20 Adam  named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 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.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 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.REFLECTIONSWritten by James DavidsonGod shows kindness to the rebels by making them clothes (v 21). Thank God for the many ways he shows undeserved kindness to us forgiven rebels.God had warned the man that the consequence of eating would be death (Genesis 2:17). Satan had scoffed at the idea (Genesis 3:4), but here God ensures that the death penalty will be enforced (v 22-24). Human beings will no longer have access to the tree of life. From this moment, every human being will die physically. Here we see the enormous consequence of Humanity’s rebellion against God. This is the reality we live with daily. We are reminded of it every time we hear of someone dying. It hits home every time we attend a funeral. Our friends, relatives, church members and work colleagues die. We will die, unless Jesus returns first. We are part a rebellious race and that is why we all die.But there is a glimmer of hope here. God does not destroy the tree of life. He just denies access. Could it be that God in his goodness will one day make access available again? The rest of the Bible is the story of how God did just that. Trusting in Jesus’ death opens the way for us to gain access once again to the tree of life. And so in the New Testament, as John gives us a guided tour of the Jerusalem to come, he includes this description: ‘On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.’ (Revelation 22:2) Rejoice in glorious hope!QUESTIONWhat was the consequence of disobeying God? What would it have been like if they had obeyed God instead?ABOUT THE AUTHORJames is an Assistant Minister with our Bossley Park morning congregation.

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’“Cursed is the ground because of you;     through painful toil you will eat food from it     all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,     and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow     you will eat your food until you return to the ground,     since from it you were taken; for dust you are     and to dust you will return.”REFLECTIONSWritten by Stephen SheadToday we hear the rest of the “fall-out” from the Fall. Like yesterday, here we see how life is now a mixture of blessing and pain. This time, we see that with God’s good gift of work.In the garden, the task of working the garden was a blessing and a joy – creation wouldn’t resist man’s tender care, but would flourish (see Genesis 2:8-15). But in the fallen world of Genesis 3, work is now “painful toil” (v 17).Rebecca and I are trying to improve our backyard, and just the other day I commented that nice grass takes such a long time to grow, but weeds seem to spring up overnight. We’re in a losing battle with “thorns and thistles” (v 18). Providing for ourselves or our family is now “by the sweat of your brow” (v 19). Earning a crust is often difficult, tedious or painful.As Christians, God calls us not to respond to the toil of work by complaining, slandering our bosses or being slack and lazy. Instead, we are to be diligent and work hard “as working for the Lord”, knowing that he will reward us for our faithful service of him (Colossians 3:23-24). Having said that, it’s also a great relief to know that we are heading towards eternal rest with Christ!The final and most terrible judgment at the Fall has no blessing in it at all: we are condemned to return to dust in death (v 19). Although we are made of physical matter, God made us to be much more than just “star dust”. Human death is always a tragedy.So again, what comfort there is in the gospel! To finish this whole section of Genesis 3, reflect and pray using these verses from 1 Peter 1:3-7:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.QUESTIONWhat do you think is the saddest thing about people dying? Why is it such good news that Jesus rose from the dead?ABOUT THE AUTHORStephen is our Senior Minister and leads our Bossley Park Congregation.

16 To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”ReflectionsWritten by Stephen SheadAs we work through Genesis 3, again and again I’m struck by just how real all of this is, as we continue to see the “fall-out” from the Fall. And I’m so thankful for the salvation and hope God has graciously given us in Christ!First, we see how life is now a mixture of blessing and pain. From the beginning, children were a blessing from God (Genesis 1:28). In a fallen world, they also a source of immense pain (for women, very literally in childbirth!). What a comfort to know that all kinds of pain will be removed, and all tears changed into joy, when Jesus returns.The second “fall-out” is in human relationships – that instead of harmony and teamwork, we see power struggles and attempts to dominate. Here we see that specifically in marriage. God’s original design was for the husband to be “the head of the wife” (Ephesians 5:33) – which doesn’t mean husbands can bully or boss their wives around. It means God calls them to take the initiative in sacrificially loving their wives, and he calls wives to respond by gladly submitting to their husbands’ leadership.But our relationships are now infected with selfishness. The woman here is told that she will “desire” her husband. This is not about sexual desire, because in Genesis 4:7, God tells Cain that sin “desires” to have him. This is a desire to seize control over someone else – to manipulate and possess and take over.But God says that the woman won’t ultimately succeed – her husband will still “rule over her”. Does this mean her husband will lead her with sacrificial love? Tragically, all too often husbands seek to rule with an iron fist. Men, I wish I didn’t have to say it: There is absolutely no biblical justification for a false “headship” which says you can make your wife do whatever you want. If you’ve fallen for that devilish lie, please repent and ask someone for help to change!This is all pretty depressing. But again, knowing Christ should begin to transform all our relationships – not just in marriage, but wherever we are called to either exercise authority or to submit. In both cases, Jesus gives us a model of humility. He showed his absolute authority in that he “did not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). And as the Son of God, he humbled himself and submitted to his Father’s will, going to the cross for us (Philippians 2:8) – not because he had to, but willingly, as a free choice.Let’s ask God to so fill us with “the mind of Christ” that his humility starts to control our behaviour in all our relationships.QuestionCan you think of times you’ve been selfish and tried to make other people do what you want? How does Jesus want us to treat other people?About the AuthorStephen’s favourite music is jazz. And his favourite music quote is from the movie Robots: “It’s a fusion of jazz and funk. It’s called ‘junk’!”

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,“Cursed are you above all livestock     and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly     and you will eat dust     all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity     between you and the woman,     and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head,     and you will strike his heel.”REFLECTIONSWritten by Stephen SheadThese verses blow me away, because they work on two very different levels – and they’re such an amazing example of how God has crafted the story of the Bible with surprises that no human could have devised.On the ordinary, everyday level, this is a picture of how snakes and people don’t tend to get on too well. When I was a child, my family lived in south India, where encounters between humans and deadly cobras or vipers were common. We even had a pet mongoose to help catch them! Throughout the ages, a constant part of village life in Asia, the Middle East and Africa has always been the battle between broomstick and fang: will the housewife crush the critter’s head before it manages to jab her heel?But the genius of these verses is the way they talk about the woman’s “offspring” (or “seed”, as the footnote in the NIV says). The everyday level is about snakes and all of Eve’s descendants. But the word “offspring” can also refer to one descendant in particular. And as the story of salvation develops, the focus narrows in on the offspring of Abraham – and then on the royal line of David, the mini-Messiah.That finally leads to the one “seed” or descendant of Abraham who fulfilled every promise of salvation that God has ever made: Jesus the Messiah (see Galatians 3:16). In that light, Genesis 3 becomes about so much more than “man versus snake”. Behind the serpent who deceived the woman is “the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray” (Rev. 12:9). And these verses from Genesis turn out to be God’s very first promise that Eve’s greatest descendant, the Lord Jesus, would “break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15). Amazingly, Hebrews tells us, Jesus did that by his death – by allowing himself to be struck in our place.I still find snakes pretty scary. But praise God that we no longer have to fear the devil – Jesus has ripped his fangs out! Because even his most terrifying weapon – death itself – has been swallowed up through Jesus’ death and resurrection for us. And one day, God will crush Satan himself under our feet! (Romans 16:20)QUESTIONGod tells the serpent that one of Eve’s great great great grandchildren will crush him. How did Jesus defeat Satan?ABOUT THE AUTHORStephen loved reading books about snakes when he was a kid, and still finds them strangely fascinating.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walkingin the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”REFLECTIONSWritten by Stephen SheadI was struck by two tragic consequences of the Fall in today’s reading. The first is seeing the intimate communion with God that humanity lost by defying him. I don’t exactly know what it would have been like to join the Lord God in a daily walk through his beautiful garden in the cool of the day – but I’m sure it was a breath-taking joy! But instead, the first couple became terrified of God, so that they desperately tried to hide from him (v. 10).We still sometimes kid ourselves that we can hide from God, but that’s pretty dumb. Hebrews 4:13 says: “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” That really is a scary thought – we are completely “naked” before God, and everything that is hidden will be exposed on the day of judgment (Luke 12:2-3).The second tragedy is how sin corrupts our relationships through blame and self-justification. Again, this sounds so familiar. The woman blames her choice on a legless lizard – “he told me to!” The man goes one step further: he manages to blame both the woman and God at the same time (“The woman you put here with me”, v. 12).Sometimes the hardest thing in the world is simply to admit that you are totally, completely in the wrong, without trying to make your sin sound less serious than it is, or divert attention onto someone else who also did the wrong thing. But that’s what we need to learn to do as Christians, both with God and with one another. The God-given recipe for facing our sin is true confession (that is, naming and owning your sin), along with genuine repentance (turning away from it), as we trust in Christ and submit to him.And when we do that, what comfort and peace we find in the gospel! – knowing that “the blood of Jesus, his Son purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Our nakedness is covered by his righteousness, so that we can “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence” (Hebrews 4:16) – and one day we will walk forever close to him in his beautiful, eternal City (Rev. 22).QUESTIONCan you think of a time when you did the wrong thing and blamed someone else? How did you feel? Why is it better to admit what you did and ask for forgiveness?ABOUT THE AUTHORStephen Shead is our Senior Minister and leads our Bossley Park Congregation

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.REFLECTIONSWritten by Stephen SheadThis passage is such a painful and revealing picture of how sin works and how Satan continues to try to lead us astray. The serpent’s key strategy in this passage is a well-chosen half-truth, in v. 1: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Now God didn’t say that – there was only one prohibited tree (2:17). But hey, Satan was only asking the question, right? “Did God really say…?”Half-truths are really just clever lies, and this one had two terrible effects on the woman. First, she started to doubt God’s generosity. God’s original command in 2:16 actually gave people amazing freedom and wealth of choice: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden! (except one)”. But now the woman started to look more closely at the fruit of the one forbidden tree – it started to look so good and tasty (v. 6). So perhaps God was actually a stingy and mean kill-joy, and was keeping the best bits from them?!And second, the woman started to doubt God’s word. Instead of simply trusting what God said and living by it, she started to question and judge God’s word. She began to set herself up as the one who could decide what is good and evil.Oh, by the way guys, if you think the man comes out of this looking better, think again! Verse 6 drops the surprise that he was with her the whole time – and he didn’t say anything to stop it or protect her. His responsibility was greater, because God had given the command directly to him (2:16).Anyway, the result of their rebellion wasn’t God-like immortality (the serpent lied about that bit, v. 4). It was shame (v. 7) and – as we’ll see later – certain death.This all feels so familiar to me. I suspect that every time I say give in to sin (again!) and say “yes” to it, I’m doubting God’s generosity and his word. When we let our eyes or thoughts or desires linger on what we know is sinful, somehow it starts to look attractive and good … and God doesn’t seem like the generous Father who is the source of “every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17).It’s such an amazing comfort to know that God has removed both the guilt and the shame of our sin through faith in Jesus (Rom 10:11). But join me in asking God to give us clear heads when Satan tempts us, so that we will see the true ugliness and death-stench of sin. And spend time remembering and thanking God for his generosity and his good and clear Word to us.QUESTIONWhen are you tempted to disobey what God has told us?ABOUT THE AUTHORStephen Shead is our Senior Minister and leads our Bossley Park Congregation

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky.He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.23 The man said,“This is now bone of my bones     and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’     for she was taken out of man.”24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.REFLECTIONSWritten by Stephen SheadThe other day, Rebecca and I were talking to a friend in Chile, where they have been in strict COVID lockdown for more than 7 months. People are not allowed to leave their property without a police pass. She and her husband have spent the lockdown in a beautiful house they built on a picturesque property in the mountains. But despite the stunning natural beauty around them, their mental health and mood have suffered because … they miss people desperately!Although these verses have very important things to tell us about marriage, they actually apply more broadly to human relationships. “It is not good for the man to be alone” (v. 18): this is the first time something is described as “not good” in Genesis. And it applies to introverts like me as well: we need relationships with other people – made in God’s image like us – in order to thrive.Once again, praise God for things like Zoom during COVID isolation! But this is a good chance to pray for those who are particularly struggling with isolation, and to ask God to show us how we can love and help them.And for those who are married, the first picture the Bible gives us of marriage is not about romance or sex – it’s about being a team. The woman is a “suitable helper” (v. 20) in working the garden. It reminds me that one of the keys to a strong marriage is having a team mentality – which means that, instead of trying to win arguments or get your own way, both partners are trying to find solutions that will build a stronger team.As well as praying for those struggling with isolation, stop now and pray for God’s protection on all the marriages in our big St Barnabas church family.QUESTIONIf you are using these devotions with your children, you could read verses 20-22 and then talk about the question: Can you think of some reasons why it's good that God made both men and women?ABOUT THE AUTHORStephen is our Senior Minister and leads our Bossley Park Congregation.

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”REFLECTIONSWritten by Vincent ChanBelieve it or not, there’s actually a really easy way to remove sin from your life. Here’s how: simply remove God from the world and you won’t have to worry about sin! Now just in case you’re wondering, I’m not being serious. But the point I want to make is that sin is directly tied to who God is and our relationship with him. Sin is not just doing bad things; it’s doing things that express our denial and rejection of God’s rule over us. We see that here in these verses. The reason why man is told not to eat from the tree is not necessarily because the fruit contained some secret substance that would give him God-like powers. It’s the fact that choosing to eat it would be choosing to disobey God. It would be saying that we can decide what we consider to be good or evil, instead of submitting to what God has told us about what is good. I think this is the hardest thing to grasp about sin. It’s hard because so often we have a small view of God. And when we have a small view of God, we will have a small view of sin. But understanding the nature of sin is also one of the most significant steps that we can take in facing it and addressing it honestly. We need to understand that sin is always relational – it always involves rejecting God’s rule and deciding that we can ignore his word about what is good.Here are some questions I find helpful when examining sin in my life: ·       How does sin show itself practically in my life?·       In my actions, how am I choosing to listen to myself (or the world) rather than to God?·       Have I honestly examined my heart to ask which one I love more: God or sin?Why don’t you spend some time bringing these things to God – and as you do, of course, don’t forget the wonderful comfort of his complete forgiveness of all our sin through faith in Jesus.QUESTIONKids: Why is it important to listen to mum or dad? Everyone: When do you find it hard to listen to God?ABOUT THE AUTHORVincent is an Assistant Minister with our Fairfield congregations.

8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.REFLECTIONSWritten by Vincent ChanAmong the children’s books about unicorns and Gruffalos on our living room floor, there’s a children’s Bible story book called ‘The Garden, The Curtain and The Cross’. It has amazing pictures, but more importantly, it paints the story of the whole Bible in a simple way. It begins in the garden of Eden in Genesis and ends with a picture of the Heavenly city in the book of Revelation.I’ve never thought much about what the garden of Eden looked like, but what stands out in today’s reading is the lushness of the whole scene, with flowing rivers and all kinds of beautiful trees with delicious fruit.But the most important thing about the garden was not its lushness, but the fact that it was where God dwelt with people. As the Bible storybook I mentioned says, “People could see God, and speak to God, and just enjoy being with God”. This is a wonderful picture not just of botanical life, but of a rich and satisfying life in relationship with God.People wonder where the garden of Eden was. But we actually know how to find it: Revelation paints a picture of the much greater, future Eden in the new creation. And the way we enter that greater Eden is simply by trusting in Jesus alone. He is the one who restores our relationship with God. Because of the cross, we can one day dwell with God forever (Rev. 21:3).To finish, here are a few lines from the children’s book that talk about Jesus’ wonderful invitation to us.Jesus tells us: “God says it is wonderful to live with him. Because of your sin, you can’t come in. But I died on the cross to take your sin, so all my friends can now come in.”We can live with God for ever! There will be nothing bad and no one sad. We will see God and speak to God and just enjoy being with God, just as he planned. It will be wonderful to live with him. And it’s all because of Jesus.QUESTIONWhat do you think will be the best thing about living with God in heaven?ABOUT THE AUTHORVincent is an Assistant Minister with our Fairfield congregations.

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.ReflectionsWritten by Vincent ChanI read the other day about a famous ex-cricketer who died suddenly. One moment he was commentating on cricket, the next he suffered a heart attack and he was pronounced dead at the age of 59. I find events like that shocking: one instant someone is planning their life as normal, the next it is gone. There is something very depressing in knowing that at any time, your very life can be taken away. Life can feel futile and uncontrolled.But these verses in Genesis paint a very different picture. In these verses we see a creation that is brimming with life. And more importantly, it describes God as the one who gives life. The shrub cannot grow until God brings the rain to nourish it and allow it to blossom. The plant cannot spring up until God brings streams to drench the ground and quench its thirst. And people are nothing but dust until God gives us breath. With a single breath we die – but with a single breath from God, we live! How amazing is God!That is why as Christians, we ought to live our lives very differently from those who don’t know God and have no hope. Like the rest, we make plans and we think about the future, but we do so aware that all things are in God’s wise and sovereign hands. We recognise that all that we have is a gift from God – even each breath that we breathe right now. I must confess, I am prone to forget that I am dependent on God for literally everything. However, when I do remember the truth that I am completely dependent on him, it fills me with joy that I can call God my heavenly Father through Christ.Let me finish with a prayer from the Anglican prayer book, which helpful captures this point:Most merciful Father, we humbly thank you for all your gifts so freely bestowed on us. For life and health and safety, for power to work and leisure to rest, and for all that is beautiful in creation and in the lives of men, we praise and glorify your holy name. But, above all, we thank you for your spiritual mercies in Christ Jesus our Lord, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. Fill our hearts with all joy and peace in believing; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.QuestionHow long can you hold your breath for? As you breathe – or as you hold your breath – remember that God gives us life.About the AuthorVincent is an Assistant Minister with our Fairfield congregations.