There are so many nuggets buried in Genesis 3.
It’s sad to be sure. But even in the darkness of the Fall of Humanity, the Lord’s grace, mercy, and goodness shine through.
As we finish Genesis 3, we’ll see not only the Lord’s grace but faith being demonstrated by early humanity. We read in Genesis 3:20-24:
Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 3:20-24
New International Version
The text begins by telling us Adam named the woman. Until now, she was simply called “the woman.” By Adam naming “Eve,” there are two things to notice.
First, Adam was actually taking the place as the head of the household that God already considered him to be. Adam is embracing his role. That’s why God called out to him earlier and not both of them. Adam was the representative of his family. By the way, husbands still are.
Second, by naming her, Adam was taking her as his. This is not in terms of property but in terms of stewardship and care. Now, her husband Adam was stepping up to his role as husband. He was now her provider and protector. This was his role, and Adam was stepping into it.
The name translated from Hebrew as “Eve” means “life.” Indeed, the text augments this by stating, “She would become the mother of all the living” (verse 20). The very name Adam gave her demonstrated his faith in the promise of the Lord to crush the head of the tempter!
After issuing His edict of judgment, God removed the horrible excuse for clothing Adam and Eve had made, and He gave them clothes He made for them. Even in judgment, the Lord was providing for them!
Then there’s this troubling part when God kicks them out of the Garden. Was God afraid of Adam and Eve living forever? Why would He care? What’s the big deal if they lived forever?
The answer may surprise you. The answer is…grace.
It was grace to remove them from the Garden and the temptation of the Tree of Life. In their fallen state, their bodies had already begun to decay. We age because we are moving towards death. It’s harsh, but we know it’s true.
Imagine how miserable their lives would have been if they lived forever in that curse of aging but never dying. They had tasted evil, and death was now in their blood. Should they live forever, they would simply have been eternally decaying and rotting and living forever in a broken relationship with God.
God loved them too much for that. Instead, denying everlasting physical life was a kind of salvation from the curse. This is why Psalm 116:15 states, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit didn’t stop loving Adam and Eve. He showed tremendous grace—even by removing them from Paradise.
The couple shared in the divine privilege of knowledge of good and evil, but the result was not divine stature but rather the opposite—human death. Isn’t it just like Satan: told them half the truth and carefully omitted the terrible consequences?
Perhaps we would do well to remember that when we are tempted.
Life Meets Theology 