knowing good and evil." Now, at least he reach out his hand and take also of the true life and live forever. Therefore, the Lord God sent him out from the garden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden, he placed the cherubin and the flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. Through sinful rebellion, Adam and Eve obtained his knowledge of good and evil. And now, there is no way sinful, fallen man can be allowed to live forever. Because if he ate of the tree of life, that will be the case. Living forever in his fallen state, living forever independently of God, with no need of a savior if he can live forever. So God drove them out of the garden. He evicted them, effective immediately. No two weeks notice, no extension today. You're out. You're out. Their eviction out of the garden and them then pushed away from the tree of life, that highlights their broken relationship with the Lord God. And as one pastor says, God is shutting the door from the possibility of a man ever re-entering into communion on his own terms. He's shutting the door from that. Never again can man on his own initiative re-entered the state of Eden. That door is closed, because you have fallen. So he drove them out. He kicked them out and now the question before us are they hopeless? Are they hopeless now? Have God just completely abandoned them? You see, if Genesis 3 was a Hollywood movie, the verses 22 and 24 would be the ending story, the end of the movie. And if you come into a movie at the very end of it, can you really get a full perspective of what's going on in the movie? If you just come in and watch the last five minutes, no, you can't. So what you have to do is you have to rewind the tape, right? We wind the movie to get a better idea of what's going on. And if you rewind Genesis 3, go back a couple of verses. You will see that there is hope. There is healing, there is restoration. There can be redemption. You see, the Lord God did not completely abandon them. He did not. Do you believe that? Do you believe that? Okay, thank you. You will see that even though Adam and Eve failed, even though they messed up big time in the garden, you still see hope. You still see God showing them mercy. You still see it. And so what are we going to see this morning? We're going to see the inception of the gospel. Right here in Genesis 3, the inception of the gospel. Right here, hope, picture hope given to our first parents, even though they failed. The first thing we see here in verse 21 is that the Lord God made for Adam and Eve and his wife clothing, skin, garments of skin, and clothes them. And this was the sign of hope. The sign of hope that things were not completely hopeless, that God was going to still provide for them. He made the garments. And so this is the first time since Genesis 1 and 2 that the Lord God has made anything, right? First, Genesis 1 and 2, God creating things, bringing things up to his existence. And here in Genesis 3, we see him creating again, making provision for his fallen kids. As one commentator says, this was the first sign of the divine mercy. The first display of the divine mercy by the Lord God. He's been a merciful and hopeful provider. You see, he could have left them wearing the fig leaves, right? Couldn't he? He could have said, going out with your fig leaves. I'm not going to give you any other clothing. You messed up, not get out. No, he did not send them out in fig leaves. He provided a more suitable clothing for them, garments of animal, skin, stronger and more durable, which they were going to need that type of clothing for a life outside of Eden. They were going to need that. No longer could they walk around in the nakedness with no shame. Oh, that was over. That was a buy-by. It's gone, never to return. So God showed them mercy, mercy. And you know what else? Even the eviction notice when the garden was mercy. Well, how can that be, Alex? I've just said it. If they were the aid of the tree of life, that would have made things worse. They would have lived forever in their fallen condition. If you can live forever, did you need a redeemer? Do you? You don't. And if they would have lived forever been falling, they would have been living forever completely separated from God. Then the curse that God said wouldn't have happened. You were not, they wouldn't have died because they ended the tree. So the Lord God drove him out of the garden. That's mercy, do you agree? That's mercy. And so God's action here is one of mercy. But we also see something from Adam that we haven't seen in Genesis three, so far. Verse 20 says, "The man called his wife name Eve "because she was mother of all living." Keep in mind that the Lord God, he judged Adam a couple of verses later. I mean, it was harsh judgment. It wasn't lightly. Listen to what he says to Adam. Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree which I commanded you, you shall not eat. Curse is the ground because of you, Adam. In pain, Adam, you should eat of it all the days of your life. Throwing in thistles, it's a brain fork for you, Adam. You should eat the plants of the field, Adam. By the sweat of your face, Adam, you should eat bread till you return to the ground. For out of it, you are taken for you are dust and to dust, you shall return. Now, if someone just told that to me, I don't know if the next verse would be on the name of my wife Eve, but that's what he does. He was just told, you're going to die, Adam. You're going to die. You're going to die and there's nothing you can do about it. You're going to die because of your rebellion. But Adam's response isn't war is me. He doesn't say all this loss. He doesn't say I have no hope to go on, but he responds with calling his wife's name Eve. You know what her name means? You know what Eve means? It means life. It means life, but she is the mother of all the living. Now, you read these words here and you wonder, you know, what's so unique about him? What is so special about the fact that he named his wife life? You see, in verse 21, we see mercy from God. In verse 20, we see faith from Adam. Faith from Adam, really. How those words, words of faith, they are. They are, words of faith. And so, they seem to be out of place when you think about it. Verse 20 and 21, 'cause you have judgment. Those two verses are in the context of judgment. You got to see that. And it seems like they're out of place in the Florida chapter. It's like, why would he say that? He just got judged. Don't you think it would be a little depressed? But no, doesn't show depression. And those words are there for one reason. And that is to show you that there is still hope for Adam and Eve. That all is not completely lost. Yes, they've matched up big time. Yes, they failed. Yes, that relationship with God is broken, but they're not completely hopeless. And all of us here are witness to that, right? Even as believers, you still fail. You still mess up. And does God completely cut you off? Has he ever cut you off? Has he ever disinherited you? Because you fell, because she messed up? God's mercy, Adam's faith. And notice that Adam's response of faith comes before verse 21. But what's interesting about that? Because his faith was not in the garments of animal skin. His faith was not in those new garments that the Lord God has just given them. Just like the fig leaves. The garments of animal skin were not gonna bring him restoration, redemption, reconciliation. Those garments were not gonna make him right with God. They were not gonna free him for the dominion of sin and death. They were not gonna reconcile him to the Lord God. You see, you need all the material things that you have. Need all the weight of any blessing that God has given you this past year or the blessing to come. Those things are gonna make you right with you. There's something else that does. Even though those garments were mercy, there still were not the source of Adam's faith here. Isn't something else. I don't know if how many of you have seen The Matrix Trilogy. This is one of my favorites movies. And the third and final installment of it, the article told Neil or Neil or Neil, the one, that everything that has a beginning has an end. She says, "I see the end coming. "I see darkness spreading. "I see death. "And you are the only thing that stands in his way." If you ever seen the movie, then you know his way is referring to Agent Smith, who is wreaking havoc all through The Matrix. And when him and Neil finally meet for that final battle, for that final fight scene, Mr. Smith says to Neil, "Can you feel it, Mr. Anderson, closing in on you? "Oh, I can. "I really think, I really should thank you. "After all, it was your life "that taught me the purpose of life. "The purpose of the, of life is to end. "After all, Mr. Anderson, "your life taught me the purpose of all life. "The purpose of life is to end. "Is that the purpose of life? "Is that a true statement? "You see, when God originally created life, "it was not created to end. "It was never intended to end in death. "It ends in death because of Genesis six, "because of the fall. "Send is the darkness that brings death. "But the beginning of the end of sin's dominion "overfallen people had us beginning in Genesis three. "As well. "The beginning of the end of sin's dominion over you "was given in seed form in Genesis three. "It was given to you. "How is that possible, Alex? "How is that possible? "Look with me at Genesis three, 15. (gavel bangs) This is the Lord God speaking to the serpent. He says, "I will put hostility "between you and the woman, "between your offspring and her offspring. "He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel." Many Christian theologians and commentators, they see that as the first announcement of the gospel, the first announcement of the gospel right there in that one verse, Genesis three, 15. Given to our first parents that the seed of Eve were one day defeat the enemy, the evil one, Adam heard that promise from the Lord God and believed it. It gave them hope in the midst of their own falliness. As one commentator said, Adam heard the promise of Genesis three, 15, and faith. So he called his wife Eve. So he called his wife Eve. Do you see that? There. Adam was just for his fault in the fall. In the next verse out of his mouth was of faith and hope that from his wife Eve, the mother of all the living would come to see the hope who would one day crush the serpent's head. The Lord God said, I'll put hostility between the woman and you, between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, you will bruise his heel. The Lord God himself is gonna do this. There will never be peace and harmony between the two. Conflict, spiritual conflict, spiritual war. Between the two. Who is the seed? If you notice here, seed is singled. You see the woman, not seeds of the woman. And when you read through the book of Genesis, you can't help but to see that the term seed is a very important concept in the book of Genesis. That's why you have all the genealogies in the book of Genesis. And they're there for one purpose. It's not taking up empty space. And what you see developing in Genesis, you have an ungodly line and a godly line of people. You know who's the ungodly line in Genesis? Cain, who's the godly line? Seth, which one does the seed of hope comes from? Seth. That's what he's talking about there. The line of Seth is the seed of the woman that will produce that future hope, which is the Savior. Even though Adam displays faith here, he does not live to see the fulfillment of that. He does not live to see the fulfillment of that seed who will come. And for a matter of fact, none of the Old Testament saints live to see the fulfillment of that. Generation, centuries, past before Genesis 3.15 was fulfilled. In the beginning of this fulfillment happened on the very first Christmas, the birth of Christ, who is the seed in Genesis 3.15. The Messiah, Emmanuel, the verbiage flesh, the gospel, Jesus. He is the seed of hope. The seed of promise that was one day going to crush the serpent's head. How did Jesus fulfill Genesis 3.15? He did it by his life and death and resurrection. He fixed what we all messed up. He lived a perfect life and died of heinous death in our place. You see, Paul says in Romans five, that by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. That's Adam. And by one man's obedience, many would be made righteous. That's Christ. Because of our first parents, all of us are sinners. And it's only through Jesus that a sinner can be made right. Who is the seed of hope? There is no other way. There's no other name on the heaven given by which man can be saved. For God made him who knew no sin to be sinned on our part so that we might become the righteousness of God. Right? Is that the gospel? Do you believe that? Or is it just a story? Or is it just a story? You see, every year around this time, for last week anyway, we have these Christianized catchphrases. Jesus is the reason for the season. Keep Christ in Christmas. And hey, if Jesus isn't in your life, the logical conclusion is you ain't going to keep him in Christmas if he ain't in your life. He ain't, so the question for us is, what place did Jesus have in your heart? What place did Jesus have in your life? He's more than just a reason for the Christmas season. He's a reason for all of life. And if your only interest in him is only two weeks out of the year, then he's not much of a savior to you. If the only time you think about Jesus, it's one month out of the year. It's all about Jesus. It's December. There is he really a savior. Or is he just what I call an iron-on savior? You know the iron-on, right? You can iron it on when you need it, take it off or you don't. Well, it's December, so when you pull the iron-on off, talk about Jesus for four weeks, then Jane Red first, I pull him off, then I'm back to my early ways. Then when these, well, I gotta go, then Easter comes, I talk about him some more, then I pull him off again and come December, I'm pulling him back on. Is that your Jesus? Is it? You see, Adam understood that it was gonna take more than just an iron-on seed or hope. That's gonna fix the messed up situation he was in. It was gonna take a permanent solution, a temporary one. See, they lost everything in the fall. They lost their innocence. They fell into the meaning of sin and death. They were separated and it was gonna take more than the iron-on to fix that. Jesus is not an iron-on savior. What he did upon the cross, what he did with his resurrection was gonna bring hope. It was gonna bring salvation. It was gonna bring reconciliation. It was gonna bring restoration to you. It was gonna make you right with God. It was gonna make you righteous before God. That's what he did. He not only made you right with God, but he freed you from the dominion of sin and death. Do you know that? He freed you from it. The curse that came to Adam, Jesus suffered. He died. And rose again. So you don't have to. And now he turned the curse of death into victory. Then when we die, we cross over. You see the beauty of the gospel? He turns death into victory. 'Cause that's how you get to glory is through death. That's good news. That's wonderful news. That's the gospel. Chris Tomlin's song, one of his songs, he says, "What can take a dying man and rise him up again? "What can heal a wounded soul? "What can make us whitest snow? "What can feel the emptiness? "What can man not brokenness? "What restores our faith in God? "Is it nothing but the blood of Christ "and shed upon the cross? "The only thing. "He's not an iron on safety. "And if that's what you're looking for, "then you need to get another savior. "He's a permanent man. "And he offers salvation to you if you don't have it. "And if you have it, fall more in love with him. "Jesus needs to be branded upon your life. "You know what a brand is? "You put it in hot fire and you stick it "and brand yourself. "Brand Jesus over every area of your life, "every relationship, every circumstance. "Bring yourself with Christ this year." That's a new year's resolution to surrender every area of my life to my savior and not just talk it, but live it. Give it to Jesus who is the beginning and the end of the gospel. Pray with me. Father God, I pray that prayer for my life that I won't just preach it, but I live it, that you will be branded all over my life not just when I'm upfront on Sundays, but Lord, during the week, when I'm with my family, when I spend time with my kids, when I'm meeting with people, when I spend time in your word, that Christ will be there, not some iron on savior that I can pull off and on whenever I need to, when it fits my circumstances. But you are the reason for all of life, and I pray that I would know that and believe that. And I pray that for every one of us, Father, that Lord, we will love Jesus more today than we did yesterday. We believe the gospel more today than we did yesterday. We will rest in your righteousness for us more today than we did yesterday. Holy Spirit, make these things a reality, not just a prayer, but make it a reality in all of our lives that Jesus will be branded all over us and every area and every way. We'll pass them up right now. [MUSIC PLAYING]