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God's Grace in the Midst of the Fall

January 22, 2017 Preacher: Series: Grace in Unexpected Places

Scripture: Genesis 3:1–24

Key Truth: God’s grace permeates even the Fall and its resultant curses and exile.

 

Introduction:

Q: How would you define grace?

 

The Fall(ing) of Adam, Eve, and All Who Come After:

Genesis 3:1-7

“Satan smoothly maneuvers Eve into what may appear as a sincere theological discussion, but he subverts obedience and distorts perspective by emphasizing God’s prohibition, not his provision, reducing God’s command to a question, doubting his sincerity, defaming his motives, and denying the truthfulness of his threat. The serpent’s subtle changes to God’s words entirely distort the truth. He wants God’s word to appear harsh and restrictive. Eve gradually yields to the serpent’s denials and half-truths by disparaging her privileges, adding to the prohibition, and minimizing the threat….Good is no longer rooted in what God says enhances life but in what people think is desirable to elevate life. They distort what is good into what is evil.”

Bruce Waltke with Cathi J. Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary

Q: What are some things that you have deemed “good” for you that God had declared as not good or evil in His word? Do you know God’s word well enough to know the difference?

 

 

The Curse of the Fall and the Grace of God:

Genesis 3:8-19

“Adam’s rebellion, however, did not mean that God’s intended goal for the creation was subverted. On the contrary, Genesis 3:15 states that God promised to send one who would crush the head of the serpent. The work of the one to come was not merely to destroy the serpent but, as will be evident from the rest of redemptive history, to take up the abandoned work of the first Adam.”

J.V. Fesko, Last Things First: Unlocking Genesis 1-3 with the Christ of Eschatology

Q: Do you regularly take responsibility for your sinful failing or do you blame others, the circumstances, God? How does redemption in Christ free you to take responsibility?

 

 

The Mercy and Grace of Exile:

Genesis 3:20-24

“God is determined that man shall not so much as dwell in the garden where the tree of life grows; but be turned out, as into the wide world….Yet even in this as in the other threatening, we may perceive a mixture of mercy. Man had rendered his days evil, and God determines they shall be but few. It is well for us that life of sin and sorrow is not immortal.”

Andrew Fuller, Expository Discourses on the Book of Genesis

Q: Has God ever removed you from something or somewhere as part of His discipline? How did He reveal His grace to you in the midst of the removing?

 

 

Genesis 3:1-24 teaches us that:

-a poor knowledge of God’s word puts us at great risk for being led astray

-God’s discipline of His children always contains grace in Christ

-God’s mercy and grace are present even in the midst of the punishment of exile

 

“In eating the fruit, Adam and Eve attempted to gain autonomy and move away from their dependence on God. In his pronouncement, God outlines the trade-offs that have been made. Both Adam and Eve will still be dependent on him to carry out their primary functions and secure the benefits of blessing. The anguish and anxiety they experience in their functions will constantly exhaust their resources and cast them on God.”

John H. Walton, The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis

More in Grace in Unexpected Places

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Remembering the Grace of God

February 12, 2017

God's Enduring Grace

February 5, 2017

God's Means of Grace in Worship