Friday, August 15, 2014

GENESIS: Man's Punishment because of Sin; "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return!"

And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:11-13)

In the previous lesson, we studied the punishment the Lord God gave the wife because ...the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. (I Timothy 2:4)  So women, if we don't want to deal with the consequences that came from this sin, best is we stay single and a virgin, because There is a difference between a wife and a virgin [unmarried woman]. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. (I Corinthians 7:33-34) Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. (I Corinthians 7:2)

Now, the Lord God would explain the punishment given to the man. Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19) 

Women, especially mothers and wives, we do the men in our lives a grave disservice when we don't allow them to do what the Lord God has commanded them to do, which is work!  Men, the Lord God has given you the responsibility to work, to provide for yourself and your family, even though it will be hard; ...to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned,... (Titus 2:6-8)

The Apostle Paul had used the example of how men are to work to earn their food and to be an example to others. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. (II Thessalonians 3:7-10)

There's two things that's for certain, for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.  In between, ...let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. (Ephesians 4:28)  Because of man's obedience, God causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread which strengthens man’s heart. (Psalm 104:14-15)

And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. (Genesis 3:20-21) Adam had named all the animals, because the Lord God ...brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. (Genesis 2:19) Now, he gave his wife a name, Eve meaning mother of all living. God has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being..., ‘For we are also His offspring.’ (Acts 17:26-28)

God is Spirit,... (John 4:24) and we exist within Him.  As King David said, Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You. (Psalm 139:7-12)

The Lord God also declared, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (I Peter 1:16, etc.)  But, the sin of Adam and Eve separated us from God. Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. (Isaiah 59:1-2) God did not want mankind to be separated from Him for eternity, so until He fulfilled His promise to Satan, that "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15); the final punishment against mankind and the earth was most severe.

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24)

We will study this in more detail in future lessons, but the Lord God could no longer dwell with mankind because of sin; nor would He allow man to take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever, because mankind would remain in sin forever. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son [the Seed], born of a woman [mother of all living], born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)

And unfortunately, because of man's sin, God also instituted the necessity of making sacrifices to atone for sin, by making tunics of skin, and clothing them.  Remember, after they sinned, At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. (Genesis 3:7)  Well, the Lord God deemed it necessary to sacrifice an animal to make a more appropriate covering, because God truly loves mankind, and ... “love will cover a multitude of sins.” (I Peter 4:8)  Unfortunately, now the animals and all creation would have to suffer also because of man's sin.
Until all that God has prophesied is fulfilled through the return of Christ Jesus, what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. (Romans 8:18-21 NLT) 

For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.) (Romans 8:22-25 NLT) 

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. (Ephesans 1:7-12) AMEN!

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