In the sermon titled 'Looking To God, Clothed By God' based on Genesis 3:20-21, Jason Dohm explores the aftermath of Adam and Eve's sin and God's pronouncement of judgment. He discusses the significant act of Adam naming his wife Eve, which means 'life' or 'life giver,' reflecting hope and acknowledgment of God's blessings and promises. The sermon highlights the consequences of sin, such as pain and toil for humanity, and God's judgment on the serpent. Despite the fall, God's response to Adam and Eve is marked by grace, as He provides them with tunics of skin, symbolizing protection and care in the new reality post-curse. Dohm emphasizes that God's act of clothing them is an act of mercy, demonstrating that God is not done with humanity despite their rebellion. The sermon encourages believers to see God's mercy and grace in their lives, drawing parallels between physical and spiritual coverings, and ultimately pointing towards salvation through Jesus Christ.

Title of the sermon this morning is Looking to God, Clothed by God. It's really just a summary of the two verses. We have a really narrow verse range, just two verses this week. The first verse, the summary of it would be looking to God. Adam names his wife.

He's looking to God as he names his wife. To make that argument, I preach on that verse. And then in the second verse, Adam and Eve are clothed by God. So where are we? Two weeks ago, I preached on the text known as The Fall, not A Fall, but The Fall.

Humanity who had never sinned before had been in unbroken, untainted fellowship with God without sin. All of that changes when the serpent deceives the woman and she eats the forbidden fruit gives to her husband who's right there with her not saying a word he eats too and mankind falls into rebellion against God. Last week, the text I preached on is known as the curse. God pronounced judgment on that first sin, and we actually all live in that condition now. It explains so much about the world around us.

In fact, if you don't understand the fall and the curse, this pronouncement of judgment by God, and you do not understand the world that we get in, you'll misdiagnose every problem. You'll think the reason for the problems that you have, you'll say it's this reason but it's not really that reason. It actually goes back to Genesis 3 and our rebellion against God and so you'll prescribe a solution and that your solution will be doomed to fail. So these are incredibly important texts to understand. Every party involved in this first sin that we've been studying was involved in God's pronouncement of judgment and the descendants of every party involved in this first sin was involved in God's pronouncement of the first judgment.

That means you and I were really greatly affected in what we've been studying in God's pronouncement of judgment. For the serpent, it's really two-fold. In verse 14, the actual creature who Satan worked through to deceive the woman so there was a creature but under the influence of an angelic spiritual entity worked through that actual creature to deceive the woman and that creature, the judgment pronounced on him was that he would crawl on his belly and eat dust all the days of his life. And snakes do that to the present day. They actually literally eat dust and crawl on their belly to the present day.

If you see a snake you'll be doing both. Verse 15, the second part of this two-fold pronouncement of judgment, God establishes hatred. There's going to be hatred between Satan and the woman and hatred between the descendants of Satan and between the descendant singular, a single descendant, a singular he, this promised champion of humanity, this descendant of the woman would have his heel bruised by Satan but would ultimately crush the head of Satan the woman the judgment the pronouncement of judgment on the woman and future women who were her descendants so how many women do we have here a bunch this impacts you this is for you the woman and the future women who were her descendants would now experience pain sorrow toil in pregnancy and childbirth isn't that true And would now experience friction and strife in the marriage relationship. Isn't that true? It comes down to impacting women today.

The man and future men who were his descendants would now experience pain, sorrow, toil, and thorns and thistles, and sweat in efforts to provide and would return in death to the dust from which he was taken. This is the wages of sin for Satan, for the first woman who sinned and all future women who would descend from her, the first man who sinned, and all future men who would descend from him. This is our wages of sin. Now in this week's text, we get to the aftermath. Then what happened?

How would Adam respond? Having sin and having this pronouncement of judgment upon him. What would he do next? How would God respond? What would God do next?

These are questions that are answered in just these two verses. So as we come to this text, let's pray and ask God to help us. God, I thank you for giving us insight into these things, for giving us insight into the aftermath of sin and the pronouncement of judgment. They teach us about you, precious things about you that we need to know. It'd be so hopeless in the world if you didn't give us insight into these things.

We wouldn't understand our world and we would have no hope. So thank you God for this revelation of truth and revelation of yourself. I pray that it would be good for us. It would help us. It would build us up.

In Jesus name, Amen. Alright, let's take them one verse at a time. Hopefully your Bibles are still open to Genesis chapter 3. Follow along as I reread verse 20, Genesis 3 verse 20. And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

In this verse it's very simple. Adam names Eve. If you're taking notes on the handout, Eve fills in the blank. Adam names Eve. This is not the first designation for the first woman.

We actually have that back a chapter. You can flip back to chapter 2. Look at chapter 2 verses 21 through 23. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and he slept. He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place.

Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man, he made into a woman and he brought her to the man and Adam said this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man So there is man in the Hebrew, ish is the Hebrew word or our transliteration of it. And there is woman, ish ah in the Hebrew, The female gender of humanity. So this actually comes over into English. If you look at the Hebrew, you get ish and ish ah. If you look at English, you get man and woman.

There's a connection between the two. So they're the same and that they're both human, both image bearers made in the image and likeness of God, but they're different. He made humans male and female, So there is a distinction. So here in Genesis 2 we have the general designation that pertains to the female gender of humanity and that's true to this day. We still have men and women to this day.

I'm stating the obvious I know. It was specific to this first woman only in the sense that at this time there's only one of them. So I guess you could say it was specific then because there wasn't a second woman then but there would be and a third and a fourth and a fifth and this becomes just the general designation for the gender now Adam gives his wife a specific name one that only pertains to her no No one else can give this name as an accurate description in the way that Adam did. This only pertains to her Eve which means life or life giver because she was the mother of all living. So if you look at the Hebrew word and what the name means, it means life or life giver.

And he gave her that name because she was the mother of all living. There's only going to be one of those. So if any of us could trace our family tree all the way back, the leaf to the twig to the branch to the bigger branch all the way back to the bow of the tree, we would find that Adam was the first father and Eve was the first mother of all living. Eve is literally the mother of all living. Now notice this, Adam gives his wife a name that number one, seizes on God's blessing.

So if we said, Adam, how did you come up with this name? Mother of all living. We would find that the name that he gives to his wife does two things. Number one, it seizes on God's blessing. Listen to chapter 128.

This was part of our memory text a quarter ago. Genesis 128. Then God blessed them the blessing of God then God blessed them and God said to them be fruitful and multiply fill the earth so We think of that as the dominion mandate, God mandating that mankind would be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. We think of it as a command, and I suppose that it is. I don't think it's wrong to think of that.

But what does the text actually say? The text actually says, then God blessed them and said to them be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. So one, Adam is seizing on the blessing of God and now naming her saying you're the mother of all living. Number two, Adam gives his wife a name that seizes on God's promise from this chapter, chapter 3 verse 15, where God said that her seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, as we know now, one seed, her singular seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, would crush the head of the serpent. So Adam is, God has given a blessing which concerns Adam's wife.

Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. And a promise which concerns Adam, Adam's wife. Your seed will crush the head of the serpent and Adam takes up both of these things and names her accordingly according to the blessing and the promise of God. Adam called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living. Now three comments about Adam and this name that was given.

I have a few comments three to be precise. Number one, first First this name is very hope-filled looking to God. So I just said, Adam where did you get that name from? Well, God blessed us, so I'm drawing on the blessing of God for this name. And God gave us a promise that her seed would crush the head of our enemy.

So I'm drawing on both the blessing that she would be able to conceive and give birth so that we would be able to multiply and fill the earth and that A promise was made that the champion who would conquer our enemy, I'm drawing on the blessing and the promise and giving her this name. This is Adam reacting. This is what Adam did next. I take that as a very good sign. Just understand the flow.

Yes, there was sin. We saw the sin. Yes, there was a pronouncement of judgment for sin. We saw that. Now what?

This is the next verse. This gives us the now what. Adam in spite of now they're in sin, in spite of now there's been a pronouncement of judgment on that sin, Adam is looking at the blessing of God and the promise of God and drawing on those two things to give his wife a name. I take that as a very good sign. That is the now what?

So first this name is very hope-filled looking to God. Second the active naming reflects God's structure. In 1st Timothy 2.13 In 1 Timothy 2, 13, Paul observes, for Adam was formed first, then Eve. Adam was formed first, then Eve. That's just how we've seen it in what we've been studying.

And Paul uses that observation, Adam first formed first, then Eve, for ordering of local church life in terms of gender roles. Adam says this has a tremendous significance that Adam was formed first and then Eve was formed to be a comparable helper, a helper who's like him, given to him to help him in the work that God has given him to do. And so Paul takes that observation, Adam formed first, then Eve, and says, therefore we should order church life like this. Men should do this in churches, women should do this in churches. We've already seen the tremendous significance of naming in chapter 2 19.

I'm just looking back to chapter 2 verse 19. Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them and whatever call whatever Adam called each living creature that was its name so he was given the responsibility and the authority to name all the creatures. God brings them all to him and Adam gives them a name and whatever he named them, that was its name. Then in verse 23, God brings the first woman to him and he says, this is now flesh of my flesh and bone of my bones, she'll be called woman. He gives her the general designation for the female kind of human being made in the image and likeness of God.

And to this day, this is the designation that we use or we use a translation of it and now here he gives her the specific name this reflects God's structure. Third this name reflects honor. Isn't this an honor-filled name? Your name will be called Eve because you're the mother of all living. Now think about this.

We're playing word association now. Okay I say a word you say what's associated with it. If we were playing that game word Association and I said Eve what would most people say? I don't think it's controversial to say that more than anything else Eve is known for listening to the serpent and eating their forbidden fruit. So we're playing word association.

We got a hundred people. I say Eve, they say like forbidden fruit or something like that. I don't think that's controversial to say if there's one thing that is pegged to this woman Her she's known for her sin. There are certain There's a certain number of people in the Bible who are just known for their sin I think Adam is one of them Eve is one of them So that happened in this chapter the thing that is associated probably most closely with Eve happened in this chapter and Next was the curse pronounced by God judgment on the sin pronounced by God and then Sin pronouncement of judgment and then a name of honor Adam gives his wife a name of honor. And I love it.

Why do I love it? Last we saw Adam was trying to shift the blame for sin. She did it. She gave it to me. She was the one who was deceived.

You gave it to me and it was her. But now he's giving his wife a name that reflects honor. And Adam named his wife, she did it. No, no, no. Adam named his wife, it was her.

No, Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all living. It was wrong of him to try to shift the blame. It's right for him to give her a name that ignores that and honors her. Good for Adam. I think we see a hint here that he's coming back onto the right track.

So that's Adam naming Eve. First, this name is very hope-filled looking to God. Second, the act of naming reflects God's structure. He actually has the responsibility and authority to give names, even including for his wife. And then third, this name reflects honor.

After all that's happened in the chapter. He sets all that aside and he gives his wife a name of honor. Good for him. That's what he should have done. Verse 21.

Genesis 3 verse 21. Follow along as I reread it. Also for Adam and his wife, the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them. In this verse God clothes Adam and Eve clothes fills in the one blank on the handout Chapter 2 Adam and Eve sinned against God For the first time felt exposed they'd never they had been naked, but they hadn't felt naked so they sin and for the first time they felt exposed and made very crude, very inadequate coverings for themselves. I look back to verses 6 and 7.

So we're still in chapter 3 but we're going back to verses 6 and 7. So the when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise. She took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings." And some of the translations instead of coverings, it's loincloths.

So we're talking like they just covered their waste and it's just leaves. That's what they did for themselves. They had never seen or known clothes. They had none of the associated skills or materials they never made clothes before and they didn't have materials so this is what they made loincloths made of leaves Very crude, very inadequate coverings for themselves. The text doesn't even call them clothes.

So Adam and Eve don't know how much covering they need or what kind of covering they need, but God knows. God knows how much and what kind they don't and they get it wrong God does so he replaces their feeble attempts to Cover this exposure that they feel now that they have this sense of being exposed. Gordon Wenham, who's a Hebrew scholar, kind of a scholar of scholars, this is the guy in the Hebrew scholarship, in the Word Biblical Commentary says this, commenting on this word that is translated tunic in our verse. A tunic, the basic outer garment worn next to the skin was a long shirt reaching to the knees or ankles. Okay, a long shirt Reaching to the knees or ankles.

So what's being replaced a loincloth of leaves? What's it being replaced with a long shirt? So covering shoulders to at least knees and maybe ankles. That is what this Hebrew word needs. A long shirt covering to the knees or the ankles.

So Adam and Eve made loincloths made of leaves, God makes them tunics of leather. It's just something radically different and better, more suited. Now what is actually happening? God is caring for Adam and Eve in the new reality. This is an act of care.

There was the old reality and nakedness was actually fine, perfectly appropriate for the old reality, but now there's sin and a pronouncement of judgment for sin and there's a very new reality and nakedness will not do for the new reality and God comes to them in that and cares for them in the new reality. Listen to Alan Ross from his commentary creation and blessing. The passage stresses God's provision of protection for the man and the woman. Provision of protection. He's providing.

They need protection. He's providing it. Now that the New order of life is fully operative. God extends His grace to His people. Amen!

This is an act of grace. What's grace? Well, it's totally undeserved, unearned favor, kindness. This is an act of totally undeserved, totally unearned. In fact, they've earned the opposite.

They deserve the opposite. But what are they getting? They're getting the kindness of God. Do they deserve the kindness of God right now in this moment? No, this is the opposite of what they deserve.

But God is good. God is a God of grace. So God acts in grace towards them. God's image bearers. So just back, we're thinking about the privilege of being made in the image and likeness of God.

They're the first to experience this great privilege made in the image and likeness of God. God's image bearers send in an act of disobedience to God's clear, explicit command. It was unquestionably an act of rebellion against our Creator. Is God then done with them and us? You have to ask yourself that question.

Okay, God, you made everything good, you were perfectly kind, you told them explicitly what not to do, that's the exact thing that they did. Are you done with them? This verse comes with a resounding answer. The resounding answer is, no, God is not done with them. God is not done with us.

The answer is, He could be done with them. He has the right to be done with them. What kind of claim would they make on God? God, you have no right to be done with us I made you gave you one command and you did the exact opposite of that command But he isn't done with them and he isn't done with us I Think Matthew pool nails it in his commentary on God making the tunics for them. Listen to what Matthew Poole says of these tunics.

He says, Partly to defend them from excessive heats and colds to which they were now exposed partly to mind them of their sin to make them think of their sin which made their nakedness which was before innocent and honorable now to be an occasion of sin and shame and therefore to need covering and partly to show his care even of fallen man and to encourage his hopes of God's mercy through the blessed seed." He's drawing back on that promise that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. A pool in what I just read says there are three things in view with God clothing, Adam and Eve. One, providing for a new need in the world under the curse. So if I was to categorize the garden before God's pronouncement of judgment on this first sin, I would categorize it as soft and gentle. What kind of place was it?

It was literally a soft place, literally a gentle place, literally and climatically. What do I mean? Well the temperature range was perfectly appropriate for being naked all the time. That's a narrow temperature range. This is not a place of great temperature variation or harsh weather.

How would I categorize the new world after God's pronouncement of judgment for rebellion against him. Instead of soft and gentle, I would say hard and rugged. Literally, hard and rugged. We're talking thorns and thistles now. We're talking cultivating fields now.

Anyone want to engage thorns and thistles or cultivating fields naked? Does that sound like a good idea to you? No, It wouldn't sound like a good idea to Adam and Eve either. It was literally rugged, hard and rugged, and climatically. I think what we're experiencing is closer to what Adam and Eve would be experiencing post-pronouncement of judgment on sin than the soft and gentle environment of the garden.

Would you have wanted to be out and naked in last week's climate? No way. No way. This was no world for nakedness. The new world is no world for nakedness.

So that was one, providing for a new need in the world under the curse. Secondly, Matthew Poole brings this to our attention, there is now this awareness of exposure and shame. It didn't exist before sin, but now there's sin. So now there's an awareness of exposure to and shame so they need covering the right amount of covering and with the right materials and that's what God gives them the right amount of covering and with the right materials. And three, God is caring for them and demonstrating to them that he isn't abandoning them.

He's caring for them. It's an act of grace. He's Communicating to them through what he's doing. He's demonstrating that he's not abandoning them. They did sin against him, but he's not done with them He's not abandoning them now Most commentators and actually especially the ones that I love the most almost universally say that this is a precursor of the sacrificial system because of the word skin.

He made them tunics of skin. So skin means God killed something to make this and they say this is the precursor of the sacrificial system, the innocent dying for the guilty and then they end up at Christ who is the fulfillment of the sacrificial system. And while I love preaching that ends up at Jesus, I hope you get a lot of that preaching that ends up at Jesus, I'm personally unwilling to do that even though all my theological heroes almost to a man does that because all we have in the actual text is the single word skin okay so these these were leather tunics But this closely follows the first chapter and a half where God created everything out of nothing by simply speaking it all into existence. So to insist this has to be the precursor of a sacrificial system I say but that's not consistent at all with the first chapter and a half where we started with nothing we ended up with everything and all God did was say it. So I say it could be that but it doesn't have to be that.

That's probably the right sermon for a different text. But I can say this. Being physically clothed by God, that's what we have in our text, being physically clothed by God, is symbolic of what we actually need most. We rightly feel shame because of our sin. I hope you have some sense of shame left for your sin.

Surely you're not that hardened to sin that you no longer feel any shame for sin. We rightly feel shame for our sin. And our attempts to fix it are very crude and very inadequate. We make some New Year's resolutions. We try to turn over a leaf and do a little better.

It's like a loincloth made out of leaves. It doesn't cover what needs to be covered. It doesn't cover as much or as thoroughly. But God knows exactly what we need and freely offers it as an act of pure grace. I want to give you three texts, one from the Old Testament, two from the New, which beautifully speak of taking this from the physical, putting on physical clothes to cover this feel like I'm exposed, this physical coming over into the figurative of a spiritual thing that God does when he covers our shame.

Isaiah 61 verse 10 you might just want to note these so you can go back to them if you'd like. Isaiah 61 10, listen to this, it's wonderful. Isaiah says, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robes of righteousness As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments and as a bride adorns herself with jewels So he knows how we feel Shame with our sin and he says I'm gonna be happy in God because God has clothed me with garments of salvation he comes to me in this exposed state of sin and shame and And he gives me garments of salvation and he covers me with the robe of righteousness He comes to me and all of my unrighteousness and my my attempts my leaf loincloth and he puts on me a robe of righteousness.

How about Galatians 3, 26 and 27? Listen to Galatians 3, 26 and 27. Paul writes to the Galatians, For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus So if you want to know what makes someone a son or daughter of God faith in Christ Jesus only faith in Christ Jesus He just tells you How do you become a son of God or a daughter of God by trusting in Jesus Christ. That's the only way. That's all of it.

For you are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Next verse. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. You put him on like a tunic that covers over this shameful nakedness, Shoulders to knees or maybe shoulders to ankles. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Christ is the garments of salvation, Is the robe of righteousness from Isaiah 61 finally revelation 7 verses 13 and 14 Revelation 7 verses 13 and 14 Is a vision from heaven Then one of the elders answered saying to me Who are these arrayed in white robes? Where did they come from? Who are these arrayed in white robes. Where did they come from? And I, John, said to him, Sir, you know.

So he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Figuratively speaking, we need to be clothed because of our sin. Physical nakedness is now the representation of the spiritual reality of feeling exposed because of our sins and need to be clothed with Christ. These garments of salvation, these robes of righteousness put on Jesus Christ to have these white robes that have been washed white in the blood of the Lamb. Figuratively speaking, we need to be clothed because of our sin.

God has sent his son, Jesus Christ, to do this. Applications. I'll give you two. By the way, that was the Lord's Supper meditation. We're ahead.

Two head. Two applications. One. Don't let a snapshot become the whole movie complete with an ending. Complete with the ending.

What do I mean by that? You take a picture. What is a picture? You snap it. A snapshot.

A picture. It is a single moment in time. It doesn't tell you anything about what happened before it, and tell you anything about what happens after it. You can take that and make it the whole movie complete with the ending. It's so wrong to do that.

What if Adam did that with his wife? What would he have named her? If the snapshot became the whole movie complete with the ending, you'll never be anything but one who's deceived by the enemy and a snare to me. It's very easy to take this moment of time and never let someone else escape it. It's so wrong.

We want the grace of God in our lives We get the grace of God in our lives and now we want to hold everybody else to the snapshot After all this happening in Genesis 3 Adam gives his wife a name of honor because the snapshot hasn't been made into The full movie complete with the ending. I wish we should take a cue there for sure. Number two, finally. Question for you. In how you subconsciously think about God's disposition.

So not talking about your doctrinal statement, your official position on God. I'm talking about what's running in the background. How you subconsciously think about God's disposition. And how you subconsciously think about God's disposition, is He a God of mercy? I happen to know, I have a dear friend who has this problem.

I can't tell you his name, but he lives inside my body. I have a dear friend who has this problem. I can't tell you his name, but he lives inside my body. I have a dear friend who has a perfectly correct doctrinal statement about God. But there's something that often runs in the background.

Am I thinking about God's disposition and He's not a God of mercy? What more does he have to do for you Jason? He sent his son from heaven to live and die Will you not think of him as a god of mercy And how you subconsciously think about God's disposition. What's running in the background? Is He a God of mercy?

He should be. I want Him to be. I need Him to be. He is. He is a God of mercy.

After sin and rebellion, and even after the pronouncement of judgment, because there have to be consequences for sin, God is not done with Adam and Eve. God is not done with us. He comes in grace. He offers freely these garments of righteousness, these garments of salvation, these robes of righteousness that we can put on Christ. It's ours for the having, it's ours for the asking.

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. God, I pray that for myself and for us, what's running in the background would be that we know that you're a God of mercy, that our sins would not send us running from you, that they would send us running to you. You do one thing from this sermon, I pray that you would do that for me and for us. Pray in Jesus' name, Amen.