The Curse

1. “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.”’ (Genesis 3:14)

a.      The devil himself was cursed and has no possibility of salvation but will be thrown into fire

b.      “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone” (Revelation 20:10)

2. “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.’” (Genesis 3:16)

a.      “But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” (1 Timothy 2:15)

b.      “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22)

3. “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. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 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.’” (Genesis 3:17-19)

a.      “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8)

b.      “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ... In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” (Ephesians 5:25, 28)

4. God designed the family to be a microcosm of His plan of salvation

a.      The husband and wife relationship teaches us about Christ and the church

                                      i.      As the wife submits to her husband, the church submits to Christ

                                    ii.      As the husband provides for his wife, Christ provides for the church

b.      “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

                                      i.      We understand that babies come from a man and a woman, not from two men or two women

                                    ii.      We understand that it’s a baby in the womb, not a blob of tissue

                                  iii.      We understand our gender at birth, there’s no confusion about this

5. The curse is God’s tough love on us—difficult times teach us that we can’t survive without God

a.      “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil … So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden …” (Genesis 3:22-23)

b.      Good parents discipline their children and allow them to fail and suffer consequences

c.       Many times people don’t call upon the Lord until they are desperate and can do no more

d.      My mom became a Christian after being diagnosed with cancer and didn’t have long to live

6. The dilemma about the problem of evil is that an all powerful God could prevent evil, and an all loving God would prevent evil, but since there is evil then: (1) there is no God; (2) there is God but He is either not all powerful or not all loving, or both. However, this dilemma is based on several false assumptions:

a.      That the only solution to the problem of evil is to stop it all

                                      i.      Allowing evil doesn’t show a lack of power but actually just how powerful God really is!

                                    ii.      He doesn’t have to be a micro-manager over our wills in order for His will to be done

                                  iii.      He is so powerful that He doesn’t have to stop all evil to finally overcome it in the end

b.      That God has not already been stopping and limiting much of it

                                      i.      “The LORD said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.’” (Job 1:12), “The LORD said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.’” (Job 2:6).

                                    ii.      “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

                                  iii.      “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7)

                                   iv.      When God stops evil from happening, we would never know because it never happened!

c.       That there is not a greater purpose in the evil

                                      i.      “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope.” (Romans 8:18-20)

                                    ii.      “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NKJV)

d.      That God allows us to suffer but is unwilling to also suffer

                                      i.      In a workplace, we respect a boss who is also willing to get their own hands dirty so to speak

                                    ii.      God pronounced the curse upon the creation knowing His own Son would be subjected to it

                                  iii.      If man doesn’t die then how could Christ have died for man?

7. Another purpose of the curse was to make a context for God’s love and our love to be demonstrated

a.      Love is demonstrated not in the good times but in the difficult times—thus the need for the curse

                                      i.      “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

                                    ii.      “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

b.      Our love for God is shown in how we treat people because we are created after the image of God

                                      i.      “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.” (James 3:9-10)

                                    ii.      “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:44-45)

8. The creation will be renewed from the curse—this life is like one big test of our love for God

a.      “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:20-21)

b.      “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ... ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” (Revelation 21:1, 4-5)

c.       “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28)