In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of hard work and discipline in the life of a believer. He references the example of Paul, who worked tirelessly and faced hardships to serve the Lord. The speaker warns against being deceived by those who do not work and rely on others for support, stating that they are not serving God but the devil. He highlights the biblical principle that if someone does not work, they should not eat. The sermon also touches on the consequences of not working, such as the increase of sin and evil in society. The speaker concludes by reminding listeners that God's rebukes always come with a promise of provision and hope.

Let's turn to chapter 3, we were looking at verse 14, where we see that after God asked Adam what he had done, and he blamed his wife, and Adam asked Eve what she had done, and she blamed the serpent. And it would have been proper for God to rebuke Adam and Eve first, and say, why do you put the blame on each other, or on someone else? Why don't you take the blame yourself? But we see that he doesn't do that. He first of all judges the serpent. It's very important for us to see that, that he did not express his punishment and curse on Adam and Eve, but on the serpent. That shows us that God is always on our side against the devil. Even when we have fallen, even when we have sinned, he is against the devil still. He's on our side against the devil, and that's a tremendously encouraging thing. The Lord God said to the serpent, first of all. He hasn't said a word of judgment yet to Adam and Eve, that'll come, but first to the serpent. Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field. On your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. And he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. We see here that the serpent obviously was not one that crawled on his belly when first created. Today the serpent crawls on the ground, but we don't know what shape the serpent had before the curse came on it. But we certainly know that it didn't crawl on the ground, because that was the result of the curse. It was not created to crawl on its belly. And dust shall you eat means that it lives in the dust, and the serpent lives in the dust today. And we see here in verse fifteen the first prophecy in the word of God. And it is a prophecy concerning the coming of Jesus Christ. In other words, very interesting and important to see this. Before a word of judgment is spoken upon this fallen couple, Adam and Eve, God first speaks a word of promise, that I am going to make a provision for your sins. And only after having said that does he go on to speak a word of judgment to Adam and Eve. There is always a hope in God's rebuke as well. God's rebukes are not hopeless. When men rebuke one another or when parents rebuke their children, they almost give the impression that the other person is hopeless. God's not like that, and it's because man's not like God that he behaves like that. But God, He speaks the word of hope first, saying the seed of the woman is going to come and crush the head of the serpent. That's the first prophecy in Scripture. It's a prophecy that Satan would be defeated. And it's very important to see that, that the first prophecy in Scripture is concerning the defeat of Satan. And that is what the devil doesn't want believers to recommend, that he was finally defeated on the cross. That's why lots of believers are scared of Satan, scared of evil spirits. It's amazing to see how many believers there are who are scared of evil spirits, scared of Satan, and who don't believe that they can ever be free from all the misery and wretchedness that Satan has put upon their life. Why is that? People live in defeat and defeat and defeat and defeat, and don't believe that they can be freed from that. Why? Because Satan has blinded them to the fact that he was defeated on the cross. That's the first prophecy in Scripture, that Satan would be defeated. Never forget it. The first prophecy concerns the defeat of Satan by Jesus Christ. And when it says here, I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. You see, it doesn't say between you and the man. Why didn't God say, I will put enmity between you and the man? No, it's between you and the woman, and between the woman's seeds. Which is a prophecy concerning the fact that Jesus Christ would be born without an earthly father. It would be of a virgin, of a woman. That's why God said, between you and the woman. It's all there in Scripture. Between your seed and her seed. Not Adam's. Her seed, referring to the seed of the woman. That Jesus was finally born of the Virgin Mary. And we also see something else here. That we know that this her seed refers to Christ. That's clear. And we can turn to Galatians 4.4 and see something there. This is a New Testament commentary on this. When the fullness, Galatians 4.4, When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman. There it is, the fulfillment of that prophecy. Born of a woman who was a virgin, who was not married. And when we see here in Genesis 3.15 that Jesus Christ is called the seed of that fallen woman, it implies that Jesus Christ would come in the same flesh as that fallen woman had. Because it's going to be her seed. That was not a prophecy given before sin came into the world. If that was a prophecy given in Genesis chapter 1 or chapter 2, then we could say perhaps it does not mean that Christ came in the flesh. But when we see that that prophecy was given by God Himself after man and woman had sinned, after their flesh had been corrupted, to say that of her seed. Thus we know that Jesus Christ had the same flesh that Mary, His mother, had because He was born of her seed. So we see that Christ manifests in the flesh. It's there right at the beginning of the Old Testament. As soon as man sinned, God is speaking about Christ coming in the flesh. That is not some special doctrine. If we have eyes to see it, when God opens our eyes, we see it from Genesis to Revelation, not only from Matthew. It's there. Her seed. It's not going to be a special body that God would create inside Mary's womb without any connection with Mary herself, so that Mary's womb would be just like a little box inside which some special body would be created. No. It would be Mary's seed. Her own flesh. Salvation would come through that. And Satan would be defeated by one who came in the flesh of the woman. And there would be enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. The seed of the serpent, we can say literally, is going to be that person who is going to arise finally called the Antichrist. He is going to be the seed of Satan. And it also refers to all those who are children of Satan even today. There is an enmity between the children of God and the children of the serpent. That, God said, would be there right from the beginning. There's enmity because they are going in two different directions. Those who have the spirit of Christ who is the seed of the woman and those who have the spirit of the Antichrist which is the seed of the serpent. And now we see verse 16. Then, after having pronounced this judgment on the serpent and the curse. The serpent is cursed. I want you to notice one thing here. In verse 14, God cursed the serpent. That is, cursed Satan and the serpent. But if you read the rest of the chapter on to verse 16 to 19, you'll find something that God never cursed man or woman. We must not think that God cursed Adam and Eve because He didn't. You read carefully, you find that He doesn't curse Adam and Eve at all. It would be a terrible thing to be cursed by God. No, it is the ground, verse 17, that God cursed. He didn't curse Adam. He didn't curse Eve. He's on our side, against the devil, even when we have fallen. If only we can be gripped by this. He's not there to curse us. He's there to help us. And we mustn't believe these Pharisees who portray God as someone who's ready to curse us the moment we have slipped and fallen. No. He punishes us but He won't curse us. There is a difference between punishment and curse. It's an evil father who curses his children. It's a loving father who punishes his children. There's a lot of difference between cursing your children and punishing your children. God didn't curse Adam and Eve. He punished them. There is a curse we read that Jesus redeemed us from in Galatians 3.13. That is the curse of the law. In the law, there was a curse that if you didn't do these things, all this, this, this, this, this, this would come upon you. That was a curse. That curse Jesus has delivered us from. But we read here in verse 16, To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In other words, before sin came into the world, and if she had not sinned, she would not have had pain in childbirth. Pain in childbirth is part of that judgment of God that has come upon the human race because of sin. And every time there's pain in childbirth, it's a reminder that we are still in this body, and the new heavens and the new earth have not yet come. We have not yet received a glorified body. And I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, and in pain you shall bring forth children, and yet your desire shall be for your husband. You will still be married, even though there's pain in childbirth. You will still long for your husband, and he shall rule over you. Man was authorized by God at this point to rule over his wife. There are people who say, but now Jesus has come, and that punishment that God gave to Eve has been removed. Man doesn't have to rule over his wife now. But what about the previous part of that verse? Has pain from childbirth also been removed? No, it hasn't. What about verse seventeen? Has the ground lost its curse? No, all the things that God spoke to Adam and Eve are still present even today, even for believers. Don't believing sisters have pain in childbirth? Don't thorns and thistles grow in the compound of believers? Sure. Doesn't sweat come forth from the body of believers? The curse is gone, but the punishment on the human race given to Adam and Eve is still there. The final punishment is death, and even that is there for believers. So we must not think that anything mentioned in verses sixteen to nineteen has been removed. No. Pain in childbirth has not been removed, the thorns and thistles mentioned in verse eighteen has not been removed, and the sweat and death mentioned in verse nineteen have not been removed, and therefore we say that a man ruling over his wife in verse sixteen has also not been removed. And any God-fearing sister should understand that, that it is God who authorized a man to be the ruler over his wife. First, because she was created to be man's helper, the woman was created for the man, man was not created for the woman. And secondly, after the fall, as a punishment also, God says, because of what you did, because of your trying to take over the headship from Adam, because of your taking that fruit without consulting your husband, and because you tried to be the head of your home, do you know who was the first woman who tried to be the head of the home? Eve. And that's how sin came. And there are many believing sisters, I'm sorry to say, who haven't got light on that, who boss their husbands, who rule their husbands, following in the steps of sinful Eve. No. So, God has commanded and authorized man to rule over his wife. It was first a law, and a punishment, second. Then we see, in verse seventeen, to Adam, and this is also important for men to recognize, what was Adam's crime? Read it carefully. You listened to the voice of your wife. That was his sin. Now, there's nothing wrong in listening to the advice of your wife if it is godly advice. It's a very good thing. In fact, later on, I'll give you an example of it, in Genesis chapter twenty-one. We read in Genesis twenty-one, when Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah, there was a feast, we read in Genesis twenty-one, verse eight. And Ishmael, verse nine, Hagar's son, was mocking Isaac and Sarah's boy. And she went to Abraham, verse ten, and said, Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid's servant shall not be an heir with my son Isaac. And for your information, those words are quoted in Galatians 4.30 as an Old Testament quotation by the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. But who spoke those words? Sarah, the son of this maid's servant shall not be an heir with the son born of promise. It's quoted in Galatians 4.30. And when Abraham was distressed greatly because of it, God said to Abraham, the middle of verse twelve, Listen to your wife. So that's the balance. Do not listen to your wife, and listen to your wife. What is the difference? The difference is, is her advice according to the word of God? That's the point. The point is, not, she's a woman, we don't listen to women. That's heathenism. If that's your attitude, you're a heathen. But, that's not the reason why God says to old Adam, you sin in listening to your wife. The reason was, you listened to the voice of your wife when my voice told you to do something else. That's the point. That when God tells us to do something, and our darling wife tells us to do something else, then we have to decide whether we're going to follow Adam, or whether we're going to be like Jesus who told his mother, What have I to do with you, woman? Think of that. People say we must never make our parents we. Oh, no. Think how hard-hearted Jesus is. We have gentle spiritual brothers today, but Jesus was so carnal and hard-hearted to talk to his mother, Woman, what have I to do with you? There is a whole-heartedness which today's so-called gentle spiritual brothers just don't understand because they don't love God so whole-heartedly as Jesus did. That's the reason. That's the reason. That's why they are defeated in sin also. Jesus was never defeated because he was whole-hearted. He wouldn't allow his mother or father, or mother or Joseph or brothers or anyone to allow him to sin. No. Nobody. He would be strong when it came to God's Word, God's standards. Nobody would stand before him. And none of these human reasoning things, how she cared for you when you were a little baby, would have no influence on Jesus because if it's against God's Word, she would stand against anybody, even if they cared for him when he was small. Makes no difference. If it's against God's Word, it's against God's Word. We must not allow these emotional feelings to lead us away from whole-hearted obedience to God's Word. And I've seen something through the years, my brothers and sisters, that those who have whole-heartedly stood against their relatives for God's Word are the ones who've really accomplished something for God on this earth. The other diplomatic compromisers, they drift along. They drift along. We're not saying they're evil, but they drift along. And God's mighty blessing never seems to be their portion, as it would have been if they had loved God a little more. So the principle of discipleship that Jesus spoke about, any man who will come after me, he must date his father, mother, brother, sister, wife, and children, and his own life begins here. Adam, because you loved your wife more than you loved me, because you listened to the voice of your wife more than you listened to my voice, therefore, you shall not eat from you, because you did not listen to my voice. That's the contrast. You see, in verse 17, you have listened to the voice of your wife, and you have not listened to my voice, which said, you shall not eat from it. Notice the contrast in verse 17. It's a contrast. My voice said, you shall not eat from it. Your wife's voice said, eat from it. And you listened to your wife. Therefore, Jesus said, if any man will come after me, let him, first of all, hate his father, mother, brother, sister, wife, children, and his own life if he wants to be my disciple. And I will tell you something. I've noticed this also. Even in the church, there are people who hate their father and mother who will not hate their wife. It's amazing. They seem to have lost out part of that verse. They are zealous in hating their father and mother, but not so zealous in hating their wife and children. That is a human hatred then. If it were divine, it would be to all relatives, and it would only have relation to disobedience to God's word. Nothing else. But, lots of people take these commands in a human way. They've got something against their parents, so they take up that verse which the devil whispers in their ears, and they begin to hate their father and mother. No, that's not the meaning. The point is, if they tell you to do something against God's word, then only this hatred should operate. That's the contrast in this verse. My voice said, don't eat it. And that other voice from your loved one said, eat it. There was a conflict there between God's voice and the voice of the loved one. And it is in that context that our discipleship is tested, and there and there alone are we to stand against father, mother, brother, sister, wife, children, and even our own life, which may tell us something contrary to God's word. So we see, this is the reason why Jesus made that the first condition of discipleship. Because man sins because he loves someone more than he loved God. And that danger is there for every one of us, that when we love a relative more than we love God, we are in danger of falling into sin just like Adam. And so we need to ensure that in the day of judgment the Lord never has to say to any of us, like he said to Adam, because you listened to the voice of your father when I told you to do something else, because you listened to the voice of your mother when I told you to do something else, because you listened to the voice of your wife when I told you to do something else, or your son, or your daughter, or your brother, or your sister, when I told you to do something else, then we can say, if God has to say that to any of us in the day of judgment, we can say we have profited nothing from the example that we read in Genesis chapter 3. God took that very seriously. But God could never, there was no opportunity for God to say that to Jesus. No. He'd never have to say to Jesus that you listened to the voice of your mother and you didn't listen to my voice. No. He said, what have I to do with you woman? He was going to listen to the voice of God. There is an example for us there, the way Adam went and the way Jesus Christ went. There is a price to be paid in following Jesus Christ. And a carnal, worldly believer can never understand it. And if we are carnal and worldly, that message will sound like harsh and hard to us. And we will even think that Jesus is harsh and hard. But when we are spiritually minded, God shows us what that means. And because of that, he said, cursed is the ground because of you. In toil you shall eat it. In sorrow, as it says in the margin, in sorrow you shall eat it all the days of your life. There is sorrow for the woman. In verse 16, pain, there is sorrow for the man. Verse 18, both thorns and thistles, it will grow for you. There were no thorns and thistles before sin came into the world. And this phrase, in the middle of verse 17, cursed is the ground because of you. In other words, because of you, Adam. You disobeyed me. Therefore, this earth which I placed under your dominion is also cursed. And the animals who were also placed under your dominion have also received a judgment. The lion and the tiger have become wild. The snake has become poisonous and scorpions have their sting and everything was affected on earth because man, the ruler of the earth, allowed the devil to occupy him, to fool him, and therefore his home, which was the earth, also came under the control of Satan. A warning to us that when a man allows the devil to influence his life, his home also becomes affected because of you, the head of the home, not honoring me, God says. Therefore, there is a punishment even upon your home. Think of that. It can be the other way too. Because you, as the head of the home, have honored me, therefore there will be a blessing upon your home too. I've seen that again and again. That's where, particularly the head of the home, really seeks to honor God. Even where he has a carnal wife, God still blesses that home. And where a person, as the head of the home, does not honor God, the blessing of God doesn't come on that home. It's a tremendous responsibility that is upon the head of the home. All men have to take that very seriously. Very seriously. So much of what happens in your home depends on how you live and honor God in your personal life. And you shall eat the plants of the field by the sweat of your face. You shall eat bread. God has ordained hard work for man. There is a verse in Ecclesiastes which says the sleep of the hard-working man is sweet. It's the person who is lazy who finds it difficult to sleep at night. Sleep is a blessing that God has given us if we work hard during the day. And God has ordained hard work for man and by the sweat of your face you shall earn your living. And that's why in the New Testament we read in 2 Thessalonians 3 that if a man does not work neither should he eat. 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 10. And I believe that this is referring particularly to those who left their jobs and decided to become full-time workers. Do you know that this word full-time worker is actually a misnomer because most full-time workers work less than those who are not full-time workers. In fact, people who are not full-time workers work more full-time than those who are so-called full-time workers. Most full-time workers just work for two evenings a week for a couple of hours of meetings and that's what they call work. No, he says, we gave you an example because we, verse 7, we did not act in an undisciplined manner but working with labor and hardship night and day, verse 8 to be an example for you we gave you this order, verse 10 if anyone will not work neither let him eat because we hear that some of you are leading an undisciplined life doing no work at all. That means they gave up their jobs and they just went around acting like busybodies, it says here. And lots of people like that in our country. Be careful that you don't get deceived by any of them thinking that they are God's servants. They are not God's servants, they are the devil's servants. Just going around doing no work and sponging off all the other believers. We are not to encourage such people. If they do not work, they should not eat. Paul is a good example of how to serve the Lord. So, by the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread means that you must work and earn your living. God has ordained that. And that hard work is man's protection today in a fallen world. You know in western countries where they have a five day week and I think a four day week in some places and lot of free time and they have no religion they have no interest in anything spiritual young people who don't work are given money from security systems in the government and the result is so much of evil so much of sin because they don't have to work hard. Hard work is a protection that God has given. And then he says in Genesis chapter 3 in verse 19 that till you return to the ground till the day you die, you got to work hard because from it you were taken. You were taken from the ground and listen to this word YOU ARE DUST That's a good word that we have to remember always. God looking at you and saying you are dust and say yes Lord. How much will you buy dust for? Do you pay money to buy dust? Has dust got any value? No. You are dust and that teaches me one thing I have to face up to it with all my cleverness I'm dust with all your good looks you're dust. Have you heard it? You are dust. You look into the mirror the mirror may tell you something else You look into your school report or college report or the degrees after your name that may tell you something else but God says the whole lot of you you are dust and it's better to hear his voice. You are dust. Remember that when you look into the mirror remember that when you think of your qualifications and your abilities and your intellect and all your capabilities and your talents and everything else. You are dust. I need to hear that every day and that teaches me that the only thing that there is of value in me is what the Holy Spirit has been able to accomplish and the only thing that there is of value in you is what the Holy Spirit has been able to accomplish in your heart and if he's done nothing in your heart you're just dust full stop. But praise the Lord that if we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us along the way of the cross before we finish our earthly life though about our earthly part God still has to say you are dust yet within that earthly picture within that earthen vessel God has been able to accumulate a treasure of the divine nature that's the only thing that God counts as of any value God's not impressed by beautiful dust, intellectual dust, talented dust. No. All dust. The only thing that has any value is what the Holy Spirit has been able to work of the nature of Christ in us only we can remember that all our lives what God looks straight into Adam's face and says you're dust. And I need to hear see God looking straight into my face and saying you are dust. Saying yeah Lord that's right I agree with you 100%. With all that I think I am, I'm dust. And that's why we need to put our face in the dust the Bible says in the book of Lamentations very wonderful verse Lamentations 3 and verse 29 says for man let him put his mouth in the dust and then perhaps there will be hope for him when he puts his mouth in the dust and recognizes that he is but dust and ashes like Abraham said Lord I am dust and ashes Job said that whenever when a man got a revelation of God in the Bible he always put his face in the dust. He realized what he was. And when God stood face to face before Adam, Adam had no doubt that he was dust. And we forget it when we don't stand face to face before God. When I forget that I'm dust, that is the clearest proof that I'm not living before the face of God anymore. I'm living before the face of man. If I were living before the face of God, I would recognize that I'm dust every day of my life. All those who live before God's face will recognize that they are dust. People say how to handle this problem of pride. How to handle the problem of pride when I'm so gifted and so talented and God blesses me and has given me ability and this that and the other. There is no solution brother. You just got to live before God's face, that's all. And when you live before God's face you don't have a problem with pride at all because you get a revelation of what you are, that you are dust. We get puffed up and we get big ideas about ourselves. The moment we begin to get those big ideas, it is the clearest indication that we have stopped living before God's face. We've stopped, we wandered off. We can say I'm not interested in the honor of men. You can say what you like but you're not living before God's face because spiritual pride has started coming in. Or pride in something else. Pride in your family, pride in your talents, pride in 101 stupid things like that. And we have forgotten what God said to Adam straight to his face. You are dust. Let's hear it. And to dust you shall return. Everything that the Holy Spirit has not accomplished in us has got new eternal value. That's what we need to recognize. Your intellectual abilities have got zero eternal value. Your capabilities and accomplishments in all types of fields in the world have got zero eternal value. Your home and all the things you have accumulated and all the things that you have laid up for your children have got zero eternal value. Only what the Holy Spirit has accomplished has got an eternal value. Of all the rest we can say dust. Dust. And like I said the other day, this word dust, from which man was made, is translated in Nehemiah 4 as rubbish. So it is quite scriptural when we say that all these earthly things are garbage. Because God calls it garbage, we call it garbage. Because Jesus said that all that is big and great in the eyes of men is an abomination to God, therefore God calls it rubbish, we call it rubbish. Everything is rubbish if it's not accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Even so-called Christian work. There's a lot of Christian work which is not under the leading of the Holy Spirit. It's just man's clever ideas of how to serve God. That also is dust. Rubbish. We need to see that. We need to grow in discernment, to see what is dust and rubbish in so-called Christian work, and what has got eternal value. The Bible speaks of wood, hay, and straw, which will all be reduced to dust and ashes in the fire, and that which has got real value. We don't want to go into all that now, but to just mention that here. And then verse 20, And now the man called his wife's name Eve, because she was a mother. What did God say she was to be in Genesis 2, 18? A helper. And what did in God's presence, what did Adam name Eve? A mother. Two titles for woman in Genesis 2 and Genesis 3. Not business executive. Not preacher. Man's helper, number one. And mother, number two. That was in the clear light of God's immediate presence when God was face to face with man and woman. They knew clearly what the calling of the woman was. A helper to her husband, and a mother to her children. But now, since six thousand years, woman has drifted further and further and further millions of miles away from God. Now she thinks that she's not to be a mother. What to do if I've got such a stupid husband? I've got to put some things into his head. I've got to run the house. And some of these people think they're spiritual. Some of these women think they're spiritual. Just because they know a little bit of the Bible and they fast and pray. All your fasting and praying is garbage if you do not know that your calling is first of all to submit to your husband as a helper. And to be a mother to your children first of all. To neglect your children and run off to work. To make more money. Well, that's because man's drifted away so much from God. They think in terms of all that. The primary calling of a woman is to be a wife and a mother. That's in Genesis 2 and Genesis 3. In the clear light of God's presence. He called his wife's name Eve or Living or Life because she was the mother of all the living. First a helper, second a mother. It's important to know that order also. Not first a mother and then a wife. First a wife. God gave Eve to Adam as a wife long before she became a mother. And God gives you to somebody as a wife long before you become a mother. And never forget that priority. Your first priority is to be a wife. Second, a mother. In heathenism it's not like that. They care more for their children than they care for their husbands. They love their children more than they love their husbands. And all women who are like that, we can say they are heathen. They have no understanding of God. Because one who has a true understanding of God will love her husband more than she loves her children. And it's very difficult for a woman to be spiritual in this area. The mark of a spiritual woman is this. And someone said that it would be impossible for a wife to be in the bride of Christ if she did not learn before she left this earth how to submit to her husband. I believe that. God has given one commandment to children. Honor your father and mother. Then come all the other commandments. Don't steal, don't kill, don't... all these other things. Likewise, he's given one commandment to wives. Submit to your husband as the church is to Christ. Then comes all the others. And if she neglects the first one, even if she talks about the new and living way, I do not believe that she will ever be a part of the bride of Christ. Because she has not understood to keep the first and foremost commandment that God gave. Take that seriously. That is true Christianity. What we see in the world today is a Christianity polluted and adulterated with human traditions. And that's why when Paul was writing to Titus seeking to establish New Testament churches in the island of Crete, he says to Titus, I want you to speak, Titus 2, 1, the things which are fitting for healthy doctrine. I want you to teach that the older women, verse 3, should listen to this, older women must be reverent. The last part of verse 3, they must teach what is good. What is that? They should encourage the younger women, the wives, one, to love their husbands, notice the order, second, to love their children. That is Genesis 2 and Genesis 3. That, Paul says, is sound doctrine. And verse 15, these things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. If there are some women who don't like to listen to this, rebuke them with all authority. Teach them their proper place to submit to their wives, to their husbands, and to love their children, not neglect them, not ever to think that the children are a burden, a nuisance. To be workers at home, it says in the next verse. Adam understood that. It's important that as we come into the New Testament, we come back to understand God's purpose for man and woman from the beginning. Then we read in verse 21, and the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. We know that those fig leaves would dry up in no time. Adam indeed didn't know that, but God knew it, that when the leaf is taken off from the tree, it doesn't last long in that fresh condition, dries up. And that covering was inadequate, not sufficient, and so God clothed Adam and Eve. After sin has come into the world, there has become a necessity for men and women to be clothed. It was only when there was no sin that man and woman could remain unclothed. But after sin has come, it is necessary God Himself was the first person who made proper clothes for man and woman. And you can be sure of one thing, that what God does, the devil will do the opposite. And that's why the devil is in the business of unclothing the women, particularly in the cinema, on the beaches, in the swimming pools, and other places. Who does that? The devil. Who gives those tailors those fashionable ideas to unclothe the woman a little more by raising the height of her blouse a little more? Do you think God inspires those tailors to do that? You've got to be an idiot to believe God's inspiring those tailors to do such things. Who inspires those women to wear their sari so low down? Do you think it's God who's inspiring some women to put their sari so low down? You've got to be an idiot to believe God inspires such things. God believes in clothing men and women. Don't forget that. Don't get your inspiration from the devil. A lot of today's fashionable society has got its inspiration not a lot, the whole lot of it has got its inspiration from Satan, who's doing the opposite of what God does. He clothes the man and the woman with proper, durable clothing that would cover much more of their body than a few fig leaves. Learn something from that. Learn something there that God expects a woman to be modest. All these things in the New Testament are found here in Genesis 3. The woman's calling to be a wife and a mother, to be modestly dressed, it's all here. When Paul teaches these things, that a woman should not teach because she was diseased, all those things you read in 1 Timothy 2, you find it all in Genesis 3. That was God's original intention. The thing is, the devil is so confused and deceived people that people haven't gone back to see that this was God's original intention for fallen man and woman. And of course, the other thing here is that this is a picture of the way God clothes us with the righteousness of Christ. Because in order for God to clothe Adam and Eve with garments of skin, He had to kill one or more animals. We can say this is the first time that blood was shed in the history of the universe. The first time that blood was shed in the universe when God killed an animal, or more than one, and took the skins of those animals and made a covering for Adam and Eve. A picture of what would come in the future where the Lamb of God would shed His blood and His skin, the righteousness of Christ, would cover us. What are the fig leaves a picture of? The fig leaves are a picture of my righteousness. The Bible says in Isaiah 64 and verse 6 that our righteousness are like a filthy garment in God's eyes. And it's a pretty abominable piece of cloth that the original Hebrew here is referring to. A filthy, abominable, stinking, dirty piece of cloth is all our righteousness. Not our unrighteousness, not our sins, but our good deeds with which we think we can find acceptance before God, are like a filthy garment, like fig leaves. And in place of that, we read in Isaiah 61.10, Isaiah 61.10, I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God, for He, who? He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has put a coat of skin around me. He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, the righteousness of Christ. And we read the fulfillment of that in the New Testament, that Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 1.30, has become righteousness to us. This is justification, and we see that in Genesis chapter 3, that when we try to cover ourselves with our fig leaves and come before God, God says, throw away your fig leaves, let me give you something better, something more durable, something that will keep you covered all your lifetime. You know that animal skins can last a whole lifetime. And God gave them animal skins, not even cloth or perylene or any such thing. Animal skins, that would last a lifetime. There, how God clothes us with the righteousness of Christ, so that we can be covered. He has clothed me. He didn't tell Adam to go and manufacture it. No. He didn't tell Adam to go and kill the animals. God did it all. God was the one who thought of it and arranged for Christ to be slain on the cross. And He's the one who has clothed me. And I need to just receive it. What did Adam have to pay for it? Did he have to pay anything for it? Nothing. And that is how we receive justification freely. Nothing in my hands I bring. I just receive this garments that God gives me freely. The righteousness of Christ to clothe me and cover me so that I can stand before Him. You see, because we are so sinful, and sinful people can't stand in God's presence. So while we are working out our salvation and becoming sanctified, how can we get into God's presence? Only one way. If we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. I can't come into God's presence because I say, Lord, I'm working out my salvation. If you say that, God will say, that's good, but you're still not good enough. But I praise God that while working out my salvation, because I'm still not good enough, I can be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. And therefore, I have constant acceptance in God's presence. And that's pictured there, too. Verse 22, Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Yes, man became like God in the wrong way. He's become like one of us, but in the wrong way. Not in character, but in knowledge of good and evil. And now, lest he stretch out his hands and take from the tree of life and eat and live forever. God wanted to prevent man from living forever. Why? Then he would live forever as a sinner. So God said, I want to save him from living forever as a sinner. Let him die, so that he can be raised up to a new life. And so it was a mercy of God that God took Adam away from the garden of Eden, so that he wouldn't eat of the tree of life and live forever as a sinner. Now he could die and salvation has come through death. We can get another body because we're going to die. Isn't death a good thing? Would any of you like to live in this body forever and ever and ever and ever? I certainly wouldn't. I'm sure you wouldn't. Praise God that he's not allowed us to live forever in this body. Therefore the Lord sent him out from the garden of Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. There's mercy with God. He didn't send him to hell. We saw that God was strict. For one sin he punished, but he didn't send him to hell. There's mercy with God. He just sent him out. There's hope. God is strict, yet he's merciful. And we can say he was sent out to serve the ground. To cultivate the ground. That's the condition of the human race. Serving the ground. Serving for earthly things. And now Jesus has come that we might have our minds set on the things above so that we don't cultivate the ground and just live for the grounds, and for the things of the grounds, but for the things of eternity. So he drove the man out. It's a pretty strong word. He just chased him out. And at the east of the garden of Eden he stationed the turban and the flaming sword, which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. A sword and a fire on all sides. It stands on every side of the tree of life. It went round and round and round and round. Protecting that tree. The only way to reach that tree now is to allow that sword to fall on our flesh. It fell on Christ first. And when we are crucified with Christ, they that are crucified with Christ have crucified the flesh with their affections and lusts. The sword and the fire fall on our flesh, then we can partake of the tree of life. There's no other way to the tree of life. That's why we have to always preach the sword and the fire in the church if we want to gather round the tree of life. In many churches they gather round the tree of knowledge. There's no sword, no fire. I never in my life want to belong to any church like that. If I were in a place where there's no church like that, I'd rather sit at home, rather than go and sit in a church where all they're interested in is knowledge, no sword, no fire. There's a sword and fire round the tree of life. I just want to say one more thing. In closing, we know that everything that Adam lost, we have received in Christ. We notice these words. Curse, verse 17. Sorrow. All these were fulfilled in Christ. Jesus became a curse. Sorrow, verse 17. Margin. Jesus became a man of sorrows. Thorns, verse 18. Upon his head was a crown of thorns and thistles. Sweat, verse 19. He sweat great drops of blood. Dust, we read in Psalm 22, 15. Jesus came to the dust of death. The sword fell on Jesus on Calvary, and death. He was cast out. He drove the man out. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Jesus was cast out. Everything that is there, that judgment fell on Christ. So that where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. So that in Christ, we not only get back everything that Adam lost, but more than Adam had.