The Curse And Our Deliverance (Genesis 3:14-19)
Life is hard. It really is. And in Genesis 3 we have a description of why there is so much difficulty in this life. Last week we saw that we all die because of Adam’s sin. He represented us in a covenant of works before God, and so we all die. But that is not the only hardship that we undergo because of sin.
Because of the disobedience of Adam, the world now sits under God’s curse. God Himself pronounces the curse and He enacted the curse that we all live under to this day. But in the midst of the curse, we find our deliverance from it. And today we will see the curse and its remedy.
As we have discussed repeatedly, the first 11 chapters of Genesis explain the world and people as they exist today. And here we are going to see why there is so much pain and heartache in this world. This week we will see that there is an overall difficulty in life that was introduced at the Fall from Genesis 3:14-19.
And today we will see the curse and its remedy.
The Snake’s Curse (Genesis 3:14-15)
As we think back to last week, we remember that Satan somehow used the serpent to tempt Adam and Eve to rebel against God and break the one commandment that they had to keep. The serpent, who exalted himself above man and called him to rebellion was cast down to Earth. He usurped the authority of Adam and Eve and would spend the rest of his time on his belly.
This had an affect on Satan as well, though we don’t often consider it. When we thin of the serpent, we think of Satan. Or, in some sense, we should. The image of Satan has been set before our eyes as slithering upon the ground, cast down by the mighty hand of God.
For many, the sight of snakes is a terror. I don’t like snakes. I try to avoid them. I make a lot of noise as I walk on a hike because I don’t want to step on one. Simply put, I really don’t like snakes.
We had chickens at home when I was a child. Well, my parents still do. One of the things that I did not like doing was checking for eggs at night. Yet, I still procrastinated and oftentimes ended up doing that at night. I always brought a flashlight with me because you would oftentimes find snakes in the chicken house trying to abscond with eggs for dinner. I still don’t like the thought of scanning the chicken house for snakes.
Fear of the serpent is a rather natural thing. The serpent slithering on the ground is a picture of Satan set before our eyes. And a picture of the effectiveness of the curse.
Through a look at fossils and genetic material it is understood by nearly everyone that snakes once had legs. Because of the curse they do no longer and the picture of the effectiveness of this curse is instantly seen in the snake eating dust that exists to this day.
The end of the curse discusses the enmity and warfare that would exist between the serpent and the woman’s seed. From this time forward there would be enmity and warfare between the woman and the serpent, between his seed and her seed.
I believe that we see this today. Abortion is a satanic evil upon the seed of the woman that is here today. To stand against abortion and for the Pro-life movement is to stand against Satan himself in the war against the woman and her seed. The seed of the woman, the first child of Adam and Eve would fall into sin and the ways of Satan when he murdered his brother. And over and over we see that children are demonically offered up to idols, whether it is in or out of Scripture. Satan still wages war against women and children today.
But there is much more to this text than what first meets the eye. This will be discussed more at a later point in the message, but this animosity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman plays an important role in what we have to say this morning. So, remember this, we will come back to it.
The Woman’s Curse (Genesis 3:16)
People are hit in the curse, both men and women, in an incredibly hard way. And it explains so much of why life is difficult for men and women today.
A few weeks ago we talked about their being two genders. Well, one of the things women can do that men can’t is have children. In fact, Eve was called Eve because “she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20 ESV). Simply put, men can’t do that.
Why does one of the greatest blessings come with such tremendous pain?
I was there when my wife had our children. It definitely looked painful.
Women have this incredible ability to have children and then to care for them as they grow. Why does it have to come through so much pain?
Because we live under a curse.
The serpent slithers.
Childbirth is painful.
But woman’s curse is not over. Remember, she was made as a helper for Adam. Adam was the head and they were to work together in subduing the Earth. We also saw that God brought them together in the first marriage in Genesis 2.
Well, the curse affects that too.
I want you to read two verses back to back. They are very close to each other and one helps us to understand what the other means.
“To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.“ – Genesis 3:16 ESV
“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.“ – Genesis 4:7 ESV
The first verse, of course, is from our text this morning. And it concerns a woman’s desire this side of the curse toward her husband. The ESV translates this world as “contrary to”.
The second verse is in the story of Cain and Abel. Cain is jealous and God is here speaking to him. He tells Cain that “sin is crouching at the door.” And if you remember the story then you know what is meant. Cain will eventually kill his brother Abel. The desire in Genesis 4:7 belongs to “sin”. And sin’s “desire is contrary to you”. The desire of sin is “contrary to” or set against Cain.
Interestingly, the two phrases are identical in the Hebrew. The word translated “contrary to” means “to” or “toward” in Hebrew. But the Hebrew can mean a few different things. That word can mean “to” or “toward” in either a friendly or a hostile way. But Moses’s usage of the same phrase in both chapters helps us to clear up what is meant in both phrases. In the same way that sin’s desire was to rule over Cain, woman desires to rule over man. The woman’s desire toward her husband would now be to seek to subdue her husband. But the man will not be subdued like Cain was subdued by sin. The end of that sentence is, “but he shall rule over you”. What does that mean?
It means that this beautiful relationship that we call marriage is now difficult. A struggle for control now exists in the relationship. Whereas, Eve was created as a helpmate for Adam the curse has made her want to rule over him and he will not have it. The curse here gets at the very heart of many of the struggles that men and women have in marriage. It’s a struggle that introduced pain and hostility into this most vital relationship between husband and wife.
As a young student pastor working part time at a little bitty church out in the middle of nowhere, my wife and I were tasked with writing the belief statement for the church. To this day I have no idea why we didn’t just say that we believe The Baptist Faith And Message 2000, but I did as I was told. When we got to the section about manhood, womanhood, and marriage I was sure there would be some objections. About 2/3 of the church had been divorced, but nobody said a word. But the moment that we began discussing the husband as head of the house and that the wife was to submit to the husband some faces turned red and there was a discussion. Why did something so obviously taught in Scripture get so heated?
The curse answers that question very plainly.
Because of the curse there is now a struggle for control within a marriage. And that came out very plainly during that business meeting. By the way, some of the guys were chuckling at me because they knew what was going to happen. I was young and not ready.
Why can marriage be so hard?
Why is the picture of Adam and Eve in paradise not what we oftentimes find in real life?
It’s the curse.
Why are things so difficult? Why is being a woman so difficult? The curse.
Why is childbearing so difficult? Why is childbearing so dangerous? Until modern medicine there was more danger in it, but even now it’s no walk in the park.
Why is childbearing so painful? Why does having children take such a toll on a woman’s body? It’s the curse.
Why is marriage so incredibly frustrating at times? Why does a woman feel the impulse to control her husband? Why is submission so difficult? Why are there men in this world that seek to dominate women? Why is there strife in marriage?
Why is life so hard?
It’s the curse.
Life on Earth is not all sunshine and roses and by the time you reach adulthood that becomes a stark realization.
We live in a fallen world. Do not place your hope in this life. Do not rest in security that is found in this life. We are looking for and longing for the life to come. This must be dwelt upon and considered as we go through seasons of hardship.
Teach your children not to hope in the things of this world, but in the life to come. I just got back from Florida. I love relaxing by the beach, but that is nothing in comparison to the beauty and grace of creation without the curse. That is nothing in comparison to untainted relationships. That is nothing compared to that day when there will be nothing to fear and nothing to dread.
And we should understand that as God’s Word is neglected the hardships of the curse will fall upon women and children even more as time goes by. Christianity, God’s Word is built to live in a cursed world. Other belief systems are not. Ancient civilizations were, most often, brutal toward women and children. Because where Satan reigns so does the abuse of women and children. In ancient Rome women were attracted to Christianity because of the abhorrent abuses that they underwent. And when Christianity grew in Ancient Rome the treatment of women became better. Is it any surprise then that as Christian principles are ignored and even mocked in America that women and children again find themselves in a dangerous situation? 1 in every 4 girls is now said to be a victim of sexual abuse and 1 in 7 boys. It is said that women and children were afraid to walk down the street for fear of what the powerful men of Rome would do to them. I fear that as Christianity continues to decline in America, and these numbers grow, the same will be said here.
Try as the world might, it cannot find anything that will curb this behavior. We are sinners who live under the curse.
The Man’s Curse (Genesis 3:17-19)
Man, who had originally been given the task of working and keeping the garden, would now find his task of working to be met with incredible hardships. It was Adam that was given the original commandment. It was Adam that the responsibility for all of this fell upon. And it is Adam that God gives a lot of explanation for what is happening.
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
“You shall not eat of it,”
Cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
(Genesis 3:17-19 ESV)
Because of the sin that he committed, because of his rebellion, his work would be hard for the rest of his life.
It is now difficult to make ends meet. And a general rule, it is not easy to provide for a family and most everyone in the room knows that. For Adam the difficulties came with the introduction of agricultural hardships. For us today it is the long hours that oftentimes seem to barely provide for our families. It takes a lot to put a roof over our heads and feed and clothe our families. It’s not easy like it was in Paradise.
Why? The curse.
And at the end of God handing down his curse to Adam he tells Adam that he will die. He was made from the dust, he will toil long and hard hours at the dust, and he will be returned to the dust. Adam was created outside of Paradise from dust and to dust outside of Paradise he would now return.
Men oftentimes stay up at night worrying about how to make ends meet, or how they are going to be able to retire before their bodies wear out. It’s not easy to make ends meet.
Why? We’re under the curse.
God gifted me to teach and preach God’s Word. But I’m only going to get to do that as long as my mind is healthy, and I can deliver that message.
Why do I have to think in those terms? We are under the curse.
And death is laid at the feet of Adam here. As we saw last week, death comes upon us all because of the sin of Adam. Adam sinned and brought death and pain to all of mankind.
But now we will return again to Genesis 3:15 because the curse that falls upon the serpent is the promise of our deliverance.
The Promise Of Deliverance (Genesis 3:15)
God said to the serpent back in Genesis 3:15,
“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
(Genesis 3:15 ESV)
And that warfare that exists between the woman, her offspring, and the serpent, would one day be really good news for mankind.
This passage of Scripture has been known by people throughout the history of the church as the “proto-euangelion”, which means “first gospel”. Gospel means “good news”. And that is what we call the message of what Jesus Christ has done on our behalf. This was the first announcement of what Jesus Christ would one day do.
One day a descendant of Eve would deliver the deathblow to Satan. The serpent would bruise the hell of the seed of the woman, but the seed of the woman would deal a blow to the head. When you consider how most snakes die at the hands of people, then you understand that this is a deathblow by a stomp to the head of serpent. The promise is that one is going to come that would crush the head of the serpent.
This is part of a long struggle between good and evil. I assume that Eve hoped her next child would be the Savior who would bring them back to Paradise, but her hopes were dashed when he murdered his brother. Later, God chose Abraham and promised to him that the whole world would be blessed through him. We know that this promised seed is Jesus Christ Himself (Galatians 3:16). It is Jesus Christ who would one day bring the blessing of Abraham to the nations. And we see the line of the seed pass through Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Joseph endured incredible hardship after hardship. But that hardship had a purpose. God preserved and saved His people through the suffering of one man (Genesis 50:20), which sounds a lot like the story of Jesus who was one man who suffered for the salvation of many. Then God’s people were enslaved, but God rescued them through Moses. But even then, God promised another prophet like Moses that would come (Deuteronomy 18:15). This person was none other than Jesus. Later God gave Israel a king. His name was David. And to David, God promised a throne that would last forever (2 Samuel 7:12-16). There is currently no king residing over physical Israel, but we are told that this is accomplished through Jesus who reigns supreme at the right hand of the Father right now (Hebrews 1:5-6). And the prophets later foretold one who would come as the Suffering Servant, but at other times they would tell of one who would come as the Conquering King. And both of these are Jesus Christ. He suffered when He came the first time (Isaiah 53), but when He comes again He will come as the Conquering King (Psalm 110).
You see, we offended God. We broke God’s Law. And our punishment for this was God’s wrath and justice. Or, what we might here call death. Physical death, as we discussed last week is what we see at a funeral. Spiritual death is separation from God. And both are in play here. We are separated from God because of Adam’s sin and our own and there is nothing that we can do to get back to God. There is no amount of good works that can save us. But God did not leave us in that condition. God the Father sent His only begotten Son to bring us back to God. Jesus lived a perfect life and accomplished everything that we should accomplish in this life. And then, though sinless and perfect, He died on the cross. There He paid the complete penalty for our sin in our place. He bore God’s wrath and justice that was due my sin in my place. He took away all my sin and shame on the cross and paid for it. “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.” And He credited me with righteousness. Then, after dying on the cross, three days later He rose from the grave. He conquered the power of sin and death and because He rose I can be declared righteous before God. Your response to that message is to repent, that is turn from ruling your own life. Repentance is a change of mind, but that change of mind leads to a change of action. It leads to us understanding and saying what God says about us. Namely, that we are sinners in need of the Savior, Jesus Christ. And we entrust our lives to Jesus Christ.
The person who turns from ruling their own life and trusts in the Savior will be brought back into beautiful fellowship with God. And one day, that fellowship will be felt and seen in its fullness in the New Heavens and New Earth.
This work that Christ has done has struck the death blow to the serpent. He is writhing in pain and agony as I speak these words to you. He is still powerful, but his end is near. A snake with its head cut off can still bite. And Satan, though he is writing can still inflict agony. But his wound is fatal.
The Church Joins In The Head Crushing (Romans 16:20)
At the end of his letter to the Romans, Paul mentions the crushing of the serpent in a rather interesting and informative way.
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” (Romans 16:20 ESV)
Jesus has delivered the death blow to the serpent. But we are working to crush the head of the serpent ourselves right now. Salvation is found only in Christ, but we, Christ’s people join in the crushing of the serpent as we take the message of Christ’s victory over Satan, sin, and death to a lost and dying world.
So we go to our friends and neighbors and we tell them that the Serpent has been slain by Jesus Christ, the promised snake crusher who will deliver us from all that the Serpent destroyed when he tempted Adam and Eve into sin and rebellion. Through faith in the snake crusher our sins are washed away and we will live in a world where the curse is no more. And as we deliver that message of Christ’s victory to a lost and dying world, we join in the crushing of the serpent. Every time a person is baptized in this baptismal that ancient serpent’s skull is fractured just a little more until one day when the King, the Chief Snake Crusher comes and finishes him off.
We are Victory Baptist Church. We don’t bask in our own victory. We glory in the victory of another. We live in the victory of another. And we go and tell of the victory of another.
We Look Forward To When The Curse Is Over (Romans 8:18-25)
As I look forward in the Scriptures, I see an explanation of what is to come. I see an expectation, a hope of a day that is one day coming. I see a day in which the curse under which we currently live will be no more.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:18-25 ESV)
Because of Adam’s rebellion against God, the world has been subjected to futility by God. But that is not the end of the story. It was done so that through the finished work of Christ all of creation could be set free from the curse that it now sits under. That is the day that our adoption is completed, when we see God face to face in the New Heavens and Earth.
All of creation, ourselves included, are awaiting the day when all this is fulfilled. Let every instance of pain and heartache that this world gives us be a reminder that things will not always be this way.
When we go to a funeral and see that lifeless body in the casket, let us look forward to the day when death will be no more.
When our backs ache from the difficult work that supplies food for our families, let us look forward to the day when the curse will be no more.
When there is disagreement between husband and wife and we’ve had to go through the difficult work of coming back together, let us look forward to the day when that strife will be no more.
Let us look forward to the day when the snake will be crushed and the animosity that exists between the seed of the woman and the serpent will be no more.
We can do all of this because, “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:20 ESV)
Conclusion
We live in world that is racked with the consequences of sin. We live in a world that has been rocked by the curse. Why is everything so hard? Why is their death in the world? Why is their sickness? Why are relationships so hard? It’s all here.
But the remedy is here as well. And that is found only in Christ.
R. Dwain Minor