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Paradise Lost and Promised
Genesis 3:1-24
There are many games whose goals are conquest and growth. In Sim City, the goal is to build cities with self-sustaining infrastructure. You lose when there’s disrepair or it self-destructs from crime. It’s the same in Monopoly. The aim is to build; but if you’re jailed or acquire bad debts, your properties are sold to recoup losses. In FarmVille, the aim is to increase productivity by harvesting. But if you don’t cultivate, the farm fails and you lose. In Age of Empires, the goal is to conquer and innovate. And if you don’t progress, other empires over take yours. You see, the goal is growth - to build a paradise. Now, these games understand the human drive to cultivate - to subdue and have dominion.
In Genesis we’ve seen the paradise God created for man. A beautiful kingdom with a perfect garden. As long as man obeyed God to work, cultivate, multiply, to subdue and have dominion; that beautiful garden would grow. He’d experience peace, joy, purpose, contentment, true love, and eternal life. It was a paradise. But man lost that paradise by sinning. The fact that such games understand loss shows it’s a common human condition. And Genesis 3 records that loss. That’s why, because of sin, life is messy, marriage is tough, and work is complicated! But we’re always trying to build our own paradise. We hope to find it in marriage and work. But we’ll never find it in them. Genesis 3 records that loss of paradise lost. We’ll see it in three divisions. Firstly, man’s rebellion against his king. Secondly, the king’s judgment of the rebels. Thirdly, the king’s mercy on the rebels.
Firstly, man’s rebellion against the king. In verse 1 we learn that paradise did not remain very good. “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” We see words of doubt from a serpent - did God really say you can’t eat of any tree? Now, why would paradise have this character, a crafty serpent creating doubt? Now, we’re not told why here. We can only surmise that after the “very good” of Genesis 1, something terrible happened. Ezekiel 28 reveals it. One of God’s angels (created on day 1 or 4) fell from his original righteousness. And this angel or ancient serpent, was called Satan in Revelation 12:9. The one who deceived the whole world. But while this wasn’t known to Israel in Moses’ time, yet the description of a serpent would’ve been highly significant. They were bitten by poisonous snakes. They knew how deadly they were. So the use of serpent was meant to scream danger! And even worse! It talked! So many wonder if it was a literal snake or not. After all, snakes have never spoken. Neither do they eat dust. Adam and Eve would’ve known this when they named the animals. Yet some illustrations show a snake with legs before, and a snake without legs after the curse. And a case can be made linguistically to describe a bright angel. And there was something compelling about it for Eve to reply it. But what’s clear is this - Satan created doubt in paradise! “Did God really say that you can’t eat of any tree?” Whereas God created paradise, Satan created doubt. And Eve increased that distortion by adding to God’s Word - “We may eat of [any]…but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” God only said don’t eat - she increased distortion by adding “don’t touch.” Satan inserted doubt by saying how unreasonable God was to prohibit a tree. Eve picked up on the accusation and increased it. “Yes! Not just don’t eat, but don’t touch!”
Seeing his chance, Satan moved from doubt to words of temptation. He issued a direct rejection of God’s command. God prohibited mankind from eating that tree on the pain of certain death - thou shalt surely die. But Satan said, “Ye shall not surely die.” He then suggested God wasn’t good, that paradise wasn’t paradise. And that they could do better. He did so by creating dissatisfaction. Verse 5 - “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” God only created you in his image. That’s not good enough! If you eat, you can be God! Then that’s paradise! It’s not good enough that God created time and space, light and darkness, water and air for life, land and vegetation for food, sun and moon for food cultivation, and animals for you to domesticate - with a wife as helper. You have to be God!
Beloved, dissatisfaction and rejection are declarations of your own godhood. When you’re dissatisfied, you’re saying God’s not good. When you reject God, you’re saying you’re your own God. Notice that the first and last commandments are two sides of the same coin. If God isn’t your God, you’ll try to build your own paradise. And what you covet becomes your god. What I have isn’t good enough - I must steal. He took away my dignity, I must kill him. My marital status brings no joy, I need to fornicate. Such inner rationalizations led to the loss of innocence. Eve rationalized in herself. In verse 6, she rationalized the tree was good for food - like other trees, only it wasn’t; and it was pleasant to the eyes - as God made the other trees, only it wasn’t; and it could make her wise like God. Hey! I’m already created in his image. Surely, he’d want me to be more like him, to know good and evil. Surely, he’d want a better paradise for me. God wants me to be happy. She rationalized that the Paradise wasn’t good even though God said it was very good. She rationalized that she deserved to be happier. All temptations are like that. And she believed her rationalizations. So she took the fruit, ate it, and gave it to her husband. She didn’t subdue or dominate this serpent. Adam also didn’t stop her rationalization. “But we’re getting married soon. He’s almost a Christian. I deserve that money. I scolded her because I’m right.” This is what temptation does. As James 1:14-15 says, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” The results of sin were immediate.
We see secondly, the king’s judgment on the rebels. God confronted them. He called to Adam in verse 9 - “Where art thou?” Adam replied he hid because he was afraid. He knew he was naked. The result of sin is fear. Already in verse 8, when God’s spirit came like a breeze in the evening, they hid. Why? They now knew evil. While God knows evil by separating from it, they knew evil by participating in it. And not only did they know evil, they knew they were evil. That’s why they hid. Thou shalt surely die! Paradise was paradise because they communed with God. But communion was now broken between God and man. And we see the extent. God created man and placed him in paradise with a helper. But when God confronted him why he ate the fruit, Adam blamed him - “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” You didn’t give me a very good wife! Sure, she didn’t subdue Satan, but neither did Adam! And context implies when Satan was tempting Eve, Adam was also present. Verse 6 - she gave the fruit to her husband who was with her. There was broken communion between God and man, but also between man and woman. Not just fear, but shame. Verse 7, “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” In Paradise, they were naked and unashamed. Now there was shame. They each knew the other’s sin. And they wanted to hide. Husbands and wives often hide shame from each other. So Paradise was no longer. They neither subdued nor dominated Satan. They were subdued and dominated by him. She didn’t help him, neither did he protect her. So in the midst of paradise with trees pleasant to the sight, there was shame and fear. Paradise was lost.
But remember, God was still good. Even though Paradise was lost - he promised redemption. Note the order in which the blame went. From man to the woman, to Satan. But God issued his judgment in reverse order - from Satan, to the woman, to man. So firstly Satan. Verses 14-15 - “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Thou art cursed - this is the first time God curses. Because of Satan, the sin of the woman and man, Paradise was lost. To regain it, Satan must be cursed. God promised to destroy Satan through a descendant of the woman.
And this was shocking! In the midst of loss, there was a promise to restore. God was gracious. Man should’ve surely died, but he didn’t. He’d live to be fruitful and multiply; until that offspring would destroy sin and Satan. How? By crushing his head - by subduing and dominating Satan. And until then, Satan’s power would be limited. He’d eat dust all the days of his life. And here, we know it wasn’t directed at a snake - even if there was one - but it was directed at Satan. He’d bite the dust. He’d be down until the final blow. How? By a man crushing Satan’s head. And this was wonderful news. The Israelites in the wilderness then realized why they were saved. They were bitten in the wilderness - maybe on their heels. To be saved, all they needed to do was to look at a bronze serpent. Even in Egypt, despite their hardship under the snake crown wearing Pharaoh, they still multiplied. So this was hope for Adam and Eve. A man, bitten on his heel, would crush Satan and restore Paradise. They could look to that man.
Which is why when judgment that came on Adam and Eve. it would be a gracious judgment. When God addressed Eve, he didn’t curse her. He’d give her pain in motherhood. Her role was to be fruitful and multiply. But motherhood would be painful. And her role as a helper would be tried. She’d struggle now with being a usurper. You’ll desire to control your husband, but he’ll subjugate you. Wait, how’s that gracious? And to the man - God cursed the ground. Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree, cursed is the ground. Making a living will be painful; you’ll bear fruit, but also thorns. And you’ll work hard until you die. Wait, how’s that gracious? Instead of paradise, Adam’s descendants would live on a cursed ground. Meaningful work to subdue and dominate would not be easy - there’d be hardship. And the hardship wouldn’t end until you die. So how’s it gracious?
It’s gracious because of the promise of restoration. Work would be hard. Family and marriage would be painful. Because of sin and Satan. We can see that. What causes problems in family life? Sin - sinful parenting, idolatrous parents, and disobedient children. What causes problems in marriage? Bossy wives. Weak husbands. Angry men and women. How about work? Difficult bosses make you build brick without straw. Lazy employees refuse to work and want to retire early. And everyone still wants what they want - and they’ll try to subdue and dominate until they have their own paradise. But it’s impossible. Someone’s paradise will be someone’s paradise lost. Problems. In the end, you’ll die. But there’s a man who’ll destroy sin and Satan and save you from his tyranny. And if Satan is destroyed, the curse is reversed. Such judgment spurs us to look at that man! There’s mercy in judgment.
Thirdly, the king’s mercy on the rebels. We learn straight off after these judgments were given, there was mercy to redeem. In verse 20 we learn - “And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.” Adam named her Eve. Why? She was the mother of all living, not the dead as should’ve been the case! And she didn’t die. She lived. And she’d be fruitful and multiply, so her seed would destroy sin and Satan. And we see a foretaste of what he’d do. Verse 21 says, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” God clothed them with skins. Animals were sacrificed to clothe their nakedness. Like how the man would be crushed. He’d subdue Satan, when they couldn’t. As animals clothed their shame, this man, if they looked to him, would cover their shame. He’d restore them to communion with God. They’d no longer hide from him because of their sin.
But there was also mercy by expulsion. In verses 22 onwards, God kicked them out of the garden. Why? It’s because “…the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil…” Man was like God in knowing good and evil. But how? God is good and not evil, but he knows evil because it’s the opposite of everything he is. But man knows evil because he participated in it. And how else is he like God? God is permanently good. He can’t change. Man is now also permanent in his wickedness. He can’t change. But he can be changed. He just needs to look to that man. So until that man is born, God barred Adam and Eve, lest they eat of the tree of life, and live eternally and permanently in sin and wickedness - never being saved or changed. Imagine a race of immortal Hitlers. So God in his mercy, prevented him from such a fate. But while this tree was barred from him, God would make another tree of life available.
God would send his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem us. Our Lord Jesus Christ was born. He lived on cursed ground, in a place that was no paradise, so that he could die on the cross - on a cursed tree. It was an instrument of death for him, but it’s to us, a better tree of life. That by his death, he gives us life, and restores us to a better Paradise - in heaven. He was lifted up, even as that bronze serpent in the wilderness; surely dead because he was bruised by Satan. But by his resurrection, he overcame death. Even in life, he triumphed over Satan. In that wilderness, a cursed place, not a garden paradise, he resisted the temptation of Satan. When tempted to turn stones into bread, he saw they were not good for food, only he the bread of heaven was, preaching the gospel that man shall live by every word of God, without distortion. When tempted to cast himself off the temple, to have the worship of angels, he resisted rising above God. Because he was a servant. And when tempted with kingdom paradises of the world, our Lord lived for only one kingdom - the kingdom of God. Which is why he didn’t live to build his own kingdom. He died to restore God’s kingdom. And he did it by subduing and dominating that old serpent.
Beloved, we’re living outside Paradise. Thank God the original garden is no longer available. But we’re still trying to build our paradise. We try to find it in a companion or work. Some of us must repent of our trust in work to give joy. Some must repent of our idol in having a spouse. We need to take a long hard look at our mess. To repent that we’ve eaten of these fruits. Then look at Christ. Believe that he alone is that tree of life. Partake of him and all his benefits. Believe that one day, Paradise shall be restored to you. And then with that gospel, go and subdue the world, in Christ. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church. Wives, submit to your husbands as the church submits to him. Laborers, go into the world and work, not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And seek first his kingdom. Live as those saved by him. Live as those whose hearts have been subdued. And he will grant unto you peace, joy, purpose, contentment, true love, and eternal life.
1. Man’s Rebellion Against His King
A. The words of doubt
B. The word of temptation
C. The loss of innocence
2. The King’s Judgment on the Rebels
A. He confronts the rebels
B. He promises redemption
C. His gracious judgment
3. The King’s Mercy on the Rebels
A. Mercy to redeem
B. Mercy by expulsion
C. Mercy by a better tree
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Mark Chen, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2025, Rev. Mark Chen
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