Reading: Genesis 3:1-24

Genesis chapter 3 pulls back the curtain of time to reveal the fullness of the salvation that Adam received from the hand of God. It is the story of Adam’s salvation from beginning to end: from the lure of the forbidden tree to the safe provision of the tree of life, from the depths of depravity to the assured hope of glory.

Think of the depravity of Adam’s sin. It is against an infinitely holy God, contrary to God’s creation and the perfect environment He provided. It was rebellion against God and the homicide of humanity. Who can fail to see the depravity of sin against God and the effects of personal sin on those around us?

Two themes run in juxtaposition throughout this entire chapter: the self-will of man and the corresponding sufficiency of God’s grace. Adam rebels against God and God seeks him; he runs from God and God pursues him; he resists God and God turns his heart with love; he is in danger of further disappointment and God preserves him. This is the story of every individual who trusts in Christ, the story of amazing grace.

The doctrines of a gracious salvation that are on the surface of this passage are not didactic or polemic but practical and experiential. Seeing this experienced in the life on a human level makes this all the more powerful and affecting. To feel the power of God that has lifted me up out of the depravity of sin, to sense the grace of God at the comprehension that my salvation is full, free, and final and secure in the hands of a sovereign and omnipotent God is enough to reduce me to tears of joy and appreciation. It was this experience that Paul spoke of when he said in Romans 11:33, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

“The Lord infinitely hates the least sin; He hates it, is not only angry for it, offended with it, grieved at it, but He hates it, He hates it perfectly.” David Clarkson (Works, 2:530)

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