Sermon #22 Series: Pictures of Grace in
Genesis
Title: Adam Driven From Eden
- A Picture of Grace
Text: Genesis 3:22-24
Reading:
Subject: Adam and the Tree of
Life
Date: Tuesday Evening - December 17, 1991
Tape #
Introduction:
In my
opinion, no portion of Holy Scripture is more important than the first three
chapters of Genesis. If a man truly believes and understands Genesis 1, 2, and
3, he has grasped the whole system of divine truth, for he has grasped the
foundation of all truth. If we fail to understand what is revealed in these
three chapters, we cannot understand anything else in the Sacred Volume.
Perhaps that is the reason satan has always raised up false prophets to twist,
pervert and deny the opening chapters of Genesis.
Chapter
1 reveals the origin and creation of the universe and the formation of man from
the dust of the earth. “In the beginning
God” - Those four words show us that the Lord God is the Creator, Ruler,
and Disposer of all things. “All things
were made by him and for him; and without him was not anything made that was
made” (John 1:3).
Chapter
2 reveals the happiness, power, and greatness of man before sin entered into
the world. In the garden, in innocence Adam was the object of God’s favor and
delight. God made him lord of the earth. All creatures were under his dominion.
He lived in harmony with God, the holy angels and the beasts of the field in
perfect happiness. But Adam did not continue in this blessed, happy condition.
Chapter
3 reveals the temptation and fall of our father Adam and the consequences of
it. What a sad, sad picture! Man, created in the image of God; man, to whom God
had given the whole world; man, the prince of God’s creation rebelled against
his Creator and lost everything!
When
we had lost everything, when Adam and Eve were trying to hide themselves from
the Lord God, trying to cover the shame of their sin and their nakedness from
God, the Lord God stepped in, not to destroy them, but to save them by his
grace! (Gen. 3:9).
·
He promised a Redeemer (3:15).
·
He promised to destroy the enemy (3:15).
·
He made a sacrifice for them (3:21).
·
He clothed them with the skins of the slain sacrifice (3:21).
Then
somehting that to me has always appeared to be strange and confusing happened.
I have never been able to understand it before; but I think the Lord has given
me some help over the last few days. Let’s read verses 22-24.
Tonight,
I want us to look at verse 22. The title of my message is Adam Driven From Eden - A Picture of Grace.
Proposition:
I want you to see that God’s grace, not his
wrath, is revealed in driving Adam and Eve from the garden “to keep the way of the tree of life,” that is, to preserve and
protect “the way of the tree of life.”
Divisions:
1. Who is speaking in this
text? “The Lord God said,”
2. What is the meaning of the
Lord’s words regarding the condition of man - “Behold, the man is become as one of
us to know good and evil.”
3. What is the tree of life?
4. Why was Adam prevented from
eating of the tree of life after the fall?
I.
WHO IS SPEAKING IN THIS
TEXT?
When Moses wrote, “The Lord God said,” who did he have in mind? It is Jehovah-Elohim
speaking; but he says, “The man has
become as onen of us.” One Person is speaking, but more than one person is
represented. The Person speaking is Christ, the second Person of the Holy
Trinity, the Son of God, Jehovah-Elohim. He is speaking for the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit.
You
can mark this down - Anytime we read of God speaking to man, or of God being
revealed to man in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, or in eternity, the
Person speaking, the Person revealed is the son of God, our Mediator, the Lord
Jesus Christ (John 5:37).
The
only way God deals with men, the only way God speaks to men, the only way God
reveals himself to men is in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6).
·
Christ is the Word of God (John 1:1-3).
·
Christ is the Revelation of God (John 1:14, 18).
When
Moses penned these words, “The Lord God
said, Behold, the man is become as one of us,” the Spirit of God was, in
this Book of Beginnings, revealing four facts that are essential to the
Christian faith.
A. The pre-existence of Christ before his incarnation (John 8:58).
“He is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Col. 1:17). Our Lord
Jesus Christ is not a creature of time. He is the Creator, the I AM, who is,
who was and who is to come.
B. The eternal deity of Christ.
In our text, the divine Mediator is called “The Lord God,” Jehovah-Elohim, because
Jesus Christ is God (Isa. 9;6; Rom. 9:5; 1 Tim. 3:16; John 10:30-33).
·
He claimed to be God.
·
Angels and men worshipped him as God.
·
The Jews crucified him because he claimed to be God.
C. The plurality
and unity of the eternal Godhead - “Us.”
When the Lord God spoke and called himself
“us” he was declaring the plurality of Persons in the Godhead. We are
trinitarians! We worship one God in the Trinity, or Tri-unity, of his sacred
Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7).
·
The Baptismal Formula (Matt. 28:19-20).
·
Our Lord’s Baptism (Matt. 3:16-17).
“Go
to Jordan, and there learn the doctrine of the Trinity!”
D. The mediation
of Christ.
Christ Jesus is our Mediator, our only
Mediator; and he has been our Mediator from eternity (1 Tim. 2:5).
In
this third chapter of Genesis, Christ is revealed in all three of his
mediatorial offices, Prophet, Priest, and King.
1. In his kingly office, he
arraigned fallen man before his bar of judgment, convicting him of treason, and
passed upon him the sentence of death.
2. In his prophetic office, he
promised redemption and salvation to the fallen pair, and told them how it
would be accomplished.
3. In his priestly office, he
made a sacrifice for the guilty and clothed our parents in the skins of the
innocent victims.
The
Person speaking in our text is the Lord God, Jehovah- Elohim, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Word of God, the Son of God, our Mediator, our Savior. And he is
speaking to the fallen, sinful man, our father, Adam.
II. WHAT IS THE
MEANING OF OUR LORD’S WORDS REGARDING THE CONDITION OF THE MAN?
“The Lord God
said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.” But what do those words
mean?
A. The text might be translated, “Behold, the man was as one of us,
knowing good and evil.”
If the words are taken in that sense, they
are an expression of great pity. God is saying, “Behold, the man, now fallen,
sinful, rined, depraved, and dead; he was as one of us, knowing good and evil,”
but now only evil.
You
see, man was created in the image and likeness of God as he is revealed in
Christ, who is the image of the invisible God (Gen. 1:26).
1. Adam was created in the
image of God in the form and constitution of his body and his human nature.
The
first Adam was formed in the image of him who was to come as the second Adam,
Christ, the God-man. Adam did not crawl out of a slime pit, or drop out of a
tree. He was created in the image of Christ, who is the image of God.
He
came to be partaker of our flesh and blood; but we are partakers of his flesh
and of his bones (Eph. 5:30).
2. Adam was made in the image
of God in moral uprightness and righteousness too.
Man
came out of his Creator’s hands a holy creature. And when God makes a man new
by his grace, he restores holiness to him. This renovation of grace is called, “The new man which, after God, is created in
righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:24).
3. The image of God in which
man was created is also reflected in his mental capacity.
Like
his Creator, Adam was wise, rational, and full of knowledge.
·
He named all living things.
·
He knew his wife when she was brought to him.
·
He knew both good and evil.
Though,
like Christ himself, before the fall, Adam knew no sin by experience, he knew
the nature of it. He knew that it was contrary to God’s Being. And he knew the
consequences of it. In this sense, I am sure Adam knew both good and evil far
more fully before the fall than he did afterwards.
4. Again, the image of God in
which man was created is seen in Adam’s dominion over all earthly creatures.
Adam
was made lord of God’s creation (Gen. 1:26). The majesty of God was seen in him
by the universal subjection of all creatures to him (Psa. 8:5-8).
The
sense of this text is, “Behold, the man was as one of us, but what is he now?”
His body, so strong and full of life, is now feeble and dying! His soul, so
pure and holy, is now depraved and vile! His mind, so full of wisdom and
knowledge, is now darkness and ignorance! The man who was the darling of heaven
is now alienated from God!
B. However, I am inclined to think that our translation is best - “Behold, the man is become as one of us, to
know good and evil.”
This is a declaration of
Adam’s present state and condition, and of ours, in Christ. Though fallen by
nature, we are now, as Adam was, restored by grace. What God here says of Adam
is true of every believer. Though in Adam we fell, in Christ we are restored,
just like Adam was.
·
By the call of grace - “Where art
thou?”
·
By blood atonement - The sacrifice!
·
By imputed righteousness - The skins!
Illustration: Two
coats (Lk. 3:11).
1. Like Adam, we have been
clothed with Christ’s righteousnes, and we are “righteous, even as he is righteous” (1 John 3:7; Jer. 23:6;
33:16).
2. Like Adam, being renewed by
grace, we are now created in the image of Christ, conformed to him (Eph. 4:24).
3. Like Adam, we are now
reconciled to and one with God in Christ (John 17:21).
Enmity
has been put away! Reconciliation has been made by God! Now, we are in a state
of friendship with God! But more, in Christ, we are one with God.
4. Like Adam, having been
called from darkness to light in Christ, we know both good and evil.
·
We know the goodness of God!
·
We know the evil our own hearts!
III. WHAT WAS THE
TREE OF LIFE WHICH GOD WOULD NOT ALLOW ADAM TO TAKE BY HIS OWN HANDS?
I do not doubt for a minute that it was a
real tree in the garden of Eden. Adam knew where it was, and how useful it was
as the tree of life. “It is highly probable, that it might be useful for the
invigorating of Adam’s body…during his state of innocence” (Gill). But it was
also a symbolical tree.
A. It was a symbol of Adam’s dependence upon God for his life.
Everytime he saw it and ate its fruit, Adam
was reminded that his life came from God, was preserved by God, and belonged to
God.
B. It was a symbol of Adam’s preservation in life, so long as he was
obedient to the will of God.
Perhaps it stood right beside the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. I don’t know. But everytime he passed by the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil and ate only of the fruit of the tree of
life, Adam had confirmed to him the promise of life for his obedience to God.
You
can be sure of this - The tree of life was not a tree by which fallen Adam
might have been translated from his fallen condition to a state of heavenly,
eternal life (Gal. 3:21). When God prevented Adam from eating the fruit of this
tree it was not for the purpose of keeping Adam from obtaining life. It was for
the purpose of revealing his grace in Adam and preserving, or keeping, “the way of the tree of life” (v. 24).
C. You see, that
tree of life was a picture, a symbol, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ (Prov. 3:18; Rev. 2:7; 22:2,
14).
He is
our Life! He is the Author and Giver of Life! As our Mediator, he asked the
Father for our life. As our Redeemer, he purchased a right to life for us with
his own blood. As our Advocate and Intercessor in heaven, he secures us in life
in hiself. “Your life is hid with Christ
in God” (Col. 3:3; John 10:27-30).
IV. SO WHY WAS
ADAM, AFTER THE FALL, PREVENTED FROM EATING THE FRUIT OF THE TREE OF LIFE?
This is the question that I have asked myself
for twenty-five years everytime I have read Genesis 3. I have read the opinions
of a lot of men on the text; but none of them made any sense to me, until I
read a sermon by John Gill this past week. He said, “The reason of this
prevention was that Adam might have no hope nor expectation of life, from that,
or anything else, but Christ the promised Messiah.” This was an act of grace!
Though Adam had forfeited all claims to life, God kept open the way of life,
and kept him from seeking life anywhere else but in Christ.
If
the Lord had not prevented Adam from eating the physical fruit of that physical
tree, Adam might well have thought to himself - As this tree was useful before
in the preservation of my life, it might still be. God has promised me a
Redeemer, but why should I wait for him. I can save myself by my own hands. All
I have to do is eat the fruit of the tree of life.
To
keep Adam from that evil, the Lord God removed the temptation from him. He
thrust him out of Eden and placed a guard around the tree of life.
You
see, there is nothing a man is more prone to do than to seek salvation and life
anywhere but in Christ. We are all base idolaters by nature. We want to be
saved. We will do anything to be saved, except trust Christ alone (John 5:40).
·
Israel and the Brazen Serpent.
·
Crosses! - Morality! - Prayers!
·
“Sacraments!” - “Holy Living!”
Man
would rather take a pilgrimage, barefoot on broken glass around the globe than
trust Christ. He would rather climb the steep, dark, terrifying slopes of Sinai
than simply look to the Christ of Calvary.
But
God has declared that Christ alone is Savior (1 Cor. 1:30). Sinners cannot come
to God any other way. By your own works of righteousness you cannot be saved.
“He who seeks for righteousness and life by his own doings, runs upon the
flaming sword of justice; and whilst endeavoring to insure his own salvation,
he is pulling ruin upn himself” (Gill).
Blessed
be God, he still keeps “the way of the
tree of life!” He still keeps chosen sinners from self-destruction by
self-righteousness! He blocks up the way of his elect and graciously forces
them to flee to Christ, the true Tree of Life! (Hosea 2:6).
Application:
From all that I have said tonight I want us
to…
1. Ever be aware of the
wretched, vile nature of sin (Rom. 5:12).
2. See the vanity of salvation
by works.
It is
not only something God has not ordained. It is something against which God has
set himself. All who seek to save themselves are fighting against God (Gal.
5:1-4).
3. Bless, praise, and magnify
the Lord our God for providing Christ the Savior for lost sinners (1 Cor.
9:15).
·
Provided before we sinned.
·
Revealed before Adam was driven from the garden.
4. Cease from all
self-righteousness and lay hold upon Christ alone.
He “is a tree of life to them that lay hold
upon him; and happy is everyone that retaineth” him (Prov. 3:18).