1/30/2022 - Paradise Lost - Genesis 3:1-19 - Pastor Jason Fritz

There they are. Adam and Eve are crouching behind a tree, attempting to hide from God while wearing a scratchy fig leaf. They look ridiculous. The whole scene is sad. What went wrong? Satan came with a one-two temptation punch for Eve (and us today). 1. Doubt God’s goodness. 2. Doubt sin’s badness. Adam’s eyes were wide open the whole time when he and Eve responded to Satan’s offer of “take and eat." Immediately the air becomes different, things are no longer care free, there are new feelings of anxiety and fear. They run for cover. But God graciously pursues as a parent who loves his children. Of course there must be consequences. In an instant, the original couple passed from life to death, from sinlessness to sin, from harmony to alienation, from trust to distrust, from ease to dis-ease. It did not take a day. It took a millisecond! Adam and Eve as our genetic parents represent us all starring in the reality show, “Paradise Lost." The party is over and the blaming begins. But God has yet to reveal just how loving and gracious he is. Within God’s appointed consequences there is an astounding gospel promise of hope. One day, the works of Satan and death will be destroyed once and for all. From here the story takes an amazing plot twist that works its way through the rest of the Bible.  God will take the punishment deserved by humans and place that punishment on his son, Jesus Christ. This is grace. Jesus, during the last supper, will take the bread and he will repeat some familiar words… “Take and eat”…but his words, unlike Satan’s, will lead to life. However, Jesus will have to die in order for man to live. That’s grace. Have you received this grace? We’re all under the same judgments as Adam and Eve you know. Those things haven’t changed. The question is: have you grasped God’s gracious way out through Jesus?