Sermon Tone Analysis

Open your Bibles to the book of Genesis.

•This morning we’ll be considering 2:15-17 and 3:1-15.

•We are beginning a three week Advent series as we meditate on the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

•And today we will begin at the Beginning.

I believe that to appreciate the first Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must first appreciate the need of mankind for a Savior.

•Until we understand our need for Him, the birth of Jesus Christ is not that exciting.

•We must first understand the ruin of man through sin before we can behold the glory of our Redeemer and truly rejoice and celebrate His taking on flesh and coming to earth to save us.

•Before we can celebrate the Good News of a Savior born unto us, we must first understand the bad news of the Fall of Man. 

•Therefore, Christmas points us back to the beginning where the story of man and his misery began.

Our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world with a purpose: To save sinners.

•“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

(1 Timothy 1:15)

•Christ was born into the world with a mission: To save unworthy and wretched sinners like us.

•And that means that Christmas reminds us first that we are sinners in Adam and need saving by Christ.

Our text this morning ends with what many call the “Protoevangelion.”

•That is, the first declaration of the Gospel.

•Genesis 3:15 is the first announcement of Good News to sinners.

•It is the first message of the Redeemer who would one day come to save God’s People from their sins.

•To the Serpent, God said, “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 3:15)

At Christmas, we are celebrating the birth of the Serpent Crusher, Jesus Christ.

•We’re celebrating the Savior, born of a woman, who has come to save us from sin and the wrath of God that we have put ourselves under in Adam.

•Christmas reminds us of the wickedness of sin, the fallenness of man, and the grace of God given to us in the Seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, who HAS COME and crushed the head of the Serpent, the Devil, and freed us from our sin, shame, and damnation by bearing the curse for us in our place.

•At Christmas, we are celebrating the grace of God given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord, the Promised Seed.

So, with that said, we will walk through these two portions of Genesis.

•As we go, we will see:

1.

The Federal Head (Adam)

2. The Tempter and His Tempting

3. The Fall of Man

4. The Results of the Fall

5.

The Promised Seed

•May God bless us this morning as we look to His Word.

If you would, and are able, please stand with me for the reading of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.

Genesis 2:15-17

[15] The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

[16] And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 

[17] but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 3:1-15

[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.”

(PRAY)

Our Heavenly Father, 

We thank you for your Word.

It is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

There is glory, wisdom, and truth for us to behold in your Word.

Grant us eyes to see, ears to hear, minds to understand, hearts to believe, and hands to obey your Word.

Help us to hear your voice in the Word this morning.

Speak to us, Lord.

Grant us a sight of our Lord Jesus Christ that we might lay hold of Him by faith once again.

Sanctify us in your truth.

Your Word is truth.

We ask these things in Jesus’ Name and for His sake.

Amen.

1.)

We begin by considering the time before the Fall.

•God has created all things in the span of six days.

And all was very good.

•And He has created man on the sixth day, and given man dominion over the created world.

•Everything belonged to Adam, under God.

He could do as he pleased.

He was provided for in the Garden of Eden, living in perfection and perfect communion with God every single day.

•And at some point after Adam’s creation, God came to him and made a covenant with him.

In Genesis 2:15-17 we read of the institution of what we call the Covenant of Works.

•The Bible does not here explicitly call it a covenant.

But all the features of a covenant are definitely present.

[16] And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 

[17] but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

•God sovereignly imposed terms on the man.

God commanded Adam: “Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

•And God threatened Adam with punishment, should he disobey: “You will surely die.”

•And where there are threats, blessings are implied: If Adam perpetually and perfectly obeyed God’s command, Adam would never die.

So here we see that God imposed an agreement/covenant between Himself and Adam: 

•If Adam eats of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he will die.

He will be cursed by God. 

•But if Adam obeys, God will bless him with eternal life.

•In summary, God has said, “Obey me and live.

Disobey me and die.”

•This is the Covenant of Works.

•Adam will gain the blessing of eternal life by perpetual and perfect obedience to God.

A blessing is promised by God if Adam’s works, his obedience, is perfect to God. 

•Eternal life is promised for perfect works.

Adam represented all mankind in this covenant.

•God chose him to be the covenant representative or Federal Head of the Covenant of Works.

•Adam represented all who would come from him in this covenant.