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 Introduction
What was God to do when man went wrong and decided to rebel against
him? Wipe him out like some mistake on a blackboard and start again? Smile
and pretend it didn't happen? Neither of those responses do justice to a God
of love. The amazing truth we learn from these awesome verses is that God
loved his creation even when it went wrong. He did so not to the point of
indulging it and pretending nothing had happened,
that's not love but moral indifference -
although today, the two are often
confused!

God's love allows both his hand

of justice and of mercy to operate
without contradicting one another.

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 The Justice of God
We have already seen God’s justice meting out punishment to Eve, pain in
childbirth and an increased dependence upon her husband. Adam for his
part would experience frustration as he laboured to provide for their
welfare – thorns and thistles!

In addition physical death would now be common

to all human experience – a returning to dust
and most serious of all they were to be cast
out of the place of fellowship with God –
there would be a spiritual death
a separation from God.

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 The Justice of God
But what of the serpent which had been the vehicle of temptation leading
to the downfall of man? It does not escape the censure of God and we
read in v14 that it is condemned to crawl on its belly all the days of its life.
It is consigned to the lowest place a fitting judgment against the creature
that had been responsible for man’s fall, for bringing him down!

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 God’s Merciful Provision
Before God acted in judgement, casting Adam and Eve out of the garden,
he displayed his mercy. Before he banished the guilty from paradise he
extended glorious hope to nourish faith and persuade them that
punishment did not mean abandonment.

God still had designs of grace for mankind.

His mercy is seen in his promise of Satan's
defeat. Theologians speak of Gen. 3.15 as
the "protoevangelium", the first
proclamation of the gospel.

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 God’s Merciful Provision
The text is describes more than simply an ongoing hostility between humans
and snakes! As we saw from our study of 3v1-5 behind the serpent was
concealed an evil spiritual force identified by Jesus as the Devil who had
made use of the serpent. And so v15 points to a constant discernable
conflict that would rage throughout history between Satan’s kingdom and
the children of the kingdom of God. But there is also a promise here of
fundamental importance.

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 God’s Merciful Provision
The use of the words "head" and "heel" both in the singular indicates that
the conflict would ultimately be settled by two contestants. The victor would
be the seed of the woman, who would suffer in the process of securing
victory. Who is this Saviour of men who would reverse the effects of the fall
and overcome Satan? In Heb.2.14 we read,
"he too shared in their humanity so that by his
death he might destroy him who holds the
power of death- that is the devil- and free
those who all their lives were held in slavery
by their fear of death"
and again in 1 Jn. 3.8 we read
"the Devil has been sinning from the
beginning. The reason the Son of God
appeared was to destroy the devil's work."
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 God’s Merciful Provision
Luke, in his gospel, traces the genealogy of Jesus all the way back to Adam.
Why does he do that? In order to remind his readership that Jesus was the
‘seed’ promised to Adam and Eve. As early as Gen.3 God was saying to
fallen man, "there is a door of hope".

The sufferings and death of Christ are alluded to in Satan's bruising of his
heel. This bruising process is seen in Satan's attempts to destroy Jesus at
birth, through wilderness temptation, and in his influence of
Judas and the chief priests prior to the crucifixion.
But Christ's death proved to be a fatal blow to
Satan's kingdom, a mortal wound from which
there is no recovery.

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 God’s Merciful Provision
A sightseeing trip to Ravenna, in Italy involves a visit to old Byzantine
churches which have their walls covered with glorious mosaics depicting
biblical scenes. Because the majority of
the worshipping congregations in the early
centuries were illiterate the mosaics pictured
on the wall were intended to unpack and
reinforce important biblical truths.

The central mosaic in one church shows a

picture of a victorious Jesus crushing the
head of both a roaring lion and of a serpent.
One important lesson being taught was
that Jesus by his death has destroyed
the works of the Devil.

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 God’s Merciful Provision
In Rom. 5 Paul describes the way in which Jesus did more than restore all
that Adam lost as a result of the fall. Jesus is presented as a second Adam
and both ‘Adams’ are compared.
One brought death and condemnation on all of humanity who are united to
him by nature, i.e. the whole human race. The second Adam is presented as
the head of a new humanity and he brings life and reconciliation to all who
are united to him by faith. See also 1 Cor. 15.21-22

"For since by man came death, by man

also came the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive.”

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 God’s Merciful Provision
Returning to Rom.5 note the recurring phrase, "How much more”. The
significant point being pressed home is that we gain much more ‘in Christ’
than we lost ‘in Adam’. Jesus’ rescue package does not merely return men to
an Eden situation where they would be as vulnerable as Adam was before
he fell. Had that been the case we would spend the whole of our existence
wondering, "Will I disobey today and as a result be cast out of God's
presence?”

Such a life could be compared to

walking on eggs with the awful fear
that very soon one of them might break.
God’s merciful provision for man in
Christ contains an eternal security
that Adam never had.

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 God’s Merciful Provision
How could such a secure provision be made? Well, a way into God's presence
had to be found, which didn’t depend on man's ability or effort. And as early
as Gen.3v21 we read that God provided a covering for man. There is great
significance in this act. It needs to be understood against the earlier actions
of Adam and Eve. You will remember that in 3.7 Adam and Eve sought to
cover their nakedness by their own ingenuity and effort –
they used leaves to cover themselves as if by
so doing they could undo the effects of the fall.

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 God’s Merciful Provision
Not much has changed down the years, the response of man towards his sin
is often, "I will do my best to earn God's acceptance , I am able to provide
covering for myself to protect me from God’s justice!" Isaiah tells us men’s
attempts at righteousness are as ‘filthy rags’ before God. But later we read
in Is 61.10 "my soul rejoices in my God for he has clothed me with garments
of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness."

Isaiah revels in God's provision as he grasps

that God himself has provided a covering
that can stand the inspection of his
justice.

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 God’s Merciful Provision
In Genesis 3 God sacrificed an animal to provide a covering for Adam and
Eve. He established a sacrificial system, which in turn pointed forward to
the coming of his Son, the great sacrifice for sin. Jesus, the lamb of God,
would provide those who trusted in him with a robe of righteousness,
which was guaranteed to pass the scrutiny of God’s justice.

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 God’s Merciful Provision
God provided Adam and Eve with a covering, which was in fact a gospel
visual aid. It pointed to the substitutionary nature of the Christ’s sacrificial
death and to the covering of perfect righteousness that his death would
secure for his people. The early Christian fathers used to speak of ‘God’s
Great Exchange’. By that they meant that our sins were lifted and placed
upon Jesus, who in turn paid their penalty,
while his perfect righteousness was
taken and placed upon his people.

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 God’s Merciful Provision
In the garden the hand of God’s mercy wanted to spare the offender,
while the hand of God’s justice required his death. God's solution to this
dilemma was the death of a substitute, which would at one and the same
time satisfy justice and display mercy.

From the very beginning God made it

clear that he alone would and could
do all that was necessary for man’s
salvation. It is quite wonderful,
it’s overwhelming!

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 God’s Merciful Provision
God comes to us all with two hands outstretched. He comes with his justice
and his mercy. He says in effect, “You need a covering, a shelter, and a
hiding place from the sanctions of my justice. Nothing you can do can
provide an adequate covering or adequate protection but look at what I
have prepared. Here is the righteousness that Jesus my Son has made
available to those who recognise their need”.

A famous minister wrote,

"Those who will not deliver themselves
into the hand of God's mercy cannot be
delivered out of the hand of God's justice”.
What hand have you placed yourself in?

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