Troublesome Topic: God’s Remedy

To this point we have primarily discussed the problem, specifically that man is now under a curse of death because of a broken covenant. We are all distanced from God rather than enjoying close fellowship with Him. The rest of the Bible, starting with Genesis 3:15, focuses on the way God went about providing a remedy for the problem of separation and broken relationship. When Adam and Eve broke the covenant relationship, He did not waste any time, but immediately announced that He would be seeking their reconciliation. God could have destroyed man altogether and started over. There is nothing in covenant agreements that presupposes a second chance. Adam deserved nothing but death—meaning separation and distance. But God, being the kind of God He is, chose to immediately begin the process of restoration and reconciliation. Even before the curses of the broken covenant were fully pronounced God was promising to bring a solution; the curse on the serpent was actually a blessing for man Genesis 3:15.

Here then is where the redemptive work of God begins. Man suffered consequences for breaking that original covenant, but God demonstrated His incredible mercy and love by seeking to restore man to a close relationship with Him. The separation we call death now characterizes man’s existence, but God is in the business of seeking closeness, fellowship, communion and intimacy with His creation. To fulfill this purpose God would once again establish a covenant relationship with mankind.

The next lesson in all three series on Covenants is Why Is it Important to Understand the Three Types of Covenants?

Footnotes

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^“And I will put hatred between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he will break your head, and you will break his heel.” To see my translation and paraphrase with footnotes click on this link to Genesis 3:15.