Last 5 Days
Grace in Discipline
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.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.” 16 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.” 17 And to Adam he said, “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; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 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.”
20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis Chapter 3 is a very important chapter! It defines for us why the world is the way it is, and why man is the way he is. The narrative in chapter 3 described the fall of man. It was about how man fell into sin and as a result, the perfect loving relationship between God and man was broken. In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent to disobey God. They saw that the tree was good for food, and it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, and they both took the fruit and ate. As a result of that, their eyes were opened, and they quickly found themselves to be in shame. They then sew fig leaves into loincloths to cover up their sense of shame.
All three of them: the serpent, Adam and Eve were put under curse by God which was due theirs to have. The serpent was cursed to be on its belly and to eat dust all its life. The woman had to endure childbirth pain and to be ruled over by her husband. The man will toil in pain in order to earn his keep. The ultimate impact of that temptation comes in the form of a curse when man choose to disobey God. There are consequences to our sins.
Despite the disobedience and amid these punishments, realise that the Holy God did not strike man dead immediately, but continued to provide means of grace to Adam and Eve and his descendants? In verse 9, though it was man who sinned, it was God who took the initiative to reach out to man. He did not leave man to spiral into further sin but attempted to nip the bud at the start. In verse 21, when Adam and Eve were naked and feeling ashamed, God personally made them garments of skin and clothed them to cover their shame. It was His last action of care before they were driven out of the garden.
Furthermore, the reason why God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden was to prevent them from eating from the tree of life (v22). Man has sinned and eating the fruit from the tree of life will result in them living in sin forever. While man was driven out as a punishment for their sins, it was the same grace from God to prevent them for falling into an eternal sin.
God never left man in a lurch, but always provided a mean to allow man to return to Him. God made a promise of an offspring that will come out from man who will bruise the head of the serpent. This is the first messianic prophecy, that one day, someone from the lineage of Adam will come to break the curse of sin. The genealogy in the gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus is this man who had come to strike the head of the serpent. Through his death on the cross and his resurrection, his heel was bruised but he defeated sin. He promised that whoever believed in Him will be restored to the intimate relationship that God had with man in the garden of Eden. In the same chapter talking about the fall of man, God had also prepared the means for restoration and salvation. There is grace in the discipline of man.
Dear brothers and sisters, God does not condone sin and we will have the face the consequences of our sinful nature. However, there is grace in His discipline. Proverbs 3:11-12 says do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. God does not punish us because of our wrongdoing, but every discipline is for the purpose of helping us return to Him.
Jerry Bridges says in his book “The Discipline of Grace” that God disciplines Christians by grace. It may strike us as an oxymoronic statement that discipline is grace, that it may be done out of grace. After all, “Discipline suggests restraint and legalism, rules and regulations, and a God who frowns on anyone who has fun. Grace, on the other hand, seems to mean freedom from any rules, spontaneous and unstructured living, and most of all, a God who loves us unconditionally regardless of our sinful behavior.” But Bridges thinks otherwise, “Such thinking reflects a misunderstanding of both grace and discipline. In fact, … the same grace that brings salvation also disciplines us as believers.”
My dear brothers and sisters, God’s steadfast love never ceases. He loves us to the end. Bridge tell us that “Our worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace…” Return back to Him quickly, today, now!