Doagh Coast, Donegal (Aaron Dunlop)

Nowhere in the entire Bible (as far as I can find) do we find in one paragraph the story of saving grace displayed in such fullness in the life of one individual. The Story of Adam and his wife Eve, in Genesis three, brings us from the despairing depths of sin (verses 7-10) through the process of God’s grace—the pursuit of the sinner (verses 9-13), the covering of sin (verse 21), and the effectual work of grace in the life (verse 20)—until we find at the end in God’s sovereignty, life and immortality secured (verse 22). In Genesis three, then, Adam is not just our representative as the federal head of humanity who brought us into sin, he became a model of God’s saving grace to individuals.

  1.   Adam Lost in the Quagmire of Sin (Genesis 3:7)

Adam’s sin has been described as “cosmic treason,” because it brought all humanity into a state of sin and misery and a curse on the whole creation. This is of course true. However, the first effects of sin found in the Bible (Genesis 3:7-8), describe Adam and his wife in a state of intense emotional anguish and confusion from which they could not find an escape. The garden around them had not changed, and God had not yet spoken to them, yet they were overcome with an overwhelming sense of sin and a penetrating knowledge of the presence of God. They immediately turned to self-help but found that neither fig leaves, nor all the trees of the garden could hide their shame or avert the eyes of God. In desperation, they ran from God!

  1.   God Pursued Adam (Genesis 3:9) 

Before God had even spoken, Adam and Eve ran at the sound of God in the garden. This was “God’s Garden” (Ezekial 31:9), and no doubt he had communed with them before in better times. But the situation had changed and God had come into the garden this time with the purpose to find Adam and his wife. He called Adam and Eve because he had something to say to them (verse 9). This of course is an act of mercy on God’s part, for Adam had rebelled against God in an act of wide-eyed sin. God’s pursuit of Adam then, was not because Adam was in his original perfection, nor because he was repentant and remorseful, but precisely because he was a twisted rebellious sinner, willing to throw his wife under the bus to protect his own dignity, such as it was. In short, nothing in Adam was attractive to God, but everything in Adam angered God, yet God in love pursued him!   

  1.   God Covered Adam’s Sin (Genesis 3:21)

There is no reason to believe that fig leaves would be inadequate in covering the nakedness of Adam and Eve—grass skirts have served well over the centuries since. So then why did God cover them in coats of skin, if bodily nakedness was not the primary reason? Adam did not hide in the trees because he was naked, but because the God he had offended was in the garden. By clothing, Adam and his wife in coats of skin, God was saying that not only will one come to destroy the destroyer (verse 15), but he will cover the sins of his people. This is the second time in the story that God indicates the violent death of the Messiah and here particularly he points to a bloody death. Adam was clothed, and his shame was covered by the death of a substitute, and the life that he enjoyed after his fall, and which he celebrated by naming his wife Eve, was the life of another.   

  1.   God’s Salvation Bore Fruit in Adam (Genesis 3:20)

Verse 20 is more than a simple statement of fact inserted in the story. It is a profound declaration of Adam’s saving faith, showing us that God’s grace in saving him was indeed irresistible and effectual. It shows us also how firm Adam’s faith was in God, for amazingly, after hearing the curses on the earth and the blood, sweat and tears that would define their life going forward (verses 14-19), Adam, perhaps in a bid to comfort his wife, but certainly to memorialise his faith, called his wife’s name Eve—the mother of the living. Through Eve, the hope of the gospel would be realised in Christ.  

  1.   God Secured Life and Immortality for Adam (Genesis 3:23)

In the garden also was the tree of life, a symbol of healing and immortality. If Adam had eaten from the tree of life immediately after the fall, he would have lived forever in a fallen state. In order to eat of this tree of life, Adam, and all human beings must humble themselves, submit to the thorns and thistles and trust the Word of God by faith. When God forced Adam out of the garden, it was an act of mercy—preserving him from temptation and stumbling. It was an act of grace also, signifying that God would bring him all the way home and give him “life and immortality” (2 Timothy 1:10; Revelation 2:7).