Every Story has a beginning – Why does life suck? – Genesis 3:15-24

Every Story has a beginning – Why does life suck? – Genesis 3:15-24

Why Does Life Suck?

Genesis 1 & 2 show us God’s perfect creation, his perfect people, their perfect relationship. And the people spoil everything. So God punishes them.

1) Marriage becomes a competition for control.

“To the woman [God] said, ‘I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.'” (Genesis 3:16)

“sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it” (Genesis 4:7)

Husbands seek to dominate their wives and wives seek to dominate their husbands.

 

Three key things:

i) Male and Female are equally valuable.

” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

ii) Male and Female are complementary

” The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Gen.2:18)

Suitable means “like as opposite”

iii) the Bible teaches that a man is head of a marriage.

“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour.” (Ephesians 5:22)

“I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38)

Submit = voluntarily accepting someone else’s authority over you.

 

I) My husband is a bully and violent

 

II) Is headship part of God’s eternal plan or cultural?

a) God makes Adam first
b) God gives Adam his rule to explain to Eve
c) Adam names Eve (a sign of authority)
d) God holds Adam responsible for Eve’s sin (Genesis 3:9)
e) God speaks to Adam when he’s speaking to both of them (Genesis 3:22)

Why does God mess with marriage?

“To Adam, God said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it'” (Gen.3:17)

God strikes at marriage to stop us worshipping our spouses!

2) Work becomes toil

Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns [blackberries] and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food.”” (Genesis 3:17b-19)

 

Why does God mess with work?

 Challenge:

 

 

3) The Wage of Sin is Death

Why do we die?

 “The Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Gen.2:16-17)

“the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden” (Genesis 3:22-23)

i) Is this where disease and sickness come from?

ii) Who decides when we die?

” 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:28-31)

iii) is an untimely death a punishment for extra wickedness?

See Luke 13.

Why do we die?

“The wage of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rmans 6:23)

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I want to know more:

  • Theology: The Message of Genesis, Atkinson, Bible Speaks Today commentary
  • Book: Tim Keller, The Meaning of Marriage
  • Book: Mark and Grace Driscoll, Real Marriage
  • To listen to/watch online: http://marshill.com/media/real-marriage
  • Book: Thank God it’s Monday, Mark Greene
  • Book: Todd Burpo, Heaven is for Real

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