Gospel Commentary
Listen to Dr. Warren Gage & Pastor Robey Barnes discuss the story of Adam and Eve's sin in the garden and how it teaches the gospel by pointing us to the suffering and glory of Jesus!
Find the Gospel in the Story
In Luke 24, Jesus taught his disciples that every story in the Bible points directly to him! He explained that we simply need to look for the gospel pattern of "suffering followed by glory." That is, we need to look for something that points to his suffering on the cross, followed by something that points to the glory of Jesus' resurrection! Use the gospel chart below to help you find "the story within the story!"
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The Fall of Humanity |
The Restoration of Humanity |
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1. God forbade the man and the woman from eating from the Tree of Knowledge (Gen 2:16-17). |
1. Jesus freely offers to give us to eat of the Tree of Life (Rev 2:7). |
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2. In disobedience, the woman took of its fruit and ate. Then she gave to the man who was with her, and he ate (Gen 3:6). |
2. After fulfilling all righteousness, at the Last Supper, Jesus broke the bread that represented his own flesh and said, “Take and eat!”(Matt 26:26). Then he “gave” the cup to those who were with him (Matt 26:27). |
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3. Their eyes were opened, and they knew their shame. They attempted to cover their shame with fig leaves (Gen 3:7). |
3. After Jesus’ resurrection, when the Emmaus disciples saw Jesus break the bread (Luke 24:35), their eyes were opened, and they knew him, who was the covering for their shame (Luke 24:31, Rom 3:24-25). |
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4. God cast them out of the garden, forbidding them to eat of the Tree of Life (Gen 3:22-24). |
4. Jesus says that all who come to him will find the Tree of Life (Rev 2:7), and those who come to him he will in no wise cast out (John 6:37). |
Gospel Study Notes
Humanity fell into disobedience and death by the sacramental eating of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. So it is altogether fitting that when Jesus came to restore us, he would take the verbs of our fall (take, eat, and give) and make them the sacramental verbs of our redemption. Just as Adam’s sin unleashed a dynamic of the cursing and death into the world, so Jesus’ obedience unleashed a counter-dynamic of blessing and life. This dynamic is the power of the gospel! It is the word of truth that shows us the way from darkness to light, from judgment to mercy, from bondage to liberty, from sickness to health, from banishment to homecoming, from famine to feasting, and from death to life!
Gospel Takeaways
- There is wonderful beauty in our redemption! We are given a symphony of salvation, a fugue of redemption with point and counterpoint leading to a harmonious resolution. Satan came in disguise as a serpent in order to deceive our first mother into disobedience (1 Tim 2:14). So then the Son of God came in disguise as the serpent (John 3:14) in order to deceive Satan into crucifying him (1 Cor 2:8) and so destroy the works of the Devil (1 John 3:8).
- Jesus came forth from death in the resurrection, opening the impassable barrier between death and life. God tore the temple veil at his death, opening the impassable barrier between God and man. Jesus then tore down the middle wall of partition, opening the impassible barrier between man and woman. He broke down the dividing wall of the hostility of the law, opening the impassible barrier of Jew and Gentile and making one new humanity! Jesus thus envisioned a new creation.
- Jesus’ death removed the sin of the people in one day (Zech 3:9). His resurrection reversed the judgment of death itself (1 Cor 15:56). He restored the fellowship of God and man in the pleasant garden (John 20:15). He gave the Spirit, which came down in tongues to reverse the judgment of Babel (Acts 2:5-11). His evangelists called home all those nations scattered because of sin (Matt 28:19-20). His apostles shared the gospel with a eunuch from Ethiopia (Acts 8), a Jew from Tarsus (Acts 9), and a centurion from Rome (Acts 10)—representatives from Ham, Shem, and Japheth, respectively, that is, from each of the three sons of Noah, calling home all the scattered human family. After the resurrection, all the curses and judgments of Genesis went into reverse. Jesus made life purposive again, delivering us from vanity, and assuring us that all our work for Christ is not in vain (1Cor 15:58)!
- Jesus sets before us the prospect of a world where there is no more sin. No tears, no death, no mourning, no crying, no pain, for the former things have passed away—in short, Jesus teaches us new ways to dream: of a place where “everything sad comes untrue!”, of a time when earthly suffering is crowned at last with heavenly glory!
Genesis 3:1–7 (Listen)
The Fall
3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You1 shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,2 she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
(ESV)
