Lesson 8: The Curse and the Promised Deliverer

• Adam's Choice to Sin
• Fear and Pride Enter the Garden
• The Curse
• God's Promised Deliverer

Introduction

"…In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:17) These chilling words must have echoed in the minds of Adam and Eve as they frantically searched for somewhere to hide in the Garden of Eden. This place which had once been their paradise home now seemed haunted with fear and dread. Only the day before they had walked with God in peace, enjoying His presence like children with their father. Now, as their world collapsed around them, they fled in shame, fearing that each moment might be their last.

God's warnings are never in vain. He does not bluff. Just as God promised, the entrance of sin into the Garden of Eden was followed by the curse of death. Tragically, the reach of that curse extended far beyond what Adam could have imagined, touching every one of his descendants. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12)

Despite Adam's failure, hope remained. The Scriptures reveal that the very principle which caused the sin of one man to ruin the lives of many, would later become the basis upon which the righteousness of One Man would redeem the world. "…For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many." (Romans 5:15)