The Grace of God for Men in Christ

This sermon is from Grace Fellowship Church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. To access other sermons or to learn more about us, please visit our website at graceedmonton .ca.

O Heavenly Father, it is good that we can come to your word.

Lord, that you have given it so freely to us in so many different ways and translations for us to understand it and read it.

The word of God, O that we may know you first and foremost above all.

Lord, that you have revealed yourself to sinful men and that you at the same time in your word reveal to us our

Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, as we open your word now, we ask for your help.

I am but a man with a poor, lisping, stammering tongue.

Lord, there is no power in any of my words. Lord, would you speak.

Lord, add truth where truth needs to be added and take away falsehood where it needs to be removed.

O God, Lord, show us your glory now and show us Jesus Christ. We wish to see

Christ. O show him to us. In his name we ask.

Amen. Sometime during the second half of the 19th century,

Charles Spurgeon and his contemporary, a man named Joseph Parker, was the pastor at a church founded by the

Puritan Thomas Goodwin. They were both ministering at churches in London. On this one occasion,

Joseph Parker had made a comment regarding this poor condition of the children that were coming into Spurgeon's orphanage.

Somehow, by some way or another, it was reported to Spurgeon a little bit different than what was said.

It was told to him that Dr. Parker had criticized the orphanage itself.

And so, what did Spurgeon do in response? On the next

Lord's Day, he went into the pulpit and blasted Parker publicly in front of his congregation from the pulpit.

And because many of Spurgeon's sermons were so often printed and relatively quickly published, at the time this attack too made its way into the newspapers in no time and became the talk of the town.

And so, another week later, on the following Sunday, people flocked to Joseph Parker's church in hopes of hearing the response of this man to this vile attack from Spurgeon.

And so, Parker on that day is quoted as saying, I understand Dr. Spurgeon is not in his pulpit today.

And this is the Sunday they used to take an offering for the orphanage. I suggest, he said, we take a love offering here instead.

And so, the crowd present was delighted with this response of this pastor and the love he had shown.

And when this offering was collected, the ushers had to empty the collection plates three different times.

And so, a few days go on, and later in the week, there's a knock at Parker's study on his door.

And he opens the door and sees none other than Spurgeon himself. And he said, you know,

Parker, Spurgeon said, you have practiced grace on me. You have given me not what

I deserved. You have given me what I needed. The last few weeks in this narrative of the fall in Genesis, we have spent a good amount of time now studying the topic of sin.

Man's sinfulness and how readily he sins. The sinfulness of sin itself, how it separates man from God, as well as all the curses that plague our lives now as a result of our first parent's sin.

We know, we fully understand the situation that the man and the woman, and by extension, all of us find ourselves in.

And so now we come to the end of Genesis chapter 3. And there has arisen, and even continues to arise throughout these verses, a desperate need of grace.

For Adam and Eve, as well as for us. A grace that has to come from the outside of themselves.

They can do nothing to remedy the situation they have put themselves in. Everything they have done up to this point has led to misery and death.

And as descendants of Adam, we of course find ourselves with the same need.

And so Spurgeon's words, I believe, remain true for us today. We need grace.

I've skipped a page. Oh, there it is, sorry. But not just any grace. We need

God's grace, and particularly we need the grace which He has set forth in His Son.

And after much of this gloomy darkness throughout the entire chapter of Genesis 3 here, as we see our need for grace grow, we now see, if you will, the first glimpses of that grace of God toward man.

But what I want to do today is, I don't want to leave us merely with the faintest shimmering of this light amidst all this darkness.

As I worked through this passage, trying to work out what it means and how it applies to us,

I found myself over and over coming back to one thing. And so what I want to do today is very simple.

I want to show you one thing. By taking these hints of light and grace that Adam and Eve received,

I want to show them to you in the fullest expression in Jesus Christ. My goal, my only goal today, is to set before you a glorious Lord Jesus Christ that we need to see amidst of all the sin in chapter 3.

I want to show us, I want us to see first the hope that we have in Christ.

And then secondly, the covering of our sin and shame that we have in Him. And then lastly,

His reconciling us to a holy God. And so if you haven't already,

I invite you to turn to Genesis 3, verses 20 and 24.

And we'll begin to consider the hope of Christ. Verse 20, the man called his wife's name

Eve because she was the mother of all living. Now at first reading and without much thought, this verse can almost seem out of place to us.

What does Adam naming his wife have to do with anything? They've just fallen from the state of innocence into a state of sin.

But I believe that is the very context we have to keep in mind when we come to verse 20 here. Allow me to quickly refresh our memories.

God had given Adam the command not to eat of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Despite this warning that they should die, both husband and wife took and ate.

But doing so, sin entered the world and brought separation from as well as fear of God.

Last we saw, you remember all the curses that God had pronounced for the breaking of that first covenant that he had made with Adam.

Pain and childbearing, contrary desires between husband and wife, cursed ground that now brings forth natural disasters, thorns and thistles, the difficulty of work, in short nothing good has come out of man's sinning.

This disobedience to God and the position he finds himself in is now a rather desperate and difficult one when we consider the state that he has fallen from.

So with all that in mind, we read that Adam names his wife Eve. The Hebrew for Eve there is a causative form derived from the word for living.

It could be rendered as life giver. Because Moses, you'll see continues in the second half of the words, because she was the mother of all living.

Amidst all these ugly and horrible consequences of sin and the curses,

God implied that the human race would continue. Verse 16, earlier

God had said, God had not said that the woman would never bring forth any children at all, but that she would do so with great pain.

Adam in naming his Eve shows that he believed that very promise, that life for the human race would continue.

But more importantly, I believe he believed verse 15, the proto -evangelium as it's often called, this first gospel in which

God had spoken of a seed, an offspring of the woman that would bruise the serpent's head.

Adam believed what God had said, that his wife would bear one who would defeat the serpent.

And so instead of sinking into utter despair without knowing when, without knowing who and how all of that would be accomplished, when all he had was the

Word of God, a gracious provision spoken of, it was to come to pass for him in this dimly lit future sometime, he took comfort and hope in the promised offspring, and he continued on with life in this now fallen and cursed world.

Matthew Hendry put it this way, It, the naming of Eve, was an instance of his faith in the

Word of God. In a humble confidence and dependence upon the blessing, the blessing of a

Redeemer as promised, and promised seed to whom Adam had an eye.

Their lives were already being preserved by this promise, as they would be the ones through whom the seed would come.

Calvin writes, as soon as he had escaped present death, being encouraged by a measure of consolation, he celebrated that divine benefit, which, beyond all expectation, he had received in the name he gave his wife.

Adam had a hint of the grace of God by promise, but it was enough for him to take hope, comfort, and courage.

There's a story a man tells, while this man was in college, he visited this medical institution with a bunch of his fellow students to observe various types of illnesses.

Afterwards, this man describes this experience, and he says it was so disturbing to him.

He speaks of a man in this place who was called No Hope Carter, and it was such a tragedy to him.

Carter suffered from a disease that was in its final stages, that was starting to affect his brain, and just before this man began to completely lose his mind, he was told by the doctors that there was no known cure for him.

And so, what did this man do? He begged, he begged for just one small ray of light in his darkness, but was told that this disease would have to run the inevitable course, inevitable course, and lead to death.

And so his brain gradually continued to deteriorate, and this man became more and more despondent.

So this man, telling this story, he goes on. He went back to this place, and just a couple of weeks before Carter died, he saw him in his small room, and Carter's pacing up and down.

His eyes are just staring blankly now. His face is just drawn and pale, and over and over he could hear him utter these pitiful words, two pitiful words of no hope, no hope.

The man says that was the only thing Carter said. Brothers and sisters, we still live and are in this fallen world, and that we daily experience all these consequences that have come through our first parents' sin, all the disappointments, the hurts and sin of our fellow men towards our sin, towards others, the hardships of our daily labor, the difficulty in our marriages, the pain of childbearing illness, and illnesses that lead to death.

We are not to be, in all honesty, like no hope Carter, without any hope in life or death.

We have all the reason for hope, comfort, and joy. In Luke chapter 3, at the end of the chapter, after he has given us the account of Christ's birth, and Simeon's confession in the temple at the presentation of Jesus, when he says that he is the salvation of God, a light to the

Gentiles and a glory to Israel, after John had prepared the way for our

Lord and Jesus' baptism. In other words, after all that, after it is clear that Christ is the

Son of God, come to bring salvation, Luke gives us a genealogy of Christ.

He goes chronologically backwards in time. He begins with Joseph, continues through David, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, all the way to Adam, who is the last man listed on the list before God Himself.

You understand that Adam saw a glimpse at most, perhaps a faint light in the future, but it was enough for him.

But through this genealogy here, Luke shows us that Christ, we know that Christ is the promised seed that was promised to him and Eve.

We don't only have the promise, we have the substance, the fulfillment of it.

We know who the seed is, the offspring who will crush the serpent, that through His death, the bruising of His heel,

He has destroyed the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and has delivered all those who were slaves to sin.

Let us not despair despite our fallenness and sin in the world.

We are not to be hopeless, joyless men and women, continuously worn down and defeated by our own sin, as well as the effects of the curse.

We are sinners. Sin is sinful and brings deadly consequences.

We have gone through all of that the last few weeks. But let us rejoice in the hope of the

Savior, the hope of righteousness, the hope of salvation, not in this life only, but also in the one to come.

Through the one man, Adam, came death. But in Christ, the promised seed, by the grace of God, we are made alive and have hope to press on, not despair in the face of sin and death that is so pervasive in our own lives and all around us.

Does the grace of God provide us with this much -needed hope that we have of Christ in the face of sin and death?

But it gives us a covering of our very sin and shame.

Secondly, in verse 21, The Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them, even though Adam and Eve had displeased the

Lord. They had come under His discipline. He does not leave them to their own devices, does not leave them to themselves.

Remember in verse 7, earlier in the same chapter, Adam and Eve had attempted to make themselves loincloths, fig leaves, and it was immediately after they had fallen.

Of course, as you can imagine, leaves are not the greatest option for clothing.

They will wilt and droop and dry out over time, provide minimal or no protection at all against the elements.

And so God shows His much -needed grace to them once again in making clothing for them.

Despite their rebellion, instead of leaving them in their despicable state with this inadequate, poor clothing of fig leaves sewn together like a loving father,

He makes for them this durable, lasting clothing fit for this world with a cursed ground producing thorns and thistles.

He covers their nakedness, which they become so shameful.

And so this animal is slain. Its skin is used to make clothes.

But not only does it provide a covering for them, but it shows that there can be no sin without death.

Adam and Eve's rebellion brought about the death of an animal.

God could have killed them right then and there on the spot, and it would have been perfectly just to do so.

But instead, an animal was killed for them. In His grace, He provides a covering for their well -being and shame through the death of another.

And again, our need here slowly begins to become clear. Commentators have pointed out that in verse 21 here, the killing of the animal is the act where God laid the foundation for the sacrifices.

A theme that, of course, the Jewish reader at the time would be so familiar with due to the regular animal sacrifices that took place in the tabernacle and later in the temple.

For example, in the burnt offering, we see a giving of animal skin.

In Leviticus 1, the opening verses, in verses 3 and 4, we're told that this offering served to turn away the wrath of God from the one who had offered it so that atonement could be made for him and he be accepted before the

Lord. And in this offering, the whole animal was to be burnt up on the altar except before the skin, which

Leviticus 7, verse 8 tells us, belonged to the priest. Matthew Henry, commenting on this verse, referring to the burnt offering, says this.

These sacrifices were divided between God and man in token of reconciliation.

The flesh was to be offered to God, a whole burnt offering. The skins were given to man for clothing, signifying that Jesus Christ, having offered himself to God as sacrifice of a sweet -smelling flavor, we are to clothe ourselves with his righteousness as with the garment that the shame of our nakedness may not appear.

John Gill, some of you might be aware of him, an 18th century Calvinistic Baptist pastor, commented on these garments of skin and said they were made but of creatures slain not merely for this purpose of making garments of skin nor for food but for sacrifice as a type of the woman's seed whose heel was to be bruised or who was to suffer death for the sins of men.

The very first killing in the Scriptures has a redemptive purpose in providing clothing for Adam and Eve through the death of another.

It lays the foundation for the sacrifices that followed and points us to the seed which was to come as the true fulfillment of all those sacrifices.

The idea of a substitutionary sacrifice that the penalty of sin must be paid by another has its beginnings here in Genesis.

And then more light is shed on it throughout the Pentateuch when, for example, you remember

Leviticus 16 and the Day of Atonement. The priest offers a goat as a sin offering for the people because of their transgressions in order to cover, take away their sins.

And when he's done that, he puts both of his hands on the head of a second live goat confessing all the sins of the people of Israel in order for the goat to bear them before it's driven away into the wilderness.

And just like Adam and Eve, just like the Israelites could not cover their own shame and hide their sin from the

Lord, we have the same need still for Him to provide a covering for us as well.

Because that law that followed Adam and Eve was but a shadow of the good things that were to come and these sacrifices that were offered year after year and week after week and day after day for centuries could never make the sinner perfect.

Because, as Hebrews says, it was impossible for the blood of goats to take away sins.

We need more than that. We need that to which it all points.

Brothers and sisters, we have that to which it points already. Do you see this?

We don't have that which precedes the sacrificial system, that which merely clothes us outwardly.

Nor do we have the sacrificial system, but the very sacrifice that fully, entirely, completely, eternally covers all our sin and shame.

We have that which fully appeases the wrath of God. Jesus Christ, the

Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, clothing us not in garments of skin, but with the brightest robe that is

His perfect righteousness. We stand no longer naked and uncovered with shame before God.

There has been a sacrifice for you, Christian, that far exceeds any bull or any goat.

God has given His own Son, who perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

If you've never come to Him, then come now. He's willing to give you to that robe of His righteousness without any spot or blemish, without any price, where your sins and shame is then placed on Him, and He bears it all away.

That is the very sacrifice, Christian, that we have, this side of the cross.

Adam was shown in this death of this animal, the earliest signposts, pointing toward Christ.

The Puritan John Bunyan, in his commentary, said, By this action the

Lord God preached to Adam and to his wife the meaning of that promise that you read of in verse 15.

God Himself would provide a sufficient clothing for those that accept of His grace by the

Gospel. We don't have a mere signpost. We have that to which it points,

Jesus Christ, whom God Himself put forth as a propitiation by His blood.

You can rejoice, brothers and sisters, we can rejoice with the words of the prophet

Isaiah when he says in chapter 61, verse 10, I will greatly rejoice in the

Lord. My soul shall exult in my God. Why? He goes on, Therefore He has clothed me with the garments of salvation.

He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

But the grace of God in Christ doesn't stop there. It not only gives us hope in the face of sin, covers our sin and shame, but it thirdly reconciles us to God.

Look at verse 22 through 24. He drove out the man, and at the east of the

Garden of Eden he placed a cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the

Tree of Life. Adam and Eve now begin to experience this complete separation from God and this being sent away from His presence.

It's due to their, as verse 22 says, having become like Him. Good commentators are divided here between those that believe that verse 22 is spoken in irony and those that believe it is not.

I'm currently leaning toward an interpretation that reads it as a statement that is meant by God, spoken in seriousness and with compassion.

The man and woman had become like God in some aspect of this knowledge of good and evil.

They now knew what it meant to obey and disobey Him. They knew the shame, the fear, and the consequence of sin.

The eyes of their conscience, as you remember, had been immediately opened after they ate the fruit, though they had most certainly not become like God in essence or in the way they had imagined when tempted by the serpent.

Instead of divine status, they received human death. They find themselves in a sad position, having lost this innocence, having greatly distorted the image of God in which they were created, and in the state of fallenness, are no longer able to attain eternal life by the means of the tree of life.

That profane, this temple, garden, where God met with man.

So they're sent out of Eden, and with that any chance of escaping their penalty by now eating of that tree was destroyed.

And though God graciously softens the punishment of man by driving him out of the garden to work a ground instead of subjecting him to the torment he deserved, this being sent out of the garden was no mere insignificant act.

The word in verse 24 here, translated as drove out, is one of the

Hebrew words that is used for divorce. It conveys this sense of being driven out from a possession.

This relationship that man had with God has now been completely severed.

He's been completely cut off from God's presence in the garden and is kept out for good by the placing of this cherubim and this flaming sword of fire.

Now these cherubim, we have to spend a little bit of time here, are a specific type of angel that is closely associated with the glory and the holiness of God.

The prophet Ezekiel describes their appearance in his prophecy in chapters 1 as well as in 10.

They're mighty and fearful creatures usually depicted as having the body of a lion, the wings of a bird, and the face of a human.

In chapter 10 of Ezekiel, when he's given the vision of the glory of God in verse 18 and 19, when the glory of God is departing from the temple, he sees the glory of God above the head of the cherubim arising with it as the glory of God leaves.

Psalm 99 verse 1 adds to this.

It says, Let the peoples tremble. He sits enthroned upon the cherubim.

Let the earth quake. Statues of these cherubim were also prominent in the tabernacle.

During Israel's time in the wilderness, this massive tent that they had was divided in two sections.

It had the holy place where the priests would do their work, and it had the most holy place into which nobody was ever allowed to enter except the high priest only once a year on the

Day of Atonement. There was a massive curtain that divided the holy place from the most holy place.

On this curtain were embroidered cherubim. The same on the

Ark of the Covenant that was kept within the most holy place. This golden chest, if you can imagine it, had a golden lid on top, and on top of that lid were two cherubim standing on it.

That was the place we know from Exodus 25 verse 22 or 18 that it was the place where God would meet with his people.

R .C. Sproul has helpfully pointed out that cherubim protect God's holiness and prohibit sinners' access to Him.

And this is exactly what we see here in verse 24. Fallen man, profaned by his sin, no longer able to commune with a holy

God, a God so infinitely above him, so holy that even the seraphim that are in his very presence have to cover their faces with two of their wings, so holy that even angels that have sinned against him are not spared and committed to gloomy darkness.

Nothing unclean can enter into his presence.

Judgment indicated by his flaming sword of fire had been pronounced against man.

There was no possible way now for him to ever enter into Eden again and be with God the way he had been prior.

He had been banished. This exile they now experienced was decisive and definitive.

This excommunication complete. All of this, one Puritan writes, was not done to drive

Adam to despair but to oblige and quicken him to look for life and happiness in the promised seed.

It's there in the promised seed that we look to God for reconciliation. The only way to once again enter into this blessing and enjoyment they had squandered was by the grace of God through the offspring promised to them still.

And as the promised seed, it's Jesus Christ who has initiated a new way for sinners to enter into the very presence of God.

Brothers and sisters, in closing, let me remind you that not all is lost.

If you are in Christ, you have been fully reconciled to God. He has offered himself without blemish.

Even though you were alienated from him because of your sin, he has reconciled you to God in his body of flesh by his death and presents you as holy and blameless and above reproach before him.

There no longer remains any separation now for those in Christ Jesus. You are no longer defiled in his sight and don't remain in a state of being driven away from God but everlasting communion with him.

The grace of God was shown to Adam and Eve in these last verses of this garden narrative.

It's not a mere speck of light that leaves us guessing regarding our sin and crushes us under the immense weight of it.

They saw so dimly by a promise. We have the true and the full substance of it in every way possible.

A hope for life and death, a full covering of our sin and shame and a full and lasting reconciliation to a holy

God. Let's go to him in prayer. Thank you for listening to another sermon from Grace Fellowship Church.

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