THE WORLD’S FIRST OPTIMIST

Genesis 3:20-24
Bob Bonner
July 18, 2004

When most people think of Montana, they think of cowboys and cattle ranches. However, few people realize that Montana is also known for its sheep ranches. Not long ago the sheep ranchers were concerned with some of the wild life protection programs. Specifically, they were concerned about wolves being placed on the endangered species list. In the past year, in certain parts of Montana, the increase in wolves had been directly associated with sheep farmers losing more than half of their flocks. So, for a brief six week period, the moratorium on wolf hunting was lifted, and there was a bounty of $100 placed on all wolves, dead or alive.

Carl and Jeff Ranstock decided that since things were getting a little tight for them financially, that maybe they would try their luck at shooting some wolves and picking up some extra cash. So they got their rifles and headed out to the wide open spaces, to seek their fortune.

Their first night out, they had just fallen asleep out under the stars, when a noise woke up Carl. In the reflection of the campfire, Carl saw that they were surrounded by 25 pairs of eyes belonging to wolves—teeth gleaming. He reached over very slowly and shook his partner, Jeff, and hoarsely and excitedly whispered, “Wake up! Wake up! We’re rich!”

According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, an “optimist” is someone who has “an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events; or it is someone who anticipates the best possible outcome.”

I’d call Carl an optimist! But the first human optimist ever had to be Adam, as revealed in Genesis 3:20. Allow me first, to remind you of the historical context of Genesis 3, and then explain why Adam had to be the first optimist.

Genesis 3 is a classic “bad news”, “good news” chapter. In the first 19 verses we read about the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin. In those verses, we see six curses: two against Satan; two against Eve, and two against Adam. Each of these curses reveals God’s retaliatory justice. As it concerned Satan, his attempt to destroy the human race, ultimately lead to his eternal destruction.

Eve, on the other hand, manipulates her husband, which ultimately leads to her being mastered by her husband.

Adam and Eve both sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, which lead them and us to suffer forevermore while we toil in order to eat. As I said, 19 verses of nothing but bad news.

No matter how hard people try to ignore or do away with the bad news of these curses, God’s retaliatory justice remains. The curses of death, agonizing labor in order to eat, the heartache that is accompanied with child rearing, and the conflict between husbands and wives, will continue against us because of the human race’s continued rebellion against God. These curses will only cease when God decides enough is enough and brings, as He has promised, an end to our world through His judgment.

So, put yourself in Adam’s shoes: Up to this point, you have been living in utopia, a perfect environment. You are enjoying your loving relationship with God. The all powerful, personal God who created you speaks audibly to you, walks with you, and is always there to commune with you. He probably even made Himself somewhat visible to Adam and Eve before the Fall.

Add to this, you have the perfect loving partnership with your spouse. No bickering, always gentle and kind words spoken between you. You practice and understand what mutual submission means as you serve one another. Marriage is the perfect honeymoon.

Top that off with basically free, perfectly organic food. No pesticides, no bad growth hormones in it, no bugs or concerns about getting dysentery. Just pick and eat! No sweating while you work. No frustrating labor. Just whistle while you work.

Then, boom! Just like that, everything is turned upside down. There is a deep inner sense of the loss of innocence. Guilt over sin brings distance between you and God, something you have never known. You and your wife are blaming each other for the wrongs committed against God. And your vocation, which up until now was nothing but fun, becomes drudgery! Rather than life being lived as a vacation, it becomes forevermore a life-sentence.

So, where are the positive ingredients in all of that which could lead Adam to optimism? Everything seemed and seems so gloom and doom. The one thin thread of positive or good news that Adam grabbed a hold of which radiates hope and optimism is seen in verse 20. Look at it with me.

We read in verse 20 this beginning word, “Now...” meaning, we have come to a new section and here is Adam’s first response to God’s disciplinary action. Keep in mind that what follows in verse 20 is preceded by God’s curse of death. I want you to notice that his first recorded response to the revelation that he will die is not one of complaining or saying “Woe is me...Woe is me!!!” Rather his first response is a significant action, based on God’s promise found in 3:15. We read, “Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she is the mother of all the living.”

If you were with us earlier in this series on Genesis, you might recall that when we began our study of this chapter, I mentioned that I have serious doubts as to whether or not Adam and Eve will ever be seen in heaven. And the reason I said that and still believe that is we have no evidence that they actually repented or admitted to God that what they had done was wrong. Instead, the only response we have in the written text is that Adam and Eve shoved the blame off on to others...anyone but themselves. Hence, if there is not confession or agreement with God that what they did was wrong, if there is no repentance, then there can be no forgiveness of sin or salvation. Since I personally see no clear evidence of their repentance, I question their salvation.

However, if you are looking for any hope that Adam and Eve were saved, one might find a sliver of hope here in verse 20, because we see an act of faith, on Adam’s part. It’s debatable as to whether or not it is an act of saving faith, but it is indeed an act of faith.

What do I mean by an “act of faith” versus “an act of saving faith”? I believe King Saul would be a good illustration of what I mean. King Saul acted in faith early on when God anointed him as the first King of Israel. His acts of faith were revealed in his obedience to God’s directions. However, there are serious questions about whether or not King Saul was ever truly saved, because, like Adam and Eve there is no record of his repentance for his sin. Furthermore, God tells us in 1 Samuel that He removed His Holy Spirit and His hand from King Saul. To most of us, that means that Saul was not saved. Even though he obeyed God in certain places, in other places he revealed an obvious insensitivity to the things which mattered most to God. Hence, one can make an act of faith without being saved. On the other hand, one cannot be saved apart from an act of faith.

In Adam’s case, based upon one of God’s previous promises, Adam acted in faith. How so? When Adam acts as the leader of their marriage, at first he gave his wife a name. She was called “woman”, which in Hebrew translated, means “out of man.” Even the sound of her name in Hebrew describes what Adam felt about Eve the first time he saw her. Adam’s original name was “Ish” in Hebrew. Eve’s first name, given to her by Adam, comes from the root word for his name “Ish” and was “Ishaaaaaaah!” Even the sound of her first name, “Ishaaaaaah” demonstrates that she was pure delight to Adam the first time he ever saw her. He sighed from deep within his soul when he first met her, knowing that she was his perfect fit. It was the first case of love at first sight.

But now, in Genesis 3:20, Adam deliberately chooses to give his wife another name. She is no longer to be called “out of man” or “Ishah”, but “Eve”, which literally translated means “life producer” or “the mother of the living.” This new name is a reminder to all who hear it, of one of God’s promises found in 3:15. It is the only promise buried amidst the six curses God has pronounced in the first 19 verses of this chapter. God promised that Adam and Eve would have children. Hence, that means that the human race would survive. Although there has been pronounced a death sentence, the human race won’t end because of their sin. That’s a positive.

But even better than that, according to 3:15, it meant that down through the centuries there would be born a Man, who would defeat the serpent, Satan. And in defeating Satan, this Man, Jesus, would also defeat Satan who tries to put distance between man and God. Jesus will provide the way back to God so that future generations of Adam and Eve can enjoy what Adam and Eve lost as a result of their disobedience, which was their intimate and very real communion with God. That is the very thing for which every human heart cries out for—to know that we are loved and approved by the One who counts most, the One who made us, “Yahweh Elohim” the Lord God.

By naming his wife, “Eve”, Adam was declaring in an optimistically true and prophetic way that the human race would survive, and that ultimately, through Eve, would come the Messiah, the One who will turn the curse of death around and make it possible for those who put their trust in the Messiah, Jesus, to once again live eternally with God, to be born again and made spiritually alive.

Hence, based upon God’s promise, Adam renames Eve, to be the ultimate mother of the “living”, both the physically living and the born again spiritually living.

In the end, Adam is not focused on the negative, the pessimistic stuff like the curse of death, but Adam’s act of faith points to the future and hope he had in God’s promised Messiah.

When we come to verse 21, we see God’s response to Adam’s act of faith. God responds with two acts of mercy. The first act of mercy is found in verse 21; and the second act of mercy is found in verses 22-24.

Just so there is no confusion about what we mean by “mercy,” allow me to define it. Mercy is not just doing good or being kind. Mercy is not the same thing as grace. In some instances, mercy almost appears to be the opposite of being just. So what is “mercy”? “Mercy” is doing something for someone else that they don’t deserve, nor can they do for themselves.

For instance, God is the perfect judge. He knows all that is true and He is just. He knows that the sentence for rebellion against God or the ignoring of God is not just physical death, but eternal spiritual death or separation from God. As human beings who are sinners, there is nothing we can do to change the reality that we deserve nothing but eternal death due to our rebellion against God. Left to our own means, there is nothing we can do to make ourselves approved by God, or to remove this curse. In short, we don’t deserve to be saved and we can’t do anything to get saved. To make matters worse, God in no way is obligated to save us. Being loving does not demand that He save everybody. He can love you and still allow you to suffer justice and live forever apart from Him.

But, as Romans 5 teaches us, while we were yet sinners, literally enemies of God, and hostile against Him, God in His mercy, reached down and provided us with Someone else who would die in our place. Jesus would take our sin and our punishment upon Himself, to pay for our sin, so if we put our lives in His hands, God will then forgive us our sins forever, and we would be given life with Him forever. That’s mercy! We didn’t deserve to be saved and could not save ourselves. But God, in His mercy, has given each person the opportunity to put their trust in Jesus, to receive God’s mercy and to have eternal life with God.

In verse 21, we see a very similar act of mercy on God’s part toward Adam and Eve. We read, “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.” Note the name for God used here and two other times in this passage. In our English Bibles, He is called “the Lord God.” In Hebrew, it is God’s dual name, “Yahweh Elohim.” “Elohim” is the name for God that describes His supernatural creative powers and strength. There is none more powerful than He. “Yahweh” is God’s personal name, which describes His personal, eternal nature to care for the individual as well as the group.

The significance of the use of this name here and in verse 23 is God telling us and Adam, “I personally care about you, the individual.” God doesn’t send an underling to do what He does here in this verse. These two acts both reveal God’s personal touch and His personal interest in you the individual.

What was this first act of mercy? It was God’s provision for clothing. He personally provided a covering. If you remember, back in 3:7, Adam and Eve’s first response to their sin was their shame and sense of nakedness, so they found fig leaves and sewed them together for clothing. Literally, the word for “coverings” in verse 7 is “an apron” or “belt”, something rather small.

But God utterly rejects their vain efforts to cover up their guilt and sin. He comes along, and uses not vegetation to cover them, but an animal skin to cover them up. And when He makes a covering, it is not an apron, but literally the word for “garments of skin” refers to a “coat” or a complete and total covering, from head to toe.

Further, we read that God didn’t just make these things, but He personally tailored these clothes to fit and put them on Adam and Eve. They didn’t do anything except stand there. God did the rest. Like a mother who sews clothes and takes a personal interest to make sure her kids look just right and that the clothes fit, God takes a personal interest in Adam and Eve.

That which stands out about God’s clothing, is that it required that God kill an animal to cover Adam and Eve, and later, all Israel’s animal sacrifices would be part of God’s provision to remedy the curse—a life for a life. The sinner will die or someone else will die in their place.

Dr. Henry Morris writes about the educational benefit of this for Adam and Eve following their sins. He writes, “Perhaps they silently and sorrowfully watched as God selected two of their animal friends, probably two sheep, and slew them there, shedding the innocent blood before their eyes. They learned, in type, that an “atonement” (or “covering”) could only be provided by God and through the shedding of blood on the altar.”

From the very outset God was teaching them and us that either we die for our sins, or a perfect, unblemished substitute can die in our place. The “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” was foreshadowed in the death of those animals God killed to provide a covering for Adam an Eve.

Once again, we cannot miss the point. Jesus is the Lamb of God. When a person turns to Jesus, God dresses that sinner in the perfectly fitting clothing of Christ’s righteousness. Never again does God view the sinner as He once did. God now only sees us as forgiven saints. Christ blood covers all of the sin-- past, present and future of those who place their trust in Christ. God only sees the clothing of Christ’s righteousness on us.

Talk about an act of mercy! It’s impossible to do for ourselves; we can’t make ourselves right before God. We’re undeserving, but God, out of mercy provides a way for us to come back home to Him, should we choose to submit our lives to Jesus Christ as our savior and master.

But that’s not all. There is a second act of mercy described in verses 22-24. Beginning with verse 22, we read, “Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”---

This verse contains such a horrible thought in it, that God can’t even complete the sentence. It would be too terrible to describe. He has to move into action and do something before Adam or Eve do something that would have disastrous consequences. What was God’s concern? He was concerned that they would go back to the “tree of life”, take of its fruit and never physically die, but would go on in this evil condition forever, never being able to find freedom from the consequences of their sins, never having the possibility of being reconciled to God.

Then, in verse 23, we see God’s merciful solution. We read, “Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to protect the way to the tree of life.”

Again, “the Lord God”, their creator and the one who personally cares for them, steps in and removes them from the garden as an act of protection, not punishment. God personally provided protection from living in an eternal state of evil. They were driven out of the garden and stepped into the world you and I know today. When viewed this way, the ability for one to die physically is truly a gracious provision of God. It is better for us to suffer temporarily for our sin than it would be to suffer eternally for our sin. Now, we have the opportunity to have a new life in Christ, now and forever.

I believe that we see in these verses God’s eternal pattern for salvation. There are three rules which cannot be violated for God’s salvation to be effective in your life. All three must be satisfied, or our sin, our rebellion and disregard for God cannot be forgiven.

The first thing to notice from God’s dealing with Adam and Eve, is that the acceptable sacrifice to God, necessary for salvation, is all done by God. The animal was God’s gift and not the work of man.

How beautiful and unmistakable is this of a shadow of our Lord Jesus—the perfect Lamb of God. It was the Lord alone who furnished the skins and covered Adam and Eve. They did absolutely nothing, not even dressing themselves; hence they could not boast about their acceptance before God.

Therefore, the only acceptable sacrifice to God must be of God’s choosing and work. It has to be His free gift.

The second rule for affective salvation is that the substitute dying in our place must be INNOCENT. The animal God slew to provide the skins had no part in Adam’s sin. It was a perfectly innocent victim. No guilty man or animal can die for another guilty man’s sin.

Also, note what Genesis 2:17 says: “...in the DAY that you eat from it, you shall surely die.” In other words, after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, their 24 hour clock was counting down. God had to come to the rescue within 24 hours or they would have died without any provision for their sin. So, before that 24 hours was up, God came and provided them with an innocent provision for their sin.

Finally, God says that there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. While blood is not mentioned in these verses, it is obviously implied. You can’t take the skin of an animal without killing it.

These three rules governed acceptable sacrifices to God. They pointed ahead to the future of the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus, whose blood would be applied to all those who preceded Him and followed the Lord’s direction by faith, and those who followed after Him.

Notice how Jesus fit the perfect bill for the sacrifice: First, he was not just an animal, He was a perfect man. Second, Jesus was without sin, and completely innocent. Third, He died; shed His own blood for us. That’s why He is the only human being who has ever lived who can correctly and properly say, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father, but by ME!”

If I want to walk with God, if I want to be forgiven for my sins, past, present and future, if I want to enjoy an intimate fellowship with God, it requires that I do nothing but put my complete trust in Christ’s finished work on the cross. I can add nothing to it, nor can I take anything away from it. I have to put my life in the hands of the savior.

Our savior, Jesus Christ, is God’s perfect gift of mercy. According to Romans 5, since the Fall, sin has abounded. But, the good news has been, that where sin abounds, God’s grace, His gift of Jesus Christ super abounds. His grace is greater than all our sin. Allow me to show you.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they were conscious of guilt. According to Romans 8:33, for those who put their trust in Jesus Christ as their savior and master, there is no guilt in Christ.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they were immediately condemned by God for their sin. They had the curse of death pronounced upon them. But when a person puts their trust in Christ, Romans 8:1 tells us that there is no condemnation in Christ. When Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately experienced a soul separation, and later a physical separation from God. But, according to Romans 8:35, there is no separation in Christ.

Hence, where we have sinned, God has covered it completely. As a result, we can rejoice and praise God for His perfect gift, the substitution death of Christ on our behalf. For through Christ’s shed blood, all of our sin has been paid for, once and for all.

This is a truth that Adam and Eve could not have missed understanding, but did they take advantage of God’s gift? That’s the question. Or, more to the point have you taken advantage of what you now know to be God’s free gift of Jesus Christ as your personal savior and master? If so, praise God. Are you continuing to honor Him by living obediently for Him? If you have not taken advantage of God’s free gift of salvation in Christ, why not?

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