Introduction: The marriage covenant between husband and wife is really an outgrowth or a reflection of a much greater covenant: the covenant between God and man.
I. A Covenant Of Life (Genesis 1:28-30, 2:15-17)
God is a relational Person. He wants to have a relationship, built on love, with His creation. And so, right after creating man, God entered into a covenant with him. Though the Genesis account does not use the word covenant to describe God’s relationship to Adam, and through Adam with all mankind, Hosea 6:7 clearly indicates that it was a covenant relationship.
What were the terms of the covenant God made with Adam and Eve?
1) They were to be fruitful and fill the earth (Genesis 1:28). God did not intend for the earth to remain uninhabited. He wanted mankind to fill it up with people.
2) They were to subdue the earth and rule over the fish, birds and every other living creature (Genesis 1:28). Since man is created in God’s image, obviously man was supposed to rule over the earth with the same kind of love, care and compassion as God. Man was not supposed to exploit the earth but to act as its conservator.
3) They were to tend the garden (Genesis 2:15). Though all their needs were supplied to them, Adam and Eve were not to lay around in idleness. God gave them work to do.
4) They were to stay away from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. To put it another way, they were to trust God to tell them what they needed to know. They were not to experiment with evil.
What was the promise of the covenant?
Adam and Eve had access to the Tree of Life. That the covenant included a promise of life is also evident from the fact that God told them that they would die if they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
II. A Covenant God
What does the fact that God enters covenants tell us about Him?
1) God wants fellowship. Though God is sufficient within Himself, He deliberately seeks relationships with people. He does not want to rule merely on the basis of His authority, He wants people to do what pleases Him out of love and loyalty.
2) God keeps His word. The covenant relationship involves making promises. It is based on trust that the party making the promise will do what he said. When God enters into covenant, He binds Himself to do what is included in the covenant.
3) God is loving. Entering into covenant implies helping the other party to keep the covenant. Because of this, God will do whatever He can to help those who are in covenant with Him to fulfill their obligations in the covenant.
4) God voluntarily limits His power. People enter into covenant freely. This means that God does not force anyone into a relationship with Himself. He gives them the choice of whether to accept the terms of the covenant, or not. He deliberately does not impose His will on mankind.
III. Stages Of Sin
God declared that all of creation was very good (Genesis 1:31). He entered into a covenant relationship with Adam and Eve. He gave them everything they needed. He gave them a beautiful place to live. Most of all, He gave them freedom. There was only one thing God told them not to do. Everything else was permissible. However, freedom always implies choice. God allows people to choose whether they will obey Him or not. Will they acknowledge God’s authority, or will they go their own way? At the root, sin is always about getting power or control.
Sin always follows the same progression:
1) Question (Genesis 3:1). There can be honest questions. There are many times when we are not sure what God’s will is. However, Adam and Eve knew exactly what God had said. The first step toward sin is to question or twist what God has said. “Did God really say...?” Notice that the serpent deliberately mis-stated the prohibition.
2) Contradict or Deny (Genesis 3:4). The most blatant form of this is to deny what God said. When God’s will is clearly stated and known, we can convince ourselves that God didn’t mean it, or that we are the exception to the rule. Satan will also try to plant the idea that God is holding out on us by means of the rule or prohibition. “He’s being mean to you! He wants to keep you from having fun!”
3) Look (Genesis 3:6). Advertisers know that getting people to look at what they are selling is half the battle. People can’t desire something they’ve never seen or imagined. By the way, the act of looking can be more that just seeing with our physical eyes. Included is the imagination. We may never physically see a particular thing or activity, yet if we can imagine it, it can create sinful desire.
4) Desire (Genesis 3:6). The next stage in sin is to desire what is being offered. Not all desires are wrong, but this desire involves becoming discontent with what one has, and wanting something which is wrong – either because God has forbidden it altogether, or it is wrong for us. Another name for the wrong kind of desire is to covet.
5) Commit (Genesis 3:6). Once the desire has become full blown, we give into it and do whatever it is that we looked at. “...each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:14-15 NIV)
6) Involve others (Genesis 3:6). Once we’ve sinned, we try to justify our actions by getting others to join us in what we’ve done.
7) Shame (Genesis 3:7). Even though we want others to join us, paradoxically, we are ashamed of what we’ve done, so we try to cover it up. Adam and Eve covered their nakedness with fig leaves. We often lie about what we’ve done.
8) Fear (Genesis 3:8-10). The next step is fear. We’re afraid of discovery. We’re afraid of consequences and punishment.
9) Hide (Genesis 3:8). We not only try to hide what we’ve done, we try to hide from authority. We don’t want to get caught.
10) Blame (Genesis 3:12-13). When we are caught we try to pass the buck. We blame others for our own choices. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. Most of all, Adam blamed God for giving him Eve. We often do the same – we blame God for making us the way we are, or for putting us where we had the opportunity to sin. By doing so we slander God’s character. “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV)
11) Excuses (Genesis 3:12-13). We try to excuse what we’ve done. “If the circumstances had only been different!” “It’s not really my fault – I didn’t really mean to do it!”
12) Consequences (Genesis 3:14-24). Sin always has consequences. Sooner or later, the ‘chickens will come home to roost.’ We have to pay for what we’ve done and the cost is always higher than what we thought.
What were the consequences to Eve for what she did?
Eve’s sin changed her relationship to her children and to her husband. Childbirth would become far more painful. Eve would now desire to become the boss in the family, but her husband would rule over her. Women still often have a difficult time with submission.
What were the consequences for Adam?
He was introduced to labor. What had previously been supplied to him would now require hard work. The ground would no longer cooperate in growing food. He would now have to fight weeds.
Both Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden. They were denied access to the Tree of Life. The privilege of eating from the Tree is something which mankind has been looking for ever since. It will be granted again to God’s people after the end of the world (Revelation 22:2).
IV. A Covenant Of Redemption
Though Adam and Eve, and through them the entire human race, suffered bitter consequences as a result of their sin, God did not leave them without hope. Instead He promised that, one day, mankind would be redeemed. He told Eve that one of her descendants would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15).
But that was not all, God made clothes of skin for Adam and Eve to wear (Genesis 3:21). Obviously, animals had to die in order to provide the skins. This is the first occurrence of sacrifice. It takes a death to atone for sin. This animal sacrifice was a promise of the ultimate sacrifice that, one day, would be made for the sin of all mankind. “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2 NIV)
Question: Have we accepted God’s sacrifice for our sins?