Genesis 3:14-19 | Sin & God’s Discipline
This is our third week in Genesis chapter three, looking at the sin of Adam and Eve, our own sins, and everything surrounding that account. In the first week, we looked at Adam and Eve’s choice to sin and the different ways we all run to sin as they did—we talked about the sins of the Lust of the Flesh, Lust of the Eyes, Lust for Wisdom, and Silence. Week two was about their reaction to being caught in sin and how that is often our reaction as well—reactions like Fixing, Hiding, Blaming, Accepting? (Partial), And again, Silence. This week, we get to the discipline of Satan, Adam, and Eve by God.
If we are honest, this whole section has been full of conversations we don’t really like, and this week is no different. No one likes the thought of discipline. Even if it is the better type of discipline, self-discipline, we still don’t love it. Who among us truly enjoys the idea of getting up early, eating healthy, working out, going to bed early, restricting calories, budgeting our money carefully, not binging on TV too much…and those are just some of the ways that pure self-discipline would look! We may have learned that those things are healthy and good for us and, in the long run, make us feel better, but most people don’t really enjoy them. That’s why we all still enjoy the fattening meal, the extra slice of cake, the late morning in bed snoozing as long as we want—those are the fun and enjoyable things if they didn’t have any consequences!
We tend to dislike discipline even more when it is imposed on us. Discipline doesn’t usually feel good, nor is it usually fair, nor is it usually fun. No child is excited when their mom and dad put on their parent voice, use their full name, “Gideon Joshua Eagy,” and then begin disciplining them. No worker likes the terse email or the ominous meeting invitation when you know it isn’t going to be a fun conversation. I imagine several of you may have just begun to sweat a little, remembering those kinds of scenarios and moments with your parents or at work, even today!
I remember the first time I began to realize that discipline, perhaps, wasn’t always bad and might be done with some forethought and for good. When I was a teenager, my family had a pool at our house, so we were often the house our extended family congregated at for stays and vacations. One time, we had an aunt and uncle staying with us who had two younger children, my cousins, who were about 7 and 8 years younger than me. And I remember watching over two days as both cousins got into trouble for their behavior in the pool, and I noticed they were treated very differently. My male cousin, the older one, when he played inappropriately, was quickly hauled out of the pool, into the house, presumably for some “private” discipline. My female cousin, on the other hand, was pulled aside in the yard, talked to—as she shook with sobs and apologies—and was then allowed to return to the pool almost immediately.
Now, as someone with many years of knowledge and experience as a teenager, that didn’t seem fair to me. Probably because I was usually treated more like my male cousin, to be honest. And, in my teenage tactfulness, I asked my uncle why he would (dare to?) discipline each child so differently. He told me he was disciplining them each in a way he thought would be best for each of them. My male cousin, he explained, didn’t usually respond quickly and needed longer talks and sometimes other forms of discipline to really understand that what he had done was wrong. My female cousin, on the other hand, usually would start crying with just a cross look from one of her parents, so he didn’t need to do as much to help her change her attitude and heart.
That boggled me as a teenager and stuck with me. Disciplining children differently? For their good?! I’m not sure that is always how my uncle and aunt disciplined, but I know they love the Lord and were trying hard to represent God well to their kids. That may not be your experience, and it often wasn’t mine, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a picture we should have in our head. Discipline, for someone’s good.
It may surprise many people to realize that, yes, discipline is mentioned in Scripture, and not as a bad thing. It is mentioned as a good thing. And it is mentioned as something God himself does. Whatever it is we have experienced as discipline, it is at best a shadow and an image of what God intends for us in HIS discipline.
The writer to the Hebrews pulls from the Psalms, Job, and several other places and puts together this statement:
My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.
(Hebrews 12:5–6 ESV)
A little bit further in verse 10, he continues:
For they [our Earthly fathers] disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he [God] disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
(Hebrews 12:10–11 ESV)
God only disciplines people he loves. God only disciplines for our good. And unlike our earthly parents who discipline “as it seemed best to them,” God does it perfectly. I wish I could say that I have imaged this well as a father, but I am certain I have missed that goal many times and disciplined in ways that were not really for my children’s or even my employees' good, but rather, because of my own feelings. But that isn’t true with God. God is only disciplining us for our good and ONLY because he loves us.
I’m sure many of us have heard sermons on Genesis three or read it, but I think we miss one of the main things we should see here. Grace.
Grace. Yes, there are many sad punishments we will see here, but ultimately, because they are a discipline from God to his children (Adam and Eve), they are ALSO full of grace. As we come to this section of Genesis three, we all likely need to remove from our minds the poor images of discipline we have experienced or even been part of, and realize that is not who God is. God likely is not disciplining Adam and Eve in the same way you were disciplined, and we need to notice the WAY he disciplines as much as WHAT the discipline itself will be.
God’s Disposition in Discipline
Let’s start by simply making a couple of observations here about HOW God goes about his discipline. God’s disposition in his discipline throughout Genesis three has shown that God:
God’s Heart in Discipline
Seeks: His People & Understanding
Shows: Gentleness & Grace
Speaks: Clearly
In his discipline, first God seeks—he seeks his people, and he seeks their understanding. Second, he shows his heart, a heart of gentleness and grace. And lastly, he speaks, and he speaks clearly.
First, as we mentioned last week, God comes and continues to talk with Adam and Eve. God seeks them out. God comes to talk with his children, even though he knows they have sinned. That is a good example to all of us. If you are a parent, a boss, or someone in a position of responsibility, it is your job to pursue those who are making mistakes. Seek people out. That is one of the beautiful things about partnership or membership at a church—we are asking others to seek us out regularly, and we will seek them out. Especially if we are sinning! It is a good thing to remember ABOUT God as well. He has pursued us, at great lengths, even by enjoining himself to flesh that we might know him well. God is not a God who has stayed at a distance.
Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
(Philippians 2:5–7 ESV)
Also, notice that God seeks to bring about understanding. Clearly, the conversation with Adam and Eve isn’t for God’s sake. God understands perfectly what has happened. But in seeking THEIR understanding, in asking questions to Adam and Eve, God not only shows them their sin more clearly, but he also helps them see how they continue to try to fix, hide, blame, or even remain silent in their addressing of sin. God asks questions and makes sure Adam and Eve have a chance to share, even if it is from their still sinful and justifying position. Through this conversation, Adam and Eve are gaining a better understanding of what they are doing and how their hearts are responding to their sin. God does the same for you and me. If we think about it, we get a lot of time from God to process sin, much more than if we were simply struck dead the moment sin occurred.
How often do we regularly seek out people, especially if there has been sin? Importantly, how often do we also seek understanding if we seek people out? My guess is that if we ARE quick to seek out people, it is usually because we have already made a judgment and are ready to say something to them. To get to the discipline quickly. To seek out justice. Seeking people AND seeking understanding rarely go together, but both are qualities we should seek, as our God does. They are a beautiful example of who God is and how he acts.
It is equally important to note how God does this seeking: he does it gently and with grace. That is the attitude he demonstrates toward Adam and Eve. There is no screaming, throwing of chairs and tables, no harsh words. Not that something less-gentle might happen sometimes—Jesus was not gentle with the money changers in the temple! But that is an exception, not the rule. God comes, even knowing full well how he has been wronged, and still gently seeks his children. If anyone ever had the right to be angry because of sin, it was God, and it was here. In this moment, Adam and Eve set a trajectory for humankind that meant the Son of God would need to come, be incarnated in flesh, and die for his people. Yet here he is, the Son of God, seeking Adam and Eve, seeking understanding, talking with them, gently and graciously.
I think this is one of the hardest aspects of how God seeks discipline for me. Even when I might seek out people because of the sin I see, and even if I seek understanding, I’m not sure that my heart always has the desire to do it gently. To do it carefully. To approach discipline with grace. That is an amazing characteristic of God to be wronged more than you and I have ever been wronged and still be gentle and full of grace.
But third, as we especially see here today in our section, God is clear when he speaks. In giving out discipline, God is not wishy-washy. But we do not need to confuse seeking out people, seeking understanding, and being gentle and gracious with being confusing. Here, in our section today, God speaks, and he speaks very clearly. His clarity is PART OF his gentleness and grace. Adam and Eve clearly understood what God was doing and what it would mean for their lives.
Application
Again, before we move into the specifics of our passage this morning, think about all these HOW’s and the HEART of God's discipline. God’s discipline is very different from ours in many ways.
God’s Discipline (Heart)
Seeks: His People & Understanding
Shows: Gentleness & Grace
Speaks: Clearly
I imagine that if we read many different books on how to deal with sin and interpersonal conflict, we would find the same ideas. I can’t imagine these ideas are new to any of us, as though we have never thought of pursuing people, seeking understanding, being gentle and gracious, and speaking our thoughts clearly. But do you see GOD as approaching you and giving you discipline THIS way? Do we picture God as pursuing us, as seeking us—both for our own sake as his image bearers but also that we might understand better what we have done and know him better? Do we see that whatever the discipline feels like, it truly is coming to us in gentleness? And are we willing to realize that, more often than we like, God is quite clear with all of us in our sin about what is going to happen?
Main Street, in seeing how God comes to Adam and Eve, we should marvel at his goodness! We should be amazed by his pursuit! We should be humbled by his gentleness! And we should listen to his clarity, even here in Adam’s and Eve’s discipline. Whenever we have a chance, we should want to pursue others in the same way.
The Discipline
Now, with that image of God in mind, we turn to the specifics of each discipline. We look at the clarity of God’s words. I think it is fascinating to notice that for all three people—Adam, Eve, and Satan—we could summarize all their discipline as:
God’s Discipline (Content)
Pain
Conflict
Death
Now, let’s be clear. Yes, this is God’s discipline of Adam, Eve, and Satan. But it is the appropriate discipline to SIN. This is not something God did in a vacuum. God isn’t punishing them for no reason. Rather, this is a response to all of them choosing to sin. This is what SIN brings—God simply brings this judgment as the righteous and just judge. And even then, there are grand glimpses of grace in this section!
Satan
Let’s start with God’s discipline of Satan:
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. 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.”
(Genesis 3:14-15 ESV)
It is interesting to note that God starts with Satan. In the retelling of what happened in everyone’s choice to choose sin, we noted how Satan didn’t speak at all. That makes God’s choice to start with him very interesting and prompts us to think. When you see things repeated in Scripture, watch out for this pattern:
A
B
C
C’
B’
A’
When you see this pattern, a common pattern in Hebrew & Greek writing, it is trying to either emphasize the C or the A items. When you don’t have bold font or colors in your writing, you use repetition! So here we have:
A – Adam’s account of sin
B – Eve’s account of sin
C – Satan’s account of sin (silence)
C’ – Satan’s discipline
B’ – Eve’s discipline
C’ – Adam’s discipline
Either Satan or Adam is being emphasized here – either the inside pair or the outside pair. I have noted several times that I, and many scholars, think Adam is being held especially accountable by God, and this ordering is one of the reasons we think so. It is a special order meant to highlight one element of the discussion.
Here we start with the serpent, and he is told he will now be cursed and go about on his belly. This is one of the reasons why I think there was a literal serpent, a lizard of sorts, through whom Satan talked to Eve. Here, there is an immediate discipline for the serpent and all serpents like it coming after it. It will be lower than all the beasts of the field. But like many prophecies, there is a figure in the background—Satan—who is really being talked to. Just as we have prophecies about Abraham, Moses, David, and Solomon, as well as others, that are for the immediate person but ALSO for Jesus coming after them, so too this is for the serpent but ALSO for Satan.
Satan will be viewed as the lowest of all, creeping around on the ground. This is a type of pain, likely both physical and definitely emotional and spiritual. This is a humbling of sorts for both the serpent and Satan.
We also see conflict. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;” Most humans don’t really appreciate snakes much, so there is a literal component here. But this is mostly about the conflict that now rages between all humans and Satan. Satan, who was meant to be the son of the morning light, the angelic being Lucifer, would now be at war with humanity. It is a conflict that still engulfs both sides to this day.
We also see death. “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” “Bruise your head” is a metaphor for killing. We have been thinking about this as a fight between Satan and all of humanity, and that is right, but there is something else being said here as well. It is hard to see in English, but offspring here is singular, not plural as you would expect. One of the woman’s offspring will be the one to kill the serpent, but that one offspring will be wounded in the process. Many of you know this is a prophecy about Jesus, and Adam and Eve knew it to be a prophecy as well. They were expectantly waiting for the one offspring who would come and kill the serpent throughout their entire life. We will see that especially as we get to Genesis four and five.
And it is here, in this section, in this statement, that we see the first glimpse of grace come into the picture in the disciplines themselves. There has been so much grace already in how God has approached the man and the woman, but here he gives grace upon grace. This state will not last forever! Humanity will find an end to their conflict with sin and Satan—and they will find it through the offspring of Adam and Eve, the future Messiah!
That is an incredible grace! Adam and Eve would not have expected that. They would not have expected God to provide a path out of this problem. They were simply expecting death.
Woman
We have to wonder how amazed Adam and Eve were to hear that they were being punished, but not necessarily with immediate death. What you and I may hear only with sorrow, they may have heard as discipline laced with much grace. We see a similar pattern of pain, conflict, and death in the discipline for the woman.
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.”
(Genesis 3:16 ESV)
Pain in childbirth. God will make childbearing painful. We can’t know what it was originally meant to be like to have children before the fall, but they now come with pain. But here, again, we see grace. What was said to Satan is reiterated to the woman, and both Eve and Adam latch onto this as grace. She will have children! Their death isn’t going to be immediate. God, in his grace, will let them live for a season, have children, take part in the mandate he gave them…even though they have sinned. Up to this point, their names have been “Ish” – man in Hebrew, and “Isha” – from man, or woman. We see that after this, Adam names her “Eve” because she will be the mother of all living. That is a joyous moment! That is a moment when Adam and Eve acknowledge the grace God has given them in their children, even through pain.
We also see conflict. “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” Man and woman will not relate rightly to one another now under the discipline from sin. There is some debate over this phrase and what it means for the woman to desire her husband. The ESV translation that I’m using here tries to help us see this is a bad thing by saying “contrary to your husband,” but it literally just says that the woman will “desire her husband.”
What the translators are trying to help us see is something we see a little later in Genesis four. The same word and phrase are used there:
The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
(Genesis 4:6–7 ESV)
When Cain isn’t praised the same as Abel for his sacrifices of fruit and grain, he is hurt and frustrated. And God warns Cain. Literally, it says that sin's “desire is for you,” just like the phrase with the woman. None of us would say that sin desiring us is neutral or good, especially when we see what Cain ends up doing. Rather, we would see that type of desire as a bad thing. The same should be seen here. God is saying that under sin and discipline, the woman, Eve, and presumably other women, will desire their husbands not in a good way. And the man, their husbands, will rule over them. We will spend more time on this in a couple of sermons from now on, at the end of Genesis 3, but for now, I want us to see how this is a conflict that is part of their discipline for choosing sin. Similarly, we could also see this is a type of death—death of the beautiful supporting relationship the man and woman were meant to have, now characterized by ruling and sinful desire. Again, don’t worry, I’ll say more about this in several sermons from now.
Man
And last, we get to the man.
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; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 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.”
(Genesis 3:17-19 ESV)
Notice that Adam is held fully culpable for his sin — he listened to his wife over God. Because of that, we see conflict and pain between man, humanity, and creation. Our mandate will not come easy now. Everything we do to expand across this world will come with difficulty. Thorns, thistles, sweat.
And we see death. “Till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Adam was made from the dust of the earth; now he and all humanity will return to dust. But here, again, we see grace. God will not allow his image bearers to stay marred by sin and alive forever this way! He will ensure they receive another, renewed body and a new chance to live out their mandate, unencumbered by sin or even the choice to sin!
The Gospel
For all of them—Satan, the Man, to Woman, discipline because of choosing sin meant:
God’s Discipline (Content)
Pain
Conflict
Death
Pain, conflict, and death. But woven in between all of those is grace. We see here the gospel from the very beginning. It is the “first gospel,” or, as scholars would say, Protoeuangelian (Greek).
“First Gospel”
You may read that word in some books. Proto meaning first. Euangelian meaning good news, or gospel. The first gospel message. Here, even in God’s discipline, not only does God respond in gentleness and grace, but he weaves through all the disciplines an ultimate story of grace for the man and the woman. Grace for me and you even today in our sin.
And this is the good news—someone will take the ultimate pain, the ultimate conflict, and the ultimate death on our behalf. Jesus will come, experience the ultimate pain of the discipline of God on the cross, and he will experience the ultimate conflict as the Father turns away from the Son as OUR sins are placed upon him. He will experience Death not only as a man but as the God-Man. But he will still reign! That is what we are coming to these next two weeks, during Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter. Jesus, the Son of God, is OUR good news who takes our pain, conflict, and death that we might live. That we might live through faith in his life.
Adam and Eve expected instant death and separation as punishment for their sin. That is not what God gave them. God, instead, gave them the natural consequences of sin in their life AND provided them with hope. Adam and Eve saw that! They saw that here, and they saw that in the following verses as God continues to provide for them even while kicking them out of the garden.
Friends, there is no way to read this story in Genesis three and see a mad, throwing-tables God. We should see here grace upon grace. Yes, there are consequences to sin, and we live under many of those consequences today, just like Adam and Eve. But God’s discipline is ultimately meant to point us to his amazing GRACE! Grace in the Son of Man who stood there, saw Adam and Eve sin, and disciplined them, knowing he would take the ultimate punishment. That is amazing. That is praiseworthy!
Conclusion
If we rightly see the heart with which God approached this discipline:
God’s Discipline (Heart)
Seeks: His People & Understanding
Shows: Gentleness & Grace
Speaks: Clearly
And if we rightly see the disciplines laced with grace:
God’s Discipline (Content)
Pain
Conflict
Death
We should then see what God has done with Adam and Eve, see even God’s discipline of you and me at different times, and agree with what Paul says to the Corinthians:
Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.
(2 Corinthians 4:16–18 ESV)
We do live under discipline today, just as Adam and Eve did. But for what we have done in offending a perfect, holy, righteous God, this is the least amount of discipline we could face. It is a discipline meant to ultimately show us God’s grace and HIS promise that he will continue to care for us and provide a way for us. This discipline truly is a light and momentary affliction! It is a discipline that is preparing us, helping us to be ready, for the next moment with God in the new heavens and new earth, where we will walk rightly with him without sin AND without the ability to sin ever again! This is GRACE.
Application
We are going to see this grace even more as we continue in Genesis three and see how God cares for Adam and Eve even as he removes them from the garden. We will see it throughout the story of Scripture as God loves his people. We will see it as God continues to point us to his grace and goodness through his constant, forward-looking plan that points us all again and again to the cross and the God-Man, the Son of Man, there in our place. That is what we should see first in Genesis three and the discipline of man and woman—grace.
But there may be more for us to see individually this morning.
I imagine many of us this morning may need to recalibrate our vision of what God's discipline of his people looks like. We need to spend a moment and remove the poor images we all have because of sinful people who tried or didn’t try to love us well in their discipline. We need to realize that God is much different than even the best attempt we were given, or gave, in discipline. God loves you, even in his discipline. He is not yelling or screaming at you. He is not trying to be mean to you. If you have put your faith in Jesus, your discipline ultimately has fallen on Jesus, even if you are still being lovingly disciplined today. This light discipline is here to help us see and look to God more each day!
Amazingly, God has and is pursuing you. Just by being here this morning, you are experiencing God, through his word, as he pursues you. He is seeking you and helping you to see and understand more. For most of us, we can attest that God has worked with us in gentleness and grace over YEARS—years of caring for us and showing us his holy and good ways. And this morning, we can begin to see God’s clear words that discipline is good and it's part of his plan to love each of us. To love Adam and Eve. To love you and me.
But maybe some of us need to think more about the effects of sin. Do you lament the pain, conflict, and death your sin will cause? In your relationship with others around you and with God? And if not today in your relationships, surely for Jesus, the one who had to die for our sins that we might live. Do we truly hate that pain, conflict, and even death are the just result of our sin?
If God is calling you to think more about your sin and its consequences this morning, examine it, but don’t stay there. Much like Adam and Eve, be amazed that, even as God shows you and me the effects of our sin, he is also weaving into that image the gospel of Jesus Christ. God wants us to be unable to think about sin without also thinking about God’s grace! Grace is a promised end to this struggle against sin. Grace in a life that won’t stay stuck in this place, but rather a new life in a new heaven and a new earth. Grace is the son of the woman who would come and save us. Do you hope now, even in your pain, conflict, and death, that you will see your sin fully dealt with one day in the Lord? Do you cherish who God is for you and me in Jesus, the seed of the woman to come? Remember God’s grace through faith in Jesus.
