I have a lot on my mind and heart to say to you tonight from the text of Genesis Chapter 3, so let’s open our bibles to this final section of Verses 20 through 24, Genesis Chapter 3.
In the third chapter of Genesis we basically are dealing with the subject of the origin and impact of sin, and we have done many messages in this chapter. We now come to the end of the chapter, where the theme is the promise of redemption.
We have studied the origin of sin, the impact as far as the curse, and now the impact as far as redemption.
Let me read Verses 20 to 24.
“Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. And the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; now, lest he stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever’ — therefore, the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”
Now as we approach these verses, the five verses that end this great chapter, I want to remind you that God is by nature a Savior of sinners. In fact, God bears that title. 1st Timothy Chapter 1, He is called, “God our Savior.” Titus Chapter 1, Verses 3 and 4; Titus Chapter 2, and then again in Titus Chapter 3, God is called “God our Savior.” First Timothy 4:10: “God is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.” And when God came into the world in human form, Jesus Christ, He also is called our Savior: He came “to seek and to save that which was lost.” And one of the things that is very clear in scripture is that God has a disposition in his nature to save sinners; to save them from sin, to save them from the consequence of sign, to save them from the power of sin, to save them even from the presence of sin. This is not foreign to the nature of God. This is true to His nature. And I’ve told you in the past there is no other deity in the pantheon of human and demonic religions, there is no other deity that has ever been invented who is by nature a Savior of sinners. This is the utter uniqueness of Christianity; that our God, the true and living God, the only God, is a Savior of sinners by nature. And we are first introduced to God as Savior in the five verses that I just read to you. This is the first time in the Bible that God is presented as a Savior.
Right after the fall, early in the chapter, following immediately upon the curse that comes in the middle of the chapter, God is introduced to us as a Savior. Here in that amazing fullness that God can put in a few words, we find him being introduced as the Savior. We find here the introduction of his plan of redemption. We find here the indication that he is bringing salvation to sinful people. Now, all of the components of salvation are present in the text that I read. And I admit they’re not immediately present at the first reading. You’re probably wondering where I see those things. Well, I’ll tell you in a moment. But everything that is essential is here.
From man’s side there are essentially two things; faith and hope, faith and hope. Those are the two things that are necessary with regard to man’s side of salvation. We have to believe in the Lord to be saved. We have to believe His word, put our trust in what He has said and what He has promised. And then, having believed, we live in hope for something we have not yet seen or received. And so it is required that we be characterized by faith and hope. That’s on our side.
On God’s side, two things are necessary; atonement and security, atonement and security. God has to provide a suitable atonement to cover our sin, and then He has to hold onto us to keep us saved until we get to glory. So from man’s side, faith and hope; from God’s side, atonement and security. Those are the essential elements of salvation; that is the necessary mix in the plan of God. And you find all four of them in this text. The salvation of sinners, their deliverance from sin, their deliverance from death and hell has always been by faith and in hope, and always been through divine atonement and security. Now not all the fullness of those great truths is here. But the first glimpse of those truths is here. This is the first glimpse of what is progressively revealed in scripture and perfected in the coming of Christ and the New Testament.
Now, let’s go back to what we’ve looked at and just do a brief review.
First of all, salvation or redemption requires faith, and we see that in Verse 20. “The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.” Well, at the time he called her Eve, which means life, she wasn’t the mother of anybody. That was an act of faith. Now, what is it that caused him to put his faith in God and believe that she would be the mother of all living, when in fact God said the day you eat of that tree, you will die? They had eaten, and they had already begun to experience the physical as well as the moral effects of dying.
Why would he name his wife Eve, as if she was to be the mother of all the living when, in fact, the curse was that if you eat, you die? Well, the answer comes in Chapter 3 Verse 15. God had made one great promise. And the promise was that Satan would be at enmity with the woman, and that her seed would engage in battle against his seed, and her seed would triumph by “bruising Satan on the head,” and Satan would only be able to bruise her seed on the heel. God promised then that the woman would have a child, and that out of the loins of that woman would come one who would defeat Satan, literally crush Satan’s head. That is the first promise of a Savior.
Now by now, Adam and Eve know that Satan is a liar. Satan said: You’ll not surely die, God is hiding things from you, he’s not a good God, he didn’t tell you the truth, I’m the good one, I’m telling you the truth, et cetera, et cetera. They for the time believed Satan would then catapulted into a cursed environment. They were cursed themselves. They now know Satan lied and God told the truth. And God made one promise: I’ll give that woman a seed. Out of that woman will come one who will destroy Satan, who will crush his head, destroy the enemy, destroy the one who brought sin into the human realm and give back paradise to the world. When Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living, he was stating by that name that he believed God would fulfill his promise. As I said, at the time she wasn’t the mother of anybody. He was naming her Eve by faith. They had believed Satan and not God, but no longer. They now know Satan was a liar and God told the truth. Faith was planted in their hearts. They believed God and, consequently, he names her Eve, which means life, and she accepts the name.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
