Genesis 3:10-15
Having
chosen the way of sin, we are ‘naked’ and ashamed (10). The Gospel
teaches us that ‘there’s a way back to God from the dark paths of sin’.
We can be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. We can bring the
‘filthy rags’ of ‘our righteous acts’ (Isaiah 64:6) to God, and we can
exchange them for the perfect righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians
5:21). Putting our trust in Christ, we need not be ashamed in God’s
presence (Romans 10:11). There must be no ‘passing the buck’ - the man
blaming the woman, the woman blaming the serpent (12-13). We are to
confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness (1 John 1:9). This
forgiveness comes to us through the Cross where the suffering Saviour
becomes the victorious Victor and the subtle serpent became the defeated
devil. This is the message of verse 15: through the Cross, God has
provided for us a full salvation!
Genesis 3:16-25
Sin
has consequences. Human life could never be the same once sin had
entered it. The effects of sin can be seen in the whole of life. The
most profound effect of sin is summed up in verse 22. We cannot reach
out our hands and take hold of eternal life. There is no way to heaven
which begins with the word ‘I’. We must begin with God - ‘God so loved
the world...’ (John 3:16). No sinner can open the door of heaven:
‘Christ only could unlock the gate of heaven, and let us in’. Sin leads
not to heaven but to ‘death’. If we insist on trying to get to heaven by
our own good works, we will earn our ‘wages’ - ‘the wages of sin is
death’. Come as a sinner to Jesus. Come to Him, saying, ‘Nothing in my
hand I bring, simply to Thy Cross I cling’ ( Church Hymnary, 83). Look
to Him alone for salvation, and know the truth of God's Word: ‘the gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 6:23).
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