Genesis 3:13-20
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
16 To the woman he said,
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’
20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
Cursed
When we come to Genesis 3:13-20, we see the consequences of sin. Whereas family, work, and rest existed in the world prior to sin, once man had chosen to take control of his own life apart from God, family (3:16), work (3:17-19), and rest (3:19) became cursed. The curse on the ground is the beginning of all environmental disasters; it is the beginning of all disease, war, and pain. With each curse, there is a reversal of God’s gracious, creative power. Adam, created from the dust of the earth, is cursed to return back to it. Eve, created out of Adam, would be dominated by him. The serpent, created more crafty than any of the other animals, is now brought down on its own belly. The consequences of sin are evident in all of creation. Because of our sin, death entered into the world; death is Satan’s greatest weapon against God’s creation, representing the power of the curse. Still, while Adam disobeyed, centuries later, the curse he deserved would fall on a different man. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans and Galatians that Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, would be cursed so that man could experience the newness of life again—the way he was created to be. God certainly takes our sin seriously; He sent His own Son to die for our sakes. Yet, in His wisdom and power, Jesus used Satan’s greatest weapon, death, formerly used to complete the curse, to defeat Death once for all. In what ways do you still take your sin lightly?
Prayer
Dear Father, you are a God of holiness and justice; you do not overlook a single sin. Thank you for your wisdom, love, mercy, and power in making a way for your people to be renewed and reconciled to you. Teach me to take my sin seriously—its power over me. Teach me to live out the defeat of sin and death through the person and work of Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
