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Devo God’s overwhelming Love and Grace Part 6
Genesis 3:14-19 (NIV) 14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Even in the curse we see God’s love and grace. It is through the curse we realize what we lost in God. It is designed to drive us back to Him. The fact that God did not destroy us and let us live under the curse is an act of grace. Interestingly enough the curse is a blessing to us in that it makes us realize we are sinners in need of God, a savior. Everything about the curse reeks of Love. Think about it. Pastor Jeff Lane Devo God’s overwhelming Love and Grace Part 5
Genesis 3:8 (NIV) 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:15 (NIV) 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:21 (NIV) 21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Here are three acts of grace among many in Genesis 3. First God comes to man even though He knows man has sinned. We can see the intimate relationship they had, because they recognized His footsteps. Something people today don’t recognize in their life. He makes first mention of a redeemer that will be given to them. It is this last verse that I believe that God shows them the severity of their sin. You see up till now there is no death in the garden. God provides and offers the first blood sacrifices. I believe God physically slaughters these animals and shows them how to make clothes of their skins. By doing this He shows them what death is. They see these two innocent animals die because of their sin. Can you imagine the impact this must have had? They named these animals. They were like pets to them. I remember reading this as a child and being upset. I have always loved animals. My mother was afraid to reach in my pant pockets to wash them not knowing what creature I brought home today. My youngest daughter is the same way with animals. We love them and to read that they had to die because of our sin was horrifying to me. At two years of age at my grandparent’s farm I watched as they butchered a pig next to the house and when they slit that pig open they said I ran in the house yelling ‘ piggy broke, piggy broke’. The thought of their pets dying for them must have been overwhelming and yet what an act of grace in so many ways. God provided everything they needed including a way back to Him. Pastor JeffLane Genesis 2:20-25 (NIV)
20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[b] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[c] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. God sees man is lonely and creates woman and gives her to man to be his wife and protect her. Even responsibility is a gift from God, because with it comes more blessing. Pastor Jeff Lane |
Pastor Jeff Lane
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