Genesis 3 is perhaps one of the most studied, preached, and referred to passages in Scripture. This chapter reveals how sin and its devastating impact on creation and humankind began. It points us to the heart of the problem both personal and societal, the evil around us, and the darkness within. This chapter also reveals God’s cure for the sin problem.
So what is the heart of the problem? Genesis 3 insists that the heart of all human problems is rebellion against the God who is our Maker, whose image we carry, and whose rule we seek to overthrow. All of our problems, without exception, can be traced to this fundamental source: our rebellion and its consequences. Genesis 3 insists that this is a disordered world, a broken world—and that this state of affairs has come about because of human rebellion.
God’s curses on the human pair are striking. The first (Gen. 3:16), which promises pain in childbearing and disordered marriages, is the disruption of the first designated task human beings were assigned before the Fall: male and female, in the blessing of God, being fruitful and increasing in number (1:27–28). The second (Gen. 3:17–19), which promises painful toil, a disordered ecology, and certain death, is the disruption of the second designated task human beings were assigned before the Fall: God’s image-bearers ruling over the created order and living in harmony with it (1:28–30).
With perfect justice God might have destroyed this rebel breed instantly. The fact that we have stepped into another year, proves God has not given up on us. Genesis 3 and Matthew 3 show how God acted in mercy. Instead of destroying his rebellious couple, he clothes them, suspends part of the sentence (death itself) —and foretells a time when the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent (Genesis 3:15).
Matthew 3 is commonly known as the baptism of Jesus, but a closer look to it reveals God sent his son to undergo the baptism of “death”, to be the sacrifice needed for sinners to be forgiven and reconciled to God.
Today, let us commit to sharing the good news of Jesus. It is the only hope for humans and creation.
Daniel & Emma Villa 