I am thankful that we don't have to worry about overeating on Thanksgiving anymore, at least for a month or so until Christmas. But as we look at this passage of scripture, I would ask you to look at this and tell me what this passage is telling us about thankfulness and why we should be thankful. You might be a little surprised that we would choose this passage as a passage to talk about Thanksgiving from. But as we look at this portion of scripture, and as we observe this trial and sentencing of Adam and Eve in the midst of their shame and their fear, and in the midst of God's justice and His holiness, we can see God's love and kindness being revealed. And yes, even here, immense reason to be thankful. So as we look at the trial of Adam and Eve today, we see many, many reasons to be thankful. But I first want to draw your attention to verses 9 to 13, where we can see there, and not only there, also verses 1 through 8, an absence of thankfulness, where there should have been immense gratitude and thankfulness to God. But when we see and look at the fall of man, we see there an absence of thankfulness. And it's interesting to look at this interrogation where God is questioning them and there's four questions that are asked and it's interesting to see how Adam and Eve respond to those questions because I think as we look at that we can see a mirror reflection of how we by nature tend to respond and want to respond to sin and when we have sinned that generally We don't like to confess it. We'd rather blame shift, blame somebody else. And so we see that in verse 8, as the Lord God has come into the garden, he's walking in the garden in the cool of the day. The man and the wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees. And we see there's four questions that are asked. The Lord God says, where are you? Who told you? that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? What is this that you have done?" The first three questions are asked of Adam, and his response to the first is that, I heard you coming in the garden, and I was afraid. because I was naked." In response to the next two questions, the Lord asks him, who told you that you were naked? There's no response given directly to that. But what do we see in the scripture account when they eat of the tree? It says, when they ate of the tree, their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked. Their conscience told them. For the first time in their life they have sinned and they have felt for the first time the conviction of their conscience. They feel exposed and suddenly now they know. But when the Lord God asks the third question, have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat of? What is Adam's response? He says, the woman that you gave to me to be with me, she gave me the fruit and I ate. So what's he doing? He's blaming his wife for what he's done. And not only that, he's also by implication blaming God. The woman you gave to be with me, She gave me fruit and I ate." So what's he saying? Well, he's basically saying, you know, God, if you hadn't have given me this woman, that lady over there, that girl that I called woman, if you hadn't have created her from one of my ribs, placed her into the garden, this would have never happened. But once you brought her into the garden, then she gave me this fruit, and she tempted me with the tree, and I ate of it. And so really it's her fault, and he's also blaming God. He's not taking responsibility yet for his sin. And the fourth question is asked of Eve. Lord God turns to her and says, what is this that you have done? And Eve can't blame her husband. I mean, maybe she could because he was supposed to protect her and she could have said, well, he didn't stop me. He didn't kick the serpent out of the garden. It's his fault. She doesn't say that. She did eat of the tree. She did give the fruit to Adam. Who can she blame? She blames the serpent. The serpent deceived me and I ate. Of course that's true but when we are reminded in scripture that when we sin even if another person tempts us or Satan tempts us or we fall into a temptation or we're deceived If we commit a sin, we still must be held responsible. And a price must be paid to atone for that sin. So as we look at Adam and Eve, we see a mirror image of ourselves by nature. Blame shifting is not something that we have to learn how to do. It's something that we're all born with the ability to do, to blame somebody else because we know that There's nothing that we can do in and of ourselves to clear our slate, to get rid of our sinfulness. We know that we can't do that, and that we do have problems. And so the easy thing is to shift the blame onto somebody else, turn the spotlight onto them, and then we can go away and not have to worry about it. I watched a video once of two babies that were twins and they were old enough to talk a little bit and understand and they were covered in food from their mother's kitchen. that they had gotten into and the mom is questioning them and asks one, did you do that? And immediately he points to his brother and says, no, he did it. And then she asks the brother, did you do that? And then he points to the other one and says, no, he did it. And then she just goes back and forth and they keep pointing at each other, shifting the blame, even though they're all covered in food. They both did it. And that's something that we have by nature. We see it here with Adam and Eve. But as we look at these opening verses, we can also see that God's grace is on display. As he comes into the garden, he doesn't leave Adam and Eve in their shame. Bruce Waltke, who is a commentary Bible scholar, writes that the gardener has not abandoned his garden. The proof of love is the unwillingness to abandon the object of love. We see God's love on display. He doesn't come into the garden with fire falling from heaven and wipe them out and to destroy them, but he comes as a shepherd. As we see Jesus describing himself as the Good Shepherd and his disciples as sheep, and how the Good Shepherd looks for his lost sheep, we see the Lord God coming into the garden. He knows full well what it is that has happened. He's not asking these questions because he doesn't understand. He's asking these questions to probe and get Adam and Eve to confess what they have done. But he comes in and he is gracious and he is loving. And it's interesting to think about thankfulness. That's a reason to be thankful there. We see God coming into the garden. It's interesting to think about the moment of the fall as well. And that one of the glaring realities of the fall is the absence of gratitude in that moment. Because if you think about yourselves in Adam and Eve's position, there they are in the most beautiful garden in all the world. And they're there by themselves. You know, you go on a vacation and you want to go somewhere nice. You know, everybody wants to go somewhere to be by themselves. And if there's too many people, you complain, oh, the crowds were terrible. Adam and Eve didn't have to worry about crowds in the Garden of Eden. It's a land that's filled with beautiful gardens and trees and fruit. full of precious metals and all the beautiful things of the earth. They have all of the things that the world could offer. They have it all. Everything that one could ever desire, it's theirs. Their marriage relationship is effortless. It's not marked by sin. Their working of the ground and receiving food is easy and joyful and wonderful. It's there in abundance and plenty. Their relationship with all of the animals is wonderful and one where they're ruling over the earth. It's a beautiful, awesome experience. And they can also have fellowship with God and not to be afraid because of sin. not to be ashamed in the midst of His holiness. And yet in the midst of all of that, and so many reasons to be thankful, they desire one thing that God prohibited. And they're greedy for it. And they lust after it. And they eat of the tree that God told them not to eat of. and they fall into sin. In our life, we still have many reasons to be thankful. And as we look further here, as we see the judgment God places on Adam and Eve, we see that God shows restraint in His judgment. And so we can go into the world today and still see many beautiful places, beautiful gardens, beautiful locations. We can have food that's wonderful, tastes great, very enjoyable. go to wonderful places and to be joyful and to give thanks to God even though now those things are marked by the fall and are not quite as thoroughly wonderful perhaps as they were to Adam and Eve. But it's important to remember that thankfulness is a powerful tool that God has given to us. In Ephesians chapter 5 verses 3 and 4, the Apostle Paul contrasts thankfulness with covetousness. And so it's interesting to think about how, and he tells us to be thankful rather than to be covetousness. And he lists several other sinful attitudes and behaviors. But when we think about what is the opposite of gratitude, as one author has put it, the opposite of gratitude is greed. Another way we can defy greed is lust. And lust is something that manifests itself in many sinful ways. We could go on and have a list of many different things. but we're greedy and lustful after that which God has not given to us. But if we can learn to be thankful for what God has given to us, it's a powerful tool that he has given us to battle against sin in our life. It's not the only tool, but it's a powerful tool to just be thankful, to be thankful for all that God has given to you. To be thankful for all the beautiful things that you can enjoy. To be thankful for your companionship, for your spouse if you're married, for your freedom if you're single. Thankful for the fellowship that we can enjoy together. Adam and Eve have this fellowship in their marriage such that before the fall Adam cries out in praise and says, this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. He's joyful with his wife and then when they have sinned he blames her for his own sin. That's our tendency as fallen people. But let's remember to be thankful. And also as we go on and look quickly at this judgment that God pronounces on the serpent and on Adam and Eve, we see that there is more reason to be thankful. We can be thankful for the serpent's judgment. If you notice the characteristic of his judgment in verses 14 and 15, one that's characterized by dust and enmity. that he is told that on your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. And then elsewhere in the Old Testament the picture of crawling on your belly and licking dust or eating dust is a picture of extreme humiliation. It's the picture of what happened when the Israelite army comes into the land of Canaan, and they cast down their enemies, and they are cast down to the dust, and on their belly they crawl and lick the dust. That's the kind of picture we see in Psalm 44 and Psalm 72, Micah chapter 7, verse 17. And so God is casting him down to the ground, and casting him into a place of extreme humiliation and disgrace on the earth, all the days of his life. Of course, the devil knows, Satan knows that his days are numbered. There's coming a day when he will be cast into the everlasting lake of fire with all of his angels. But then we see that there is enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between his offspring and her offspring. And the offspring of the woman will bruise or crush the serpent's head, while the serpent will bruise or strike at his heel. And so this is sometimes called in theology, The Proto-Evangelion. And that's probably not a very helpful term. But if we break it down, proto means first. And evangelion is another word for saying the gospel. And this is sometimes called the first gospel. The first announcement of good news to Adam and Eve. and one that else as we trace this promise through scripture that ultimately we know finds fulfillment in the work of Christ. But a promise that that Adam and Eve will one day see their offspring have the ultimate victory over the serpent that had deceived Eve. And it's a picture of a constant struggle and battle A picture of a serpent striking at the heel. If you've ever been next to a snake and watched as they were striking at you. I was hiking once and I almost stepped on a rattlesnake and below it was coiled up and rattling at me getting ready to strike at my feet. Gives me the chills just thinking about it. And that's the picture here. Striking. Attacking. This is what the devil does today. Striking. Attacking. He would seek to divide us. To infiltrate. To destroy. To deceive. He's the father of lies. To lead us astray. To infiltrate into our lives, our families, and our church. striking. But we are called to resist. And of course, promises in Scripture is that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us, and that we have the ultimate victory in Christ Jesus. And the glorious promise that the offspring of the woman has the upper hand in the ultimate victory. And as we look through scripture, we can see that this promise is fulfilled in an individual sense. We can see particular offspring or descendants of Eve and Adam that have the upper hand, that are faithful to the Lord and stand up against the opposition that would seek to destroy this promise and keep it from being fulfilled. We look at the story in chapter 4 of Cain and Abel where Cain kills his brother Abel because Abel's sacrifice was acceptable to the Lord when Cain's was not. Cain is cast away into the land of wandering. But then we see at the end of the chapter that Adam and Eve have another son and his name is Seth. And it's a wonderful statement that is made when Seth is born, when Eve said, God has appointed for me another offspring, instead of Abel, for Cain killed him. And as we look at the line of Seth, it's very interesting, who would come from the line of Seth? Noah. And as you look at some of Noah's sons, Now his son Shem is singled out, and who comes from the line of Shem? Abraham. Who comes from Abraham? Isaac. And from Isaac, Jacob. And from Jacob, the twelve tribes of Israel. And one of those twelve tribes is singled out, which is Judah. And who comes from the tribe of Judah? Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So we see the promise being passed down and carried out through descendants as they're being born. And so we see then that there is a sense in which this is fulfilled individually, but also there's a sense in which it's fulfilled collectively so that we together with Christ get to one day experience what it will be like to see Satan crushed underneath our feet. So Paul tells the Romans in Romans 16 and verse 20, the God of peace will soon crush Satan underneath your feet. So what a wonderful, glorious reason to be thankful that Christ has the victory over Satan and that we together with him Well one day though we have been attacked and though he has struck at us, though he has tried to deceive us and tear us down, we will get to join with him in smashing our heels into the ground and crushing him and seeing him cast into his everlasting punishment. What a wonderful reason to be thankful for Satan's judgment. But we also can see immense reason to be thankful, even in the midst of the judgment of Adam and Eve. And we'll look at this very quickly, and perhaps we'll develop this more at a later time. But we can see, as you look at the judgment of Adam and Eve, that God is restrained in the way he judges them. And the judgments that they receive are also temporary. John Calvin describes these judgments as curses that are from God, that are signs of His wrath that bring death. Eve is judged in her family life. This is where her sentencing takes place. That in the area of that which she holds most dear and precious, That of bearing children and of her relationship with her husband, this would no longer be effortless, but would be marked by pain. Pain in childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children. And now her relationship with her husband, which formerly must have been effortless, is going to require work and will not be effortless. But there will be new tension and new difficulties that would come into that to where now they will have to work to maintain that harmony and joy in their marriage. And we see with Adam that though food was at one time easy to obtain and one time was plentifully available, Now it's by the sweat of his face that he will work the ground, that the ground is cursed because of him, because he listened to his wife Eve when he should have listened to the word that God had given him not to eat of the tree. And so now the ground is cursed, and through pain and sweat and hardship, he will work the ground to produce food for them. And not only that, but the ground from which he was made, the dust of the ground from which Adam was created, will one day consume him. He will do this. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return. So he experiences pain producing food. and Eve experiences pain and childbearing, and both of them experience pain and difficulty in their marriage relationship. Now we know that the fall, of course, involves a lot more than this, than pain and childbearing, difficulty in their marriage, and pain in producing food. But the point, I think, that John Calvin was making in that quote that I read to you, is that these are signs of God's wrath to them. To remind them of the extent of what it is that has happened as a result of their sin. To remind them of the fallen world in which they live. And yet we can be thankful and rejoice in that these are restrained because though there is pain, God is not prohibiting Eve from experiencing the joy and the blessing of having children and of seeing the promise fulfilled through her offspring. And God is not prohibiting Adam and Eve from enjoying food. We can still enjoy food today, but it takes work. But we can thank the Lord for all the wonderful, joyful things we can enjoy just this week, having Thanksgiving. Wonderful meals, so many good things, so many reasons still to be thankful in the midst of the fall. But also to remember to be thankful that these judgments are temporary. They're for this life, childbearing, in their marriage, growing food until they return to the ground. What a wonderful reminder that is. The greatest joys that we await are the joys that are yet to come. These judgments are only for this life if we trust in the Lord and receive his salvation. And if we have received God's grace and trust in this salvation that he is already revealing to Adam and Eve, then we can have the hope of inheriting that world that one day is described in Revelation, also in Isaiah chapter 25, as a place where tears will be wiped away from our eyes and death will be no more. Where we will enjoy everlasting life. in the glorious kingdom of God with the relationship restored to him through his son Jesus Christ. But if we continue to live in our rebellion, if we reject what God offers to us, then these curses, this fallen reality that we live in, are signs to us of a judgment that is yet to come that is everlasting and far, far worse than any of the worst things that we could experience in this life. So they're signs that point us to the hope that we have in Christ And it's the signs that should drive us to the cross to receive a salvation that is ours in Jesus Christ. What wonderful reasons we have to be thankful. And to use thankfulness, as again as Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5, is a tool to battle against sin, battle against covetousness, and against greed. Be thankful for the judgment upon the serpent. Thankful for the restrained temporary judgment upon Adam and Eve. That if we trust in Christ, points us to the eternal life that is yet to come. Valerie and I met someone recently that had a lot of near experiences with death where he had survived. He was telling us about all the wild things that he had experienced in life and how thankful he was to be alive. He showed us a scar in his arm from where he had been shot. You could see the entry and the exit point. He showed us several scars on his feet where he'd been bitten by a shark and had survived that as well. And yet for all that, for all the reasons that he was thankful, he was still one who did not know and trust the Lord. And when we think about all the amazing gifts that we have, these are things that should drive us to God, to His mercy, and to His grace. At this time, let's bow our heads before our Father and thank Him for all of the wonderful things that He gives to us. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your goodness, for your grace, and for your kindness, for your love and mercy that you bestow upon us. We thank you that even those in the world who do not know you experience your gifts and your grace in this life. And yet we thank you for the reminders that we have in this life. that the judgments we experience now through the fall are only reminders of the great judgment that is to come for all those who reject your son Jesus Christ. But for we who do trust in him, they remind us of the judgment and wrath that you poured out on him on the cross, and that there We were crucified with Christ. And yet now we live. And we have the newness of life and the hope of everlasting life through faith in him. We thank you for these things. In Christ's name, amen.