Covenants 4

The Covenants of God Part 4—The Results of The Fall
Reading: Gen 3:1-22
Text: Gen 3:14-22

Introductory Thoughts

ü Now, what we are looking at today is not a covenant, though it has been called a covenant, and that is one reason we need to look at this passage.
ü Another reason for looking at the results of the Fall is that the judgments based on the Fall are (humanly speaking) what led to God’s establishment of covenants in the future. Now we know that this all fit into God’s grand and glorious plan, but as we put ourselves into this story, the plan has not yet been revealed.


1. Context of the text: the Facts of the Fall—

a. The Setup—

(1) Satan had already rebelled, with his angels.
(2) Isa 14:12-15
(3) Satan had been cast down to Earth, though he still had periodic access to heaven.
(4) Satan assumed the form of a serpent to tempt Eve—Rev 12:9 "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Rev 20:2 "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,"

(5) Adam had been present when God gave the commands, but Eve was not yet created.

b. The Temptation of Eve— Gen 3:1-5

(1) Engaging in “polite” conversation.
(2) Eve Misquoted God
(3) The Lies of the Serpent

c. The Fruition and Commission of Sin“… She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate."

(1) By Eve—Gen 3:6
(a) Eve Was deceived
(b) Eve gave in to the deception
(2) By Adam—and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
(a) Adam had failed as a teacher
(b) Adam had failed in leadership. He was there and did not intervene

d. The Immediate Results of Sin—Gen 3:7-11

(1) Guilt and shame
(2) Cover-up
(3) Loss of communion with God

e. The First Spinmeisters—Gen 3:12-13

(1) The Man “…God, it’s your fault, you gave me the woman…”
(2) The Woman: “…the devil made me do it…”
f. And then follows our text—


2. A Very Important Question—What Is Going on in Gen 3:14-22?

a. First, God is not establishing a Covenant with anyone.

(1) Some Covenant Criteria are met

(a) There is a universal scope to these words.
(b) These statements are definitely one-sided and dictatorial
(c) But this is not a covenant.

(2) First Criterion not met—A Covenant is an agreement conceived and established by God Himself, with a man, a family, a nation, or creation.

(a) God is not making an agreement or a Covenant with anyone at this time. He is meting out punishment for sin.
(b) If there was a Covenant being made here, then Satan was a party to it!
(c) The actual words which some take to be the Covenant of Grace (the promise of a Redeemer in Gen 3:15) were said to Satan! They constitute more of a threat than a promise.

(3) Second Criterion not met—Covenants always involve blood and cutting.

(a) Some have said that God’s provision of the skins involved cutting.
(b) This indeed seems to be a foreshadowing of the Cross.
(c) But the sacrifice was not made by a man! In every covenant called a covenant, the blood was shed by man, including in the New Covenant.
(d) In every named covenant, the sacrifice was made by man, including the New Covenant, where the God Man made the sacrifice.

(4) Third Criterion not met—Covenants have rules and regulations of administration and enforcement.

(a) Nothing was set up—there was no system of worship or government that came from this encounter between God and man.
(b) Man was still under the same commands as before, to replenish the earth, etc. There were no new commands given, nor any structures.
(5) Fourth Criterion not met—Covenants are so named by God—God does not call this a covenant!

b. What God is doing in 3:14-22 passage:

(1) God is pronouncing judgment on all the participants in this conspiracy of evil.
(2) There is no covenant being established here; God is judging the transgressions of those involved in the Fall.
(3) There is a Judgment on Satan—Verses 14 And 15
(4) There is a Judgment on Woman—Verse 16
(5) There is a Judgment on Man—verses 17-19.
(6) There is a Judgment on the Relationship Between men and women—also verse 16
(7) We see the Naming of the Woman in verse 20
(8) We See God’s gracious provision in verse 21.
(9) And we see the Final Explusion from the Garden in verse 22.

3. The Divine Judgments Arising From the Fall

a. The Judgment on Satan—Gen 3:14-15

(1) The “Serpent” was Satan in the form of some reptile, whose species is unknown.
(2) here are not, nor have there been, any reptilian creatures with powers of speech and reasoning. This had to be some kind of reptile possessed by Satan for this purpose.
(3) 2 Cor 11:3 "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."
(4) The curse on the Serpent – Gen 3:14-15
(5) The particular reptilian creature was cursed, relegated to a lower life.
(6) The Curse on Satan— Gen 3:14-15

(a) Satan himself was cursed; he has fallen from the high place, and will be humbled by God forever.
(b) There will be continual war between Satan’s seed (lost people and the lost world system) and the people of God.
(c) John 8:44
(d) John 15:16-19
(e) Eventually, Satan will be crushed by the Son of God.

(f) John 12:30-31 "Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. 31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out."

(g) John 14:30 "Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me."

(h) 2 Th 2:8 "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:"

(i) Heb 2:14 "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;"

(j) 1 John 3:8 "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."

b. The Judgment on Woman—16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

(1) Sorrow multiplied—why do mothers have sorrows? It is part of the judgment on womankind. Believers are not immune to the common effects of the Fall, as the “name it and claim it” crowd would have, and the sorrows of mothers are the continuing judgment on the sin of the first mom.
(2) Conception multiplied—Most commentators believe this means that part of the judgment was that for most women, conception was too easy.
(3) The pain of childbirth. Both the physical pains and the mental anguish that result from bearing children are part of the continuing effects of the Fall upon all women who bear children.
(4) The love/hate relationship with man—more later, but this was a judgment on woman, on man, and on men and women together.

c. The Judgment on Man—17 And unto Adam he said,

(1) The Reason—a failure of leadership. Adam listened to his wife instead of obeying God—
(2) The Ground itself is cursed—before, Adam tended the garden, now he must wring food from the earth—
(3) Hard work is the normal lot of mankind—19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,
(4) Death, and separation from God—the most frightening judgment—Adam did not physically die that day, but he did die spiritually.

(a) His sin resulted in him becoming a sinner, and all of us as well.
(b) Rom 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"
(c) Rom 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death”
(d) 1 Cor 15:21-22 "… by man came death…. 22 … in Adam all die…

d. The Judgment on the Relationship Between men and women— and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee

(1) Why are there marital troubles? The answer is sin.
(2) Not just the sin nature and the sins of those in the marriage, though that is a factor—in the best of circumstances, two fallen people, even two saved fallen people, living together in marriage is a challenge.
(3) But part of the problem is the state created by the inherited sin of Adam and Eve, and the conflict allowed by God as a judgment on the first sin.
(4) The key to resolving marital conflict is to recognize its source and attack the problem at the source, not deal with the symptoms. If a man and woman both are born again and they get their relationship with Christ straight and keep it straight, that fixes a lot of the difficulties.

e. The Naming of the Woman—20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
f. Eve did not name herself, Adam named her.
g. The gracious provision—21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

(1) They had no good cover for their nakedness, and God covered them.

(2) How? By shedding blood, the blood of animals!

h. The Final Explusion— 22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 "Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken."





4. The Long-Term Impact of the Fall

a. The Long Term Impact of the Fall on Satan—15 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.

(1) Satan is a defeated foe, doomed to fail.
(2) His hatred for God and for God’s people is unrelenting, but he is a lion on a leash—he can only go as far as God will allow him to go.
(3) The Rage of Satan— Rev 12:12 "Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."

(4) The final destination of Satan— Rev 20:7-10

b. The Long-Term Impact of the Fall on Women—

(1) Centuries of misery and oppression
(2) Further sin and rebellion against God.
(a) The Women before the flood
(b) The Women at Babel
(c) The Priestesses of the pagan religions
(d) The queens and other powerful women who opposed God.
(e) Women involved in sexual perversion
(f) Rom 1:26 "…For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:…”

(3) The present day rebellion

(a) Feminism and sexual freedom
(b) The Abortion movement—the desire to fornicate without consequences.
(c) Increasing numbers of gay women

c. The Long-Term Impact of the Fall on Man—

(1) Centuries of war, misery, and oppression.
(2) Centuries of disease, famine, pestilence.
(3) Further sin and rebellion against God.
(a) The men before the flood
(b) The men at Babel
(c) The Priests of the pagan religions
(d) Kings who opposed God at every turn.
(e) Men involved in sexual perversion
(f) Rom 1:27 "And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet."

(4) The present day rebellion
(a) The “Playboy” or “good old boy” ideals, and sexual freedom
(b) Support for the Abortion movement—the desire to fornicate without consequences.
(c) Increasing numbers of gay men and women challenge the created order by their very lifestyle.

d. The Long-Term Impact of the Fall on the Relationship Between men and women—
(1) Continual deterioration of marriage
(2) The idiocy and nonsense of “relationship gurus.”
(3) The destruction of the family.

e. The Scarlet Thread of Redemption Seen

(1) The promise that was a threat and a promise.
(2) Gen 3:15 "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."
(3) Gal 4:4-5 "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."

(4) The first sacrifice, that foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice.

(a) They had no covering for their nakedness
(b) They had tried to make their own covering
(c) Their covering would not protect them from the cold, cruel reality of life outside the Garden
(d) God provided a covering by shedding blood and the skins so gained provided the covering for the man and woman.

Applications

1. All the sin and misery of mankind was caused by what we looked at today.
2. The judgments of God against man remain in effect, and we suffer the natural consequences of those judgments today.
3. The most profound judgment against man was that of death, separation from God, of lostness.
4. The Sole remedy for that judgment is the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
5. 1 Cor 15:21-22 "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."