A MESS ...... BUT

MARCH 6, 2023 

GENESIS 3:1-16

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

16 Then he said to the woman,

“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.”



How would you summarize our Bible reading today in a few words?

Genesis 3:1-16 often is given a title, like Why Life Is a Mess. Makes sense doesn’t it, everything we hear about or experience that is painful or hurtful or generally not of God, can be traced back to this moment in the Garden when the devil tricked humanity into believing a lie.

Let’s admit it the lie sounded good. The devil made a strong argument, and the spin the serpent uses does make it seem like God was holding out on the people he created - that God was not wanting Adam and Eve to experience everything life had to offer. Here is the thing though, the devil leaves out one very crucial detail, it is that Adam and Eve would now experience death. You see to this day, one of the devil’s best scams is taking our minds off the near-certain consequences, and getting us to focus on a short-term gain, that is often a lie too. I have fallen for it, haven’t you? We all fall prey to this, and the consequences would be our doom – if it wasn’t for God’s love for us in Jesus.

Jesus stepped into the mess with us and for us. "The wages of sin is death," but on the cross, we observe that “the gift of God is eternal life.” 

Jesus willing laid down his life, and so his death and resurrection became the act of love, that lifts us out of, what the hymn calls “the miry clay and sets our feet on the rock to stay." The take away is that when Jesus willingly stepped in for us, messy as it was, God’s love, grace and mercy was more. What I hear in all of this is that because of Jesus loving action, a lie that could result in separation between us and God, lost its power to do so.

LET US PRAY

Lord God, thank you for your love and compassion. In your amazing grace, you know me perfectly and completely and you call me your child. I confess that at times I am vulnerable and easily deceived, and I ask that you help me hold to your truth always, so that I may live in your love. It is in Jesus’ name that I lift these things up to you. Amen.