Gen 3:14-19 The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. (15) I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (16) To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” (17) And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; (18) thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. (19) 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.”
In looking forward to the coming of Jesus as the light of the world shining into the darkness of the world we have sought to see how the world he created got so dark. The whole world was affected by the brokenness in relationship that separated sinful and disobedient men from our Holy God.
Since man had been given dominion over the whole world, the whole world came under the curse of sin. The whole creation was subjected to futility, all of it became meaningless, meaningless, all is meaningless. The whole of creation groans as a woman experiencing labor pains longing for the day of deliverance.
As for man, his curse brought him work and trouble. As sure as the sparks fly upward he is born for trouble. His days are like a vapor in the wind, a passing shadow. He was made from the dust and to the dust he will return. For the wages of sin is death. He longs for the day of deliverance.
Woman was cursed in the pain of childbearing. And sin had introduced a tension in the relationship between husband and wife. Wives would bristle under the headship given to her husband and she would strive to usurp it. For his part he would use his strength and power to maintain his grip on authority and control. They would long for the day of deliverance, a day when wives might submit themselves to their husbands and husbands might use their strength to exalt their wives in love.
The serpent who deceived them was also cursed. He was cursed to move in the dust on his belly for all the days. He was cursed that there would one day be a son born to woman through the pain of childbearing who would, though the serpent would bite his ankle, crush the head of the snake. THIS WILL BE THE LONGED FOR DAY OF DELIVERANCE!
