An Everlasting Inheritance - Genesis 3:1–13

Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to record the sermon. The pastor’s manuscript is posted below.

Back in 2009, many news outlets reported the story of two brothers, grown men, living in a cave on the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary. They were homeless,scavenging and selling junk to make money. Their mother had abandoned them long ago and had since passed away; they had lost touch with their father. They had no connection to their extended family; their mother had cut ties with her side of the family many years prior. So they knew none of those people. 

But then, they came to learn about their mother’s family. Charity workers who knew the men were contacted by lawyers handling the estate of their maternal grandmother - their mother’s mother. They were informed that because their mother was now deceased, they were the rightful heirs to their grandmother’s estate, which put them first in line to receive an inheritance valued at over 6 billion dollars. 

Hard to believe, but that’s the story. These men went from an inheritance of zero to one of billions, just like that. Moses explained to the Israelites that they were to receive an inheritance. Sometime after being delivered from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites learned that the one true God had made a covenant with their ancestors - their forefathers - to make them a great nation, give them a place, and to be their God and dwell with them. They were the heirs of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

But there was a prior inheritance received, one which all mankind receives. In Romans 5, the apostle Paul explains that, “Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” We are, by nature, guilty sinners. We’ve inherited Adam’s guilty record as well as many tendencies that put us in opposition to God. Adam was the representative of all mankind in a covenant with God. God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There would be a blessing for obedience and a curse for disobedience, not only for Adam, but for all humans who came from him. Adam’s heirs would inherit according to Adam’s decision. Because of Adam’s sin, what we’ve inherited is a sinful nature and the guilt of sin. 

And yet through the person and work of Jesus Christ, God has dealt with our sin nature and our guilt. Sent from heaven to earth, Jesus was fully God, while also fully man. He was born of a woman, but did not inherit the sinful nature and the imputed guilt that we did. He then lived a perfect life in the place of His people, paid the penalty of death for our sins, and rose from the grave to declare us righteous and bring us into the family of God. And so those who are justified by His grace are heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

Through Jesus, we have a better inheritance. The inheritance of sin and death is replaced by an inheritance of eternal life in the LORD God. So we should look only to the LORD God - to the Lord Jesus Christ - for that inheritance. 

But what is our natural inheritance that Jesus replaces? You can find an outline on page 6 in the WG. Jesus replaces our inheritance of doubt, shame, and blame.

Now first off, I think a question that could come up as we read this passage might be, “Why did God allow this to happen?” And what is clear is that while even the Israelites likely asked this question, that is not a question that Moses, and ultimately God, meant to answer here. 

In light of the whole of Scripture, the ministers who wrote the Westminster Confession gave this answer: “This their sin [Adam and Eve], God was pleased, according to His wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it to His own glory.” We must come humbly to God’s Word. Not that your questions are not good ones worth exploring, and to be clear, I have no problem with anyone asking any question. But let’s resist skepticism and see what God would teach us.

Verse 1 says, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.” The creature had a way that could be manipulated for deceit, for duplicity, which is what Satan does here. He presents himself as Eve’s friend, when in fact, he is her enemy. Satan’s approach is indirect, but his goal was to undermine God’s authority and the creation order established by God. 

Understand this: the target was always Adam. It was Adam with whom God made His covenant. It was Adam who first received God’s Word. Eve was not present when God gave His commandment to Adam. Adam’s responsibility was to teach his wife. The serpent “said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” Did God truly say? God did not forbid every tree; rather, just one. Satan twists God’s Word to deceive. 

“And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 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.’” That’s not true. Touching the tree or its fruit was not forbidden. The Word of God is being misrepresented.

Verse [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.” He suggests that God is withholding something good from the humans. But more seriously, he insinuates that God is a liar. Jesus later calls Satan “the father of lies.” Apparently, Eve then doubts God, seemingly with Adam standing by. 

There’s an interesting progression in verse 6. We should read it in light of what the apostle John says in 1 John 2. He writes, “All that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” Look again at the verse: “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.” Her senses and her longings are taken captive. So she eats, and then Adam eats. But it began with deception that produced doubt in God’s Word and His character. 

Doubt is tricky. With doubt, the human intellect assumes a position of authority over God. We presume to know better than God, supposing that we have some insight that God lacks. C.S. Lewis describes this as putting “God in the dock.” In other words, we put God on the stand as a defendant in the court of law. He is obligated to prove Himself to us. God must defend His character; the Creator must answer to His creatures.

That is not a good place to be, and if you find yourself there, you must not remain. You will torpedo your life in all sorts of ways. God is the sovereign Creator of the universe. He made you, and the air you breath, and the ground upon which you stand, and the sun which warms you. You are finite, and you will die one day, and on that day, God will not be in the dock, you will be. And God will not be the one required to give an answer.

Do you recognize the effects of our inheritance of doubt in your own life? Certainly, life is hard. We have many questions. “Why do we suffer and struggle; when will it all end?” We must do what Adam and Eve did not do: trust God’s Word. ​​Deuteronomy 29 says, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” We must look to Jesus who walked by faith in our place, and made strong in Him, we must trust what God has said. 

His Word tells us that Jesus replaces our inheritance of doubt. Not only was Jesus free of doubt, but during his earthly ministry, He showed mercy to those who desired to believe and admitted their doubts. Have you come to Jesus with your doubts and surrendered them to Him?

Now look at these next verses. Verse [7] says, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” The end of Genesis 2 says that after the woman was created by God, she and her husband stood before one another and they were not ashamed. Once they sinned, the shame rushed in. They felt the need to cover themselves in each other’s presence. Rather than gaining wisdom, they lost innocence. They felt guilty and exposed. They were fearful. 

And in their fearful, guilty state, here comes God. Verse [8] “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” Let me point out once more: when we see “LORD” in all capital letters we know the name “Yahweh” is used in the Hebrew manuscripts. Yahweh is the personal, covenant name of God. Moses reminds the Israelites, even as they hear these words, that our God is a God of grace. In fact, next week, Brock Page will preach on first glimpse of the gospel in Genesis 3:15. 

So Yahweh approaches the man and woman, verse 8, “and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” Obviously this is in vain. In Psalm 139, David writes, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” Man cannot hide from God.

And yet God condescends to us; He approaches us personally. They were made in His image, made for personal interaction with Him. They were hiding, verse [9], But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” Notice that God does not confront Eve; He confronts Adam, the one who was in the God-given position of authority in the creation and in the marriage, the one with whom God made His covenant, the one to whom God gave His law. Adam understands his role, and He answers, verse [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.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. tells a funny story about his father, the late Dale Sr. Both men are auto racing legends, yet known for being very down-to-earth. Dale Jr. describes a time during his childhood when his father learned that he had used an inappropriate word, a curse word, while at a friend’s house. And later that day, Dale Sr. approached Dale Jr. to spank him with his belt. But rather than taking his discipline, Dale Jr. says he ran from his father, out of the house and into a hay field, He then laid down in a ditch and stayed there for many hours.

When we know we are guilty, and we know we are caught, we run and hide in shame. This is another aspect of our inheritance from Adam. What shame do you carry? Shame over things you’ve done that you know were wrong? Do you try to hide your shame from God? There’s no use hiding. Hebrews 4 says, “No creature is hidden from [God’s] sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” The verse before that one states how we are exposed: by the Word of God. 

God, in His mercy and grace, invites us to have our sins exposed before Him, so that we may see our need for salvation and admit our shameful ways to Him. Have you come to Jesus with your shame and confessed it to Him? Only Jesus can rid you of your shame. He bore the fullness of our shame on His cross. And even if you convince yourself that God is not angry toward sin, your guilt remains, and therefore, your shame remains. Just as we must bring our doubts to Jesus, we must bring Him our shame.

Now notice this final section. Verse [11], He [God] said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” God repeats His original command. The tree in question stood to remind Adam of the moral relationship between he and God. The tree stood as a token of God’s authority over Adam. Again, God condescends to Adam - He speaks to Adam on his level - and asks this question. 

Obviously, God knew what had taken place. Proverbs 15 says, “The eyes of Yahweh are in every place.” And now watch closely as the blame game begins. Verse [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.” 

Jocko Willink is a retired U.S. Navy officer who served in the Navy SEALs. He fought in the Iraq War and achieved the rank of lieutenant commander. Today he is known for his leadership consulting, part of which is a philosophy that he calls “extreme ownership.” 

Willink tells a story that led him to coin that phrase. During the war, soldiers under his command unknowingly fired upon and then engaged in gunfire with some Iraqi allies. One Iraqi soldier died. This is what is known as fratricide, accidentally killing someone in battle who is on your side. After the accident, Willink investigated what went wrong. He writes, “I reviewed my brief again and again trying to figure out the missing piece, the single point of failure that had led to the incident. But there were so many factors, and I couldn’t figure it out….I looked through my notes again and again, trying to place the blame. Then it hit me. Despite all the failures of individuals, units, and leaders, and despite the myriad mistakes that had been made, there was only one person to blame for everything that had gone wrong on the operation: me….I had to take complete ownership of what went wrong.”

We do not naturally take responsibility for our sin. Instead, we blame others. Adam blamed God and Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. We will learn next week about how God dealt with each guilty party in this event, but it was Adam who carried the mantle of leadership. It is perhaps difficult for us to understand the weight of responsibility that Adam carried. Perhaps we wonder, “Was it just for God to give such a position to that first man?” But remember, God is entirely just in His being. He is the author of justice. Was it good for God to bestow this role upon Adam? God is entirely good in His being. God’s command to Adam was wise, holy, just, and good. 

Extreme ownership was required of Adam, and Adam was capable. This recalls the small sign on the desk of President Harry S. Truman, which famously read, “The buck stops here.” Truman meant to communicate that there would be no “passing the buck,” no shifting the responsibility to someone else during his presidency. Just as we are prone to have doubt and prone to feel shame, we are prone to cast blame. This is our inheritance.

In what areas of your life do you need to take ownership of the things you’ve done, of the sins you’ve committed? Of course, we’ve all been victimized at various times in life. Often, those things are outside of our control. I’m sure things have happened to you that made you the way you are, contributing to your struggles and shortcomings. I’m sorry that you’ve endured those things. But in the end, when you stand before God, you will have to answer for your sins. God will demand extreme ownership. Romans 14 says, “Each of us will give an account of himself to God.”

But there was one man who took extreme ownership for sins that He didn’t even commit. The Lord Jesus died the death of a doubt-filled, shameful blamer. He died the death of one who walks by sight, questions God, runs and hides from God, and casts blame on anyone but himself or herself. Jesus did this so that he could replace our inheritance of doubt, shame, and blame with an everlasting inheritance. The apostle Peter wrote, “According to his great mercy, [God] has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” 

If you do not come to Jesus and receive His inheritance, then you must keep the everlasting inheritance passed down from Adam. Don’t you want to trade? Don’t you want to shed the doubt, shame, and blame and inherit freedom and peace in Jesus? The LORD God soothes our doubts, he removes our shame, and he takes our blame. 

Turn from your sin and trust in Him, and rejoice in Your inheritance! Bow with me in prayer.