Truth & Consequences

After Adam and Eve’s sin, God did not hide from sharing the truth and delivering the consequences. Sin’s effects on marriage are undeniable, but God’s guidance is unmistakable. 

Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken (Genesis 3:23).

The Punishment

While each person in the Garden of Eden was held responsible for their sin, God gave unique punishments to each party. 

Man’s Punishment

  • Work will now be challenging and frustrating for Mankind.
  • A body’s limitations will be undeniable.
  • Death has now entered the picture.

Woman’s Punishment

  • Childbearing will now be difficult.
  • A struggle for power will be present within marriage.
  • Couples will push back from God’s intention about interacting with one another.

The Need

While sin fractured this couple and every subsequent couple, God’s Word provides life-giving instructions.

Significance

  • God still expected Adam to fulfill his original purpose but in light of their frustrating circumstances.
  • Every man desires significance in some critical area of his life.

Security

  • God still gave Eve the amazing privilege of life coming from here but the security of what they had known was forever changed.
  • Every woman desires security in some critical area of her life.

The Solution

Instead of focusing on our individual needs, God designed marriage to address the needs of our spouse.

Sacrifice

  • Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25).
  • Men are called to lay down their lives for the good of their wives.
  • In a husband’s sacrifice, a wife finds the security she needs.

Submission

  • Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord (Ephesians 5:22).
  • Women are called to build their husbands up to who God has called them to be.
  • In a wife’s submission, a husband finds the significance he needs.

The Gospel

  • The hope for every soul and every marriage is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
  • You should not hold sin over your spouse’s life that Jesus Christ has forgiven.
  • And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them (Genesis 3:21).
  • Adam and Eve’s personal works of covering their shame was insufficient.
  • In order for them to have their guilt covered, something had to die.
  • He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24).
  • Jesus is the way back to the presence of God through the tree that brought him death to offer us life.